It is no secret that government schools in Nepal are a breeding ground for cast discrimination. Students in government schools face discrimination in various forms. They are insulted in front of their pairs and even forced to clean toilets.
Sayapatri Society has moved from a neighborhood club of Volunteers to an organization with thematic expertise on higher secondary education and civic activists who can stand at difficult times.
When Sayapatri Society was first established by a group of enthusiastic volunteers, it was out of their desire to contribute in the local development of their village in Syangja – a district in western part of Nepal. Over the years, some of the members moved on following their different career paths while some new ones joined in envisioning change. The persistence of the ones who stood by, those involved in teaching in particular, was the major factor for the organization’s growth and its renewed focus to work on education.
At a time when school education up to class 10 was the major area of interest for almost everyone including the government, donors and non-government organizations, Sayapatri identified the issues and challenges of higher secondary education ( classes 11 and 12) as an important area of work based on their own observation.
From 2011, Alliance for Social Dialogue/Open Society Foundations has supported Sayapatri Society on their idea to study the challenges and opportunities of Higher Secondary Education (HSE) – an issue rarely debated and low on the list of priorities for many organizations (both national and international). This was a first systematic endeavor for the organiztion and it began its first formal engagement in the education sector.
With the objective of understanding and discovering the issues of HSE, Sayapatri focused its work on schools of Syangja and Kaski districts. Initially, with its activities focused mainly on consultations and discussions, Sayapatri was engaged with everyday problems of the school management, head-teachers, teachers and students. With the eagerness to address these problems, Sayapatri began to work as a change agent. In order to move beyond these realities and connect everyday concerns to broader policy concerns, ASD encouraged Sayapatri to look into sustainable solutions. Following this, Sayapatri consolidated the issues related to the integration of HSE within the framework of Secondary Education, allotment and management of teachers particularly for higher secondary level and standardized examination system through collection and documentation of case studies from across the country. Most importantly, while other stakeholders chose to neglect, Sayapatri persevered through policy dialogue with Higher Secondary Education Board and Ministry of Education and has been able to highlight these concerns.
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ASD organized an interaction program in collaboration with Disable Empowerment and Communication Center, Nepal (DEC-Nepal)on ‘Ensuring the Rights of the Persons in the upcoming Constitution’on 10 and 11 July 2014 in Nepalgunj, Banke. About 35 persons with disability (PWD) from Western and Far Western Region and the government officials and political activists were present in the program.
The regional meeting of PWDs concluded by adopting Nepalgunj declaration which includes the issues of disabilities and minorities to be addressed in the upcoming constitutions. The declaration also includes PWDs issues related to current policies, plans, guidelines and its effective implementation. The government representatives expressed their commitment to implement and cooperate with Community Based Organizations while working on the issues of disabilities.
ASD Education Program in collaboration with Shikshak monthly magazine organized a one-day interaction on “Discussion on School Education and Partisan Politics: Way Ahead?” on July 4, 2014 at Lalitpur. Representatives from political parties, teacher unions, student leaders, educationists, teachers and school management committee participated in the discussion program. The discussion primarily focused on the impact of political interference in the school education, its everyday implication for quality of education in public schools.
ASD Human Rights Program in collaboration with the Madhesh Human Rights Home (MAHURI-Home) organized an interaction program on “Torture and Accountability” in Kapilvastu and Rupandehi on 3 and 4 July 2014 respectively. About 35 human rights defenders, journalists, civil society activists and government representatives participated in the program to explore the issues of torture in Madhesh and seek accountability to prevent and address the issue through dialogue among human rights defenders, torture victims and government authorities. The human rights defenders presented the cases of torture while victims shared their stories. In the program, participants raised the concern of lacunas/ gap in the current Torture Act which has no provision of criminalizing torture. The discussions were followed by the responses from the government authorities who expressed their commitment to minimize the torture in their respective districts.
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