Musahars are recognised as one of the most marginalized ethnic groups in South Asia, because of their “low-caste” and “untouchable” status. As a result of generations of oppression and discrimination, the Musahars rank the lowest in nearly all socio-economic indicators on the Human Development Index (HDI), amongst all groups in Nepal. This marginalization impacts Musahar girls first and foremost, with a very low number being literate and many being out of school at an early age. With strictly limited life opportunities, these girls and their families opt for early marriages, wage labor, and often into bonded labor to support families in paying off large debts. Education is a lesser priority due to everyday hardships that the community endures. Street Child of Nepal’s team of researchers collaborated with Musahars, Musahar women in particular, to carry out an ethnographic study between 2016 and 2018, before launching Marginalized No More in 2019.
Foundational literacy and numeracy for out of school girls was one of the main ambitions of the programme. With partner AASAMAN Nepal, we delivered free, intensive learning using interactive, play-based pedagogy that was uniquely tailored for this group of girls. Students were assessed and assigned to an appropriate learning group with their peers for tutoring and support. Bespoke vernacular learning materials and resources were made accessible to assist their progress. The classes were run in familiar community spaces by locally hired and trained educators, many of whom were Musahars themselves. Often perceived as being “uneducable”, Musahar girls demonstrated a good pace of progress towards their learning goals within the first few months. These education sessions were complemented by separate life skills circles that enabled girls’ acquisition of knowledge on child rights, gender-based violence, local/regional support services, etc. As well as supporting girls back into education, the programme aimed to establish these girls are informed citizens and decision-makers.
At the beginning of 2020, as the world grappled with Covid-19, Musahars and other disadvantaged groups like them were at the center of a fast-evolving humanitarian crisis. For Musahars in particular, their vulnerabilities were exacerbated and threatened their survival. Musahar girls bore much of the brunt of this impact. They were at an even greater risk of being subjected to domestic abuse, survival sex, transactional sex and dangers of exploitation, as households struggle to make ends meet due to excessive economic strains.
Strict movement restrictions meant that classes had to be stopped abruptly. However, despite the challenges, together with our excellent local partners AASAMAN Nepal, Janaki Women’s Awareness Society (JWAS) and Group of Helping Hands (SAHAS), we initiated weekly well-being checks through phone calls. This was a medium for girls to raise any urgent concerns. Psychosocial counseling and needs-based referrals were conducted based on these checks throughout the lockdown periods. As many families faced the risk of starvation during the strictest forms of lockdowns, we also liaised with Musahar organizations and assisted over 5,000 Musahar households with essential food packages as a priority.
Our education team eventually launched our distance teaching and learning programme in July 2020. This was designed to reach learners in the most remote and low-resource environments through the use of simple audio-assisted learning sessions. This method encouraged self-learning, with phone support from educators as needed. As the COVID-19 scenario evolved in the last two years, we continued to adapt our learning approach to ensure best outcomes for Musahar girls. As a result, following completion of the learning programme, girls have achieved notable learning gains – most girls are now able to read paragraphs and stories fluently, as well as perform basic mathematical operations. 3,100 of these girls are now back in schools while 4,500 girls have successfully set up their own small enterprises in their communities as part of our livelihoods support programme. Most importantly, the girls’ and community’s positive engagement and achievements have countered damaging assumptions that “Musahars cannot be educated”.
As the impact of the pandemic continues to intensify existing inequalities, and exaggerates inequities, the need to educate and protect the most vulnerable children remains more critical than ever. Street Child of Nepal remains committed in its efforts to enable children to be safe, in school and learning.
