WFP will provide two liters each of cooking oil every month to girls with good attendance records and UNICEF will provide a resource package which will include teacher-training and education materials to create a more child-friendly learning environment in targeted schools, said a statement issued here by WFP and UNICEF.
These efforts will be implemented in more than 100 schools in Sarlahi, Rautahat, Mahottari, Dhanusha and Parsa and will benefit nearly 10,000 girls, it the statement went on to say.
“Providing monthly take-home rations to girls is a powerful tool for increasing school attendance because it enables girls to help feed their families,” the statement quoted WFP Deputy Country Representative Dominique Hyde as saying. “This joint program will enhance how communities view the education of girls and provide them with a major incentive to send them to school regularly.”
The percentage of girls attending and completing primary school in these Tarai districts lags far behind Nepal’s national average. In many communities, less than half the girls will complete the full cycle of primary education.
“In a society where girls are valued for household chores, parents weigh the value of their time spent in school,” the statement also quoted Gillian Mellsop, the UNICEF representative, as saying. “If the schools are not providing quality education, parents can think that girls are more productive at home than in school. Schools need to be more child-friendly to allow girls especially to their right to education.”
She added that a child-friendly school should be safe, gender-sensitive and inclusive of all children without any form of discrimination. Additionally, it should provide a child-centered curriculum with engaging learning methods and be fully engaged with its communities, families and students, she said.
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