Girls' school aims to check dropouts, child marriage

By Govinda Sharma

Banke, July 27 : Janki Rural Municipality, in Banke district, has set up a girls' school with the specific objective of encouraging and supporting the education of Muslim and Madhesi girls and checking their dropout rates.  

Set up in Ward No. 3 of Manpur, the school, named ‘Nepal Rastriya Kanya Fundamental School’, is offering classes from early childhood development to grade six.

Principal Malati Shahi said the school began its operations from this academic session and currently has 274 enrolled students.

Shahi said, "Even in its first year, the school has a good number of students. Parents exhibit greater confidence in sending their girls to the school since it is an exclusive girls' school.”

Chhabban Khan, chairman of the rural municipality, said the school aims to uplift the academic standard of girl students from Madhesi and Muslim communities. 

The primary aim of this initiative is to rein in school dropout rates among girls from these communities, he added. 

The school is expected to address parents' concerns about sending their daughters to co-ed schools or outside the home, said Khan adding the school is staffed entirely by women, including teachers and other staff members.

According to Chairman Khan, the school has been opened as per the decision of the winter session of the rural municipality assembly. 

The Chief Administrative Officer (CAO), Sinharaj Dangi, said the rural municipality has set the goal to upgrade the school up to grade 12.

To ensure the safety of the girls and bolster parents' confidence in sending them to the school, the rural municipality will make arrangement for school buses to transport them safely from home to school and back home again, he added. 

Dangi informed that the rural municipality is in the final stage of purchasing one bus and have also requested an additional bus from the Indian embassy to further support the transportation needs of the students.

“The rural municipality is committed to providing necessary materials such as clothes, bags, and shoes to the students,” CAO Dangi said in his statement. 

“This measure aims to prevent schoolgirls from dropping out of classes and check child marriages. It also ensures the girls’ access to essential resources for their education,” he added.