Marginalised no More (MnM)

The Marginalised No More project supported 7,856 girls and was implemented by Street Child in Nepal.

Musahar communities are highly marginalised due to their low-caste, and Musahar girls face complex, often interrelated barriers and experience limited or no access to education. Musahar communities are often on the peripheries, in remote, hard to reach areas, isolated from other communities and unable to access basic services including health, education and transport services. They are landless with most trapped in debt bondage which they are born into. Musahar girls, struck by caste, class and gender discrimination, bear the brunt of this oppression. Girls are often forced into early marriage, engaged in domestic work and wage labour, and led into bonded labour to support families to pay off debts. Parents are generally unable to meet the costs of schooling, and many fear for their daughters’ safety and security, which deters them from sending them to school.

The project improved learning outcomes for these girls with a specific focus on functional literacy and numeracy and supported their transition into meaningful employment and income generation. In addition to accessibility issues, the project tackled the principal obstacles faced by these girls which include fears for safety and security, out-of-school affordability and in-school gender-related exclusion from curriculum and instruction.

Main activities

• Implementing an accelerated learning program delivered through either teaching at the right level (TaRL) or distance teaching and learning to rapidly improve learning outcomes.
• Implementing a School Transition Programme to facilitate enrolment into government schools for girls aged 10 to 14.
• Implementing an Employment transition Programme to achieve employment or self-employment for girls aged 15 and over.
• Implementing a 4-monthme Life Skills Protection Circle program.
• Providing training and resources for teachers.
• Supporting girls to establish their own enterprises, village saving schemes and support networks.

The project in numbers

Lessons learned

The Teaching at the Right Level (TaRL) approach is effective in improving learning levels. This approach centres around grouping learners based on learning needs rather than by age or grade and allocating time to build foundational skills, rather than focusing on covering the curriculum. Students are assessed regularly and moved to appropriate groups if they have progressed sufficiently. The project has demonstrated positive impact on literacy and numeracy skills, which girls attribute to the teaching and learning approach.

Prioritise education pathways linked to income generation when working with marginalised communities. Due to generational socio-economic oppression, living conditions remain extremely precarious and communities remain poor. This can lead to disengagement from learning as families instead prioritise meeting immediate economic needs. Therefore, it is important that the interventions provide increased pathways to income generation through education to achieve increased participation in education activities and to remain relevant to learners. 

Adaptable approaches are critical to ensure successful outcomes for marginalised girls. The project trialled a highly adaptive life skills curriculum that remained as close as possible to girls’ everyday realities. The sessions were loosely structured, encouraging input from girls themselves. Social Workers were trained at regular intervals on learning content for the following 2 to 3 months, ensuring sessions delivered to girls were relevant at all times. Likewise teaching and learning materials were regularly reviewed and adapted to correspond to the changing circumstances of highly marginalised and vulnerable girls.

Alternative pathways to formal school should be explored for girls who are over-age for their grade. The project found that one of the main reasons for girls who have missed out on several years of schooling were not willing to attend formal schools was embarrassment related being in the same grade as younger peers. Many of these girls cited physical appearance as a deterrent, as they believed they looked older than their classmates and had reservations and feared being bullied by other students.  Thus, alternative pathways may be more relevant for these girls.

Street Child: https://www.street-child.co.uk/