Education, Training & Research
Education equips individuals with the knowledge and skills they need to realize their potential and to protect themselves from harm. And the better quality of life education brings, translates into huge benefits for society. That’s why education is a basic building block in any country’s future. RDC Nepal’s Education Program assists in the education of underpriviledged children through the completion of both primary and secondary school. It provides basic education for them while engaging them in environmental activities and lessons that teach them the importance of conservation to present and future generations.
Education is a critical ingredient for spurring economic growth, improving health, and strengthening democracy. Since its conception, RDC Nepal has been a leader in the development of education programs that increase access for all children to schooling and improve the quality of education. It works in partnership with local community and organizations to provide girls with practical, non-formal education in the rural areas of the country. Its proven approach to development includes girls’ education programs that expand their opportunities to live healthy, productive lives. We also develop peer education programs to support youth leadership in the development of their communities.
In some communities where women are often excluded from participating in community decisions about resource use, concurrently, a sizeable percentage of young girls do not continue with their education past primary school. Therefore, RDC Nepal’s work focuses more on the female participation in its programs. Its approach taps parents, local leaders and religious institutions to build community support for girls to go to school and stay in school. These key partners also determine educational needs. From health to human rights and from self-confidence to civic participation, its approach to non-formal education stresses practical life skills that expand a world of opportunities for girls and their futures.
- Strengthening capacities of the whole school team: administrator, teachers and school management committee
- Emphasizing student-centered learning and assessment
- Involving communities in schools
- Promoting Girls’ Participation
- Strengthening capacities of the parents
Infrastructure Development
- Providing technical and financial support for buildings
- Maintaining school gardens and libraries
- Providing furnitures and instructional materials
- Setting up community libraries
Provision of Educational Options
- Promoting and safeguarding educational opportunities for girls and underpriviledged children
- Asisting the concerned authority in introducing critical topics to the curriculum: HIV/AIDS, democratization, and environmental awareness
- Developing alternative education programs for out-of-school youth and iliterate adults
- Supporting secondary school expansion and school-to-work programs
- Providing education in crisis and emergency situations
- Introducing new technology in education
- National and local level policy makers in education, finance, and planning
- Professional educators, school administrators and teachers
- Local organizations, community members, parents and students
- Private sector businesses and foundations
Capacity Building for Income Generation
Nepal is one of the 189 countries committed to the MDGs, a pledge renewed in its Three-Year Plan 2010-2013. The data from MDG Progress Report for Nepal 2010, prepared in partnership between the Government of Nepal and the UN Country Team, indicates that potentially Nepal will be able to achieve most of its MDG targets by 2015, except for the full employment and climate change.
The 2010 report suggests that despite the decade-long conflict and political instability, Nepal’s progress has been remarkable in a number of areas, for example, people living below the national poverty line has gone down to 25%. Under the National Development Strategy, the government’s strategy in economic and social development to achieve the MDGs, aims to achieve pro-poor, private sector-led growth while eliminating the narcotics economy. To enhance the productivity of the labour force in the legal economy, the government prioritizes education, skills development and health. To assist the Nepal Government in achieving its poverty reduction goals, RDC Nepal has adopted capacity building for income generation as one of its major strategic imperatives. Its main thrust is in marketable skills and small business development.
Key Interventions
RDC Nepal’s approach seeks to introduce small-scale credit schemes so that the poor and disadvantaged can achieve financial access through dependable and equitable credit opportunities. The organization believes that education and vocational training are essential to enable the community to sustain any income generating activities. Such income generating activities must also respond to private sector demand in order to be self-sustaining. The goal of the program is to equip the vulnerable groups with the skills that are in demand to improve their opportunities for employment in the developing market economy.
