Kathmandu, January 4:

Stakeholders in the education sector today stressed the need for campaigning for child-friendly schooling programme throughout the country so that a large number of students who do not enroll in the lower-secondary level due to unfriendly schooling environment could continue their education.

Devendra Ale, the training coordinator at the Centre for Victims of Torture (CVICT), said the schools should provide a joyful learning environment for the students, as schools are the places where they spend most of their time. A research conducted by the CVICT shows bullying and beating incidents are highest in the primary level, which leads to poor enrolment in the lower-secondary and secondary levels.

“The major reason behind the students not joining the lower-secondary and secondary levels after completing the primary level is due to the unfriendly school environment,” Ale said at an interaction. “The reason for school phobia among the children should be analysed and schooling environment should be improved.”

Soviet Ram Bista, the deputy director at the Department of Education (DoE), said the government, with the support of development partners, is piloting a child-friendly schooling programme in six districts from this year. “Around 12,000 teachers will be given training on child-friendly schooling. The programme will benefit around 96,000 students,” Bista said.

The DoE and the Save the Children Alliance are also conducting similar initiative in Bajura, Doti, Banke, Bardia, Surkhet, Dang, Kavre, Sindupalchowk, Kailali and Kanchanpur districts from this year.

Uday Laxmi Pradhanang of the Save the Children US said his organisation has been running child-frie-ndly school initiative in 162 schools of Siraha, Kanchanpur and Kailali.

According to Ale, the UNICEF and the CVICT have jointly trained 138 master trainers in 15 districts to monitor whether the schools have child-friendly environment and to train principals and teachers to abide rules of Child-Friendly Schooling Teachers’ Training Manual 2005.