Findings
• Majority of the respondents are female which is found better reflection of the
PLA class conducted by Backward Society Education (BASE).
• Major portion of the respondents haven’t got school education. Most of the
respondents had left their school education due to the household work, poor
economic condition & need to labor works to financially support to their family.
• Major portion of school not attended respondents had attended in non-formal
education classes.
• Very few respondents are involved in Child Club & Adolescent Reproductive
Sexual Health (ARSH) program.
• Majority of the respondents replied that only they have one family member
employed who give financially support to the family.
• Very few (20%) respondents are employed but out of them only 20% have
earning capacity. Most of the respondents who are employed are in labor works
either in service business or in farming or in household labor.
• Out of employed respondents, 48% have saving practices in different way such as
in co-operative, in groups, in-house, saving-pot (Khutruke), in box, women
development fund, youth club, etc.
• It is found that out of those respondents who haven’t saving practice have some
how skills for income generation such as cycle repairing, hair cutting, Dhakki
Bunai, labor works in hotel, household works, service business, sewing-cutting &
mason works.
Recommendations
• Sustainable livelihood program is necessary for empowering and enhancing the
life skill of the Out of School youths and adolescents.
• NGO working in these areas should focus for involving/ enrolling/ continuation
of school education to minimize the drop-out.
• Youth friendly initiative programs should be covered all out-of-school youth
youths and adolescents.
IV
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background of the Study
Nobody can deny the hard fact that education is an extremely important factor for
bringing change in the lives of individuals. It has universally been recognized as the most
powerful instrument and pre-requisite for gearing up the socio-economic development of
a nation. In fact, it can be said that it is a pre-condition for the overall up-lift and welfare
of a nation. This is why investment in education is considered to be so vital for human
resource development and the enhancement of the quality of manpower. The history of
humankind, in general, and that of developed nations of the worked, in particular, is
replete with the precedents, which establish the fact that a certain level of literacy in
population is an essential pre-requisite for precipitating the process of development in a
country.
The segment of society that plays the most active part in the socio-economic
development of any country/region consists of the adolescents. It is clear that the
composition and characteristics of this most crucial part of population goes a long way in
expediting the process of national development and influencing the policy makers and
planners in their planning and decision making for the future. In this way, the adolescents
act as a sort of a “pressure group” that exerts a far-reaching impact on the process of
educational planning as well as on the other developmental activities of the country.
Out-of-school youth are a vulnerable population with complex needs. Many face dim
employment prospects and uncertain futures. Out-of-school youth are broadly defined as
youth aged 16 to 24 who are not in school and who are unemployed, underemployed, or
lacking basic skills. While there is no single system that provides services to out-of-school
youth, many systems can play a role in better addressing their needs, including the public
education, workforce, human services, juvenile justice, and community- and faith-based
sectors. Multiple funding sources can support initiatives to serve out-of-school youth.
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1.2 General Overview of Nepal
Nepal is a small Himalayan country that lies in south Asia. In map, it looks like a brick
lying east west and situated between two large neighbors with the Indian sub-continent to
the south, east and west three sides, and the high Tibetan Platue of China to the north.
The length of country is estimated about 1,000km and width about 200km only. For a
small country, Nepal comprises a greater geographical, linguistics, cultural and ethnicity
diversity.
In international forum Nepal is known as the birthplace of Lord Buddha, the light of Asia
and the country of the Mount Everest, the roof of the world.
Topographically, the country is divided into three main regions; the mountains, hills and
the terai (the plain) running east to west. In the northern part, the mountains cover about
35% of the total land area, standing 16000 – 29,200 feet above the sea level. The hills
comprise 42% of the total land area between 1,000 – 16,000 feet above the sea level. In
the southern part, the terai cover the remaining 23% land, and are 200 – 1,000 feet above
the sea level (Gurung, 1993).
According to census 2001, the population of Nepal was 23,151,423 with slightly more
than 50% female. Approximately 88% of the total population lives in rural area.
Agriculture is the main stay of the economy, the industrial sector that is essentially agro-
based, is in its infancy. About 43% of the total population lives below the poverty line
(ADB, 1989). The population growth rate in Nepal high that is 2.6% however it is in
decreasing trend in since last few decades (UNDP, 1999).
Despite of its natural and cultural beauty, acute rural poverty is being one of country’s
inevitable characteristics. In the usual international league tables of per capita income,
Nepal ranks as one of the poorest nations. Contrary to its huge hydroelectric resources
and potential tourism development, Nepal is one of the least developed countries. As for
the basic need related indicators, country’s literacy rate is 38%, the life expectancy at birth
is 57.3 years, only one doctor for about 20,000 people, daily per capita calories supply is
2,339, infant mortality rate is 75 per 1,000 live births and maternal mortality rate is 1,500
per 100,000 live births (UNDP, 1999). These figures obviously reveals that even on the
basis of the indicators of average level of well beings, Nepal falls below modest norms of
basic need satisfaction.
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As the vast majority of the population in country live in rural areas, rural development
forms the crux of national development. And studies in developing countries have shown
that investment in literacy, primary education, vocational training and education of girls
and mothers are more productive than investment in other areas of education.
Literacy or education is widely perceived as an indicator for the status of people and is
seen as an agent to empower people by widening their knowledge and skills. Literacy
helps to empower people through raising economic participation, economic earning
capacity and participation in decision-making in politics and administration in public
sphere in micro level. Empowerment generally means literacy, economic participation and
exercise of the legal rights. Empowerment generally means literacy, economic
participation and exercise of the legal rights. To a great extent, lack of education and
literacy are the synonyms with poverty, and women are over represented among the poor
(ESCAP, 1991). About five decades ago United Nations had declared that literacy is the
basic human right like adequate food, health care and housing. Literacy is an effective
instrument for social and economic development and national integration (ILE, 2001).
So, literacy is a first pre-condition for development.
Developed countries gave more focus in human resource development than other
physical development especially after 1960. The literacy rate in western countries
including Japan was more than 90% by 1930 (Gould, 1993) whereas the third world
countries including Nepal were far behind in literacy until last few decades.
Before democracy in 1950, the Rana rulers who placed Nepal under their feudal yoke for
more than 100 years feared of an educated public (Nepalnet, 2001). They made education
the privilege of the elite, while the country remained illiterate.
1.3 Statement of the Problem
Nepal is a small country of 147, 181 sq. km. in the South Asia region having 885 km. in
east-west direction and with a mean north-south width of 193 km. Two great neighbors
border it, the People's Republic of China in the north and India in the south, east and
west. The country is located between 26°20' and 30°10' north latitude and 80° 15' and 88°
east longitude and presents a unique transition zone between arid, cold and sparsely
populated Tibetan Plateau of China in the north and humid, hot and densely populated
India in the south.
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The Great Himalaya Range, bordering along the northern line along the eastern half of
the country, towers to the height of 8848 meters. Along the western half of the country,
Nepali land is extended beyond the north of Himalayas as well. That is, in the west, the
Himalaya Range passes from within Nepal. High altitudinal variation along less than 200
km north south expansion of the country which is more than 8000 meter at places has
resulted in great physiographical, environmental and cultural variation in the country. As a
result of several physical and historical factors, numerous natural and socio cultural
patterns are developed in the country, making it immensely rich in bio-diversity and
natural as well as cultural resources. The fact that the Population Census, 2001 registered
101 different caste groups, 92 language groups, and ten religious groups is one small
example of this cultural resource. (HMGN MOES 2003:1)
However, the present reality is that income poverty is pervasive in Nepal. According to a
recent estimate, GDP per capita is only about US$ 240. In this country of 23.1 million
people with an average annual growth of 2.24 per cent, 38 per cent of the total
populations are estimated to be below poverty line. In a global poverty index (2001),
Nepal ranked 77th among 90 countries. The National Human Development Report
(2002) calculated Nepal's Human Development Index as 0.466 and Human Poverty Index
as 39.2. Agriculture makes a contribution of about 40 per cent to the national GDP and
about 80 per cent of the total population derives their livelihood from this sector. In this
country where about 86 per cent of the total population live in rural areas, life expectancy
is estimated to be about 60 years and adult literacy (15 years and above) is only 48.6 per
cent (female – 34.9, male – 62.7). Several socioeconomic indicators show high disparities
in terms of gender, region, location (urban/rural), ethnic groups, economic groups, etc.
However, it should be noted here that, as a result of several development interventions in
the past years, many of the socioeconomic indicators are showing an improving trend.
The country is divided into three distinct ecological regions – terai, hill and mountain.
The terai in the south is a narrow strip of hot alluvial plain that runs from east to west of
the country but is broken at two different places – Dang and Chitwan. It consists 23 per
cent of the total land area of the country. Due to fertile soil, easy access and better
infrastructure the region has been traditional destination of migrants from the hill and the
mountain in the north. As a result the region now includes 48 per cent of the total
population of the country. The hill region, lying between the terai in the south and the
high mountains in the north, is a complex region of hills and valleys and river basins.
Expanding to about 42 per cent of the total land area, the region includes 44 per cent of
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the total population of the country. The mountain region, a region of high-rise
mountains, high valleys and harsh climatic conditions, covers 35 per cent of the total land
area but includes only about eight per cent of the total population. (HMGN MOES
2003:1)
The country is divided into 75 districts and 5 development regions for its administrative
purpose. The development regions are made up of districts. There are 16 districts in
Eastern Development Region and 19 in Central Development Region. Western
Development Region consists 16 districts and Mid-Western and Far-Western
Development Regions include 15 and 9 districts respectively. Each district is divided into
a number of village development committees and municipalities. Currently there are 3,915
village development committees and 58 municipalities including one metropolitan
(Kathmandu) and four sub-metropolitan cities (Biratnagar, Birganj, Lalitpur and Pokhara).
The history of modern schooling in Nepal began about 150 years ago with the
establishment of the first school in 1853. However, for many years to come this school
did not welcome children of the public and remained restrict for the ruling family. The
political change in 1951 brought fundamental changes in the educational scenario,
beginning the expansion of schooling facilities in the country. The progress achieved over
the past 50 years in education can be seen in the fact that there now is a well-spread
network of 26,000 schools (including higher secondary), 414 colleges, five universities and
two academies of higher studies where 5.5 million students and 150,000 teachers are
involved in teaching learning process. This expansion of schooling facilities and thus the
educational opportunities in the country has positive influences in the local and national
development, in the social empowerment as well as in improving the living standard of
the people. (HMGN MOES 2003:2)
However, there are many challenges. At primary level, 19 per cent of the total school age
population is still out of school and at secondary level; proportion of such population is
about 40 per cent. Disparities in terms of gender, ethnic and economic groups, locations
are quite high. Questions of educational management, quality and relevance are critical
and making the system more efficient has remained a difficult task. In order to address
these questions the government has been implementing various programs related to
improving access, equity, quality and management of education. (HMGN MOES
2003:53)
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Adult Education Program (AEP) and Women Education Program (WEP) are two similar
programs that target the people of 15-45 age groups. Whereas AEP is for all people and
WEP specifically targets the women. Both programs have two levels. The first phase of
both programs aims at literacy and vocational skills whereas the second phase to stabilize
literacy and strengthen the skills and knowledge achieved during the first phase. In
addition to literacy and vocational skills, WEP also focuses on providing knowledge and
skills on household and family related matters. Both phases of WEP and the first phase of
AEP are of six months' duration with two hours a day (300 hours). The second phase of
AEP, known as AEP post literacy, is of only 3 months' duration with two hours a day
(150 hours). AEP, for the first phase, uses Naya goreto part I and II (2050) and Sabaiko lagi
shikchhya as the learning materials for the second. WEP uses Mahila sakchhyarata pustika
and Ghar aangan for the first phase and Gaun bensi part II and I for the second. (HMGN
MOES 2003:53)
Out of school program (OSP) is targeted for the children of 8-14 years. The first phase of
this program aims to make the children literate and encourages them to enroll in the
formal school. After completing the OSP I, a child can join OSP II which aims to make
the literacy stable and give some vocational training to the child. Each phase of OSP is of
nine months' duration with two hours a day (450 hours). OSP I use Naulo bihana part I
and II and OSP II use Naya phadako part I and II as teaching materials. (HMGN MOES
2003:53)
Kailali district, a part of Seti zone, is one of the seventy-five districts of Nepal, a
landlocked country of South Asia. The district, with Dhangadhi as its district
headquarters, covers an area of 3,235 sq km and has a population (2001) of 616,697. Out
of these, 312,311 are male and 304, 386 are female. Average household size of the Kailali
district is 6.53 and population density is 191 persons/sq. km.
This study is planned to know about the socio-economic condition of the out of school
youth and adolescents of the 4 VDCs and 1 municipality of Kailali district. The study will
focused on socio-economic condition as well as a field survey for collecting
information/data and exploring a number of aspects relating the absolute status of
education, economic status and future plan of out-of-school youth and adolescents falling
within the age group of 14-24. According to the PRA survey carried-out to identify the
14-24 years out of school youth and adolescent in 4 VDCs of Kailali District and 1
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