The Department of Education with the support from Search for Common Ground, an NGO, is set to work in three Tarai districts to increase the enrollment and retention of girls in the schools. The programme will primarily focus on 42 secondary schools in remote villages of Dhanusha, Mahottari and Siraha districts and later expanded to 60 other schools in the region.

According to a joint press statement issued on Sunday, the project will have school management committee, parents-teachers union along with the increment of management skills and use of good social and educational governance methods by teachers and principals at the local level. To have good educational governance at central level, the project will foresee a policy level expansion through strategic and practical interactions in the districts.

The project is aimed at helping attain sustainable development goals “inclusive and quality education for all” by increasing the capability in educational stakeholders like school management committee, parents-teachers union, principals and teachers to maintain school level governance. “The goals overseen by the project are the subjects of priority to the government,” said Baburam Poudel, the director general of the Department of Education. “We believe that the project encourages all the stakeholders to guarantee the quality of public school education, participatory governance system, school level governance and the culture of communication.”

While contributing to mobilise civil society and youth clubs to implement school-centric development programmes, the project will ensure establishment of good governance in schools by the people of local community themselves. “The project aims to increase the quality of education, the involvement and surveillance of civil society and parents in school enrollments, accountable and responsible school management committee in teaching and learning” said Bhola Prasad Dahal, national director at Search for Common Ground.