The Karnali provincial government has not made a special budget for girls. The scheme called ‘Chhori Khata’ is also incomplete. Various schemes made for girls and women are incomplete and incomplete. It seems that the Sustainable Development Goals, which aim to ‘ensure inclusive and equitable quality education for all and promote lifelong learning opportunities’, have not been realized.
What you should know
There are currently more girls in schools in Karnali. This does not mean that fewer boys are being born. It does not mean that the number of girls being born has increased. Recently, girls have also been able to go to school. And, this is not the only reason for the higher number of girls in schools.
The number of girls in village schools has increased after boys were sent to boarding schools in the city. This shows that Karnali's society is still divided between boys and girls.
Karnali's girls are doctors, engineers, pilots, secretaries, deputy secretaries and officers, frontline athletes, Miss Nepal, singers, artists, journalists and female teachers. There are professors at universities and women in business. Even in politics, Karnali's girls are the Speaker and Deputy Speaker.
Women are also ministers in the Karnali provincial government, as they were before. The representation of Karnali women in the provincial assembly, the House of Representatives and the National Assembly is promising. This means that women are educated and empowered. But it is only a small population.
Women who are in the frontline and achieve high positions definitely have the support of their families. It is believed that the outlook towards these women is also positive. This cannot be achieved without family support and encouragement. Good educational opportunities and family support pave the way for progress. They encourage progress. It is also important for parents to have the belief that ‘daughters can do it too’.
There are other families who love their daughters and are ready to invest in them, but cannot trust their daughters. The progress of daughters in such families is stunted. Therefore, parents must remove the mindset of ‘this is a daughter, she is weak, she cannot go anywhere alone, she is insecure, she cannot protect herself, we have to protect her. She cannot even go out and compete with her sons’. We must now remove the fear of whether someone will do anything if we leave our daughters alone? Will someone say anything? When a daughter becomes independent, she will have already planned her own safety. So why skimp on investment in her daughter?
Last April, Jyoti Foundation organized the ‘Karnali Daughters Conference’ in Surkhet, in which the daughters of Karnali shared their sorrows, shared their experiences and shared their stories. At a time when the government was investing poorly in the overall education of daughters, the foundation gathered 200 daughters from all 79 municipalities of Karnali in one place. Even daughters from the Raute, Raji, and Kusunda communities, who could not come into the mainstream of society, shared their thoughts. There was an emotional meeting and exchange of ideas between successful daughters from Karnali and daughters who have moved forward to build their future.
The daughters who were eager to build their future heard the success stories, sorrows, and feelings of the successful sisters. They learned that the sisters were successful only because of the support of their big and broad-chested fathers. How many challenges does a daughter have to face to become successful? They also learned this. Many daughters of Karnali are still in the Chhaugoth. The burden of Thaplo has not left them yet. Society has not yet been able to be positive towards daughters. A successful daughter has to play a triple role and move forward.
Karnali is a geography, but the country is unaware of the diversity within it. The sufferings of daughters in the mountains and hills here are different. The struggles that women have to face for education and employment are different. Some die while cutting grass, while others die while going to school. The mountain of superstition and evil is weighing heavily on Karnali. In a society where there is a consciousness that one should go to the hospital only after the gods have cured them of their illness and disease, when will a daughter get the opportunity to serve as a doctor?
The Karnali provincial government has not made a special budget arrangement for daughters. The plan called 'Daughter Account' is also incomplete. Various plans made for daughters and women are incomplete and incomplete. The Sustainable Development Goals, which aim to ‘ensure inclusive and equitable quality education for all and promote lifelong learning opportunities’, seem to have not been realized.
In Karnali Province, the number of girls in secondary level (grades 9-12) is 64,689, while the number of boys is 64,228. In secondary level (grades 9-12), 58.6 percent of girls are enrolled, while 56.7 percent of boys are enrolled. According to the National Census-2078, the total literacy rate of Karnali Province is 62.8. Of this, 83.3 percent are male and 69.4 percent are female. 30 percent of women are still deprived of the light of education. Skills and competencies have not been transferred. Plans and programs made for girls are abandoned before reaching their destination. Who will look into this? Girls’ work and abilities have not been trusted.
Girls from Karnali have played various roles in different parts of the country. Rather than setting an example that girls cannot do anything, it would be more meaningful to increase investment in girls.
Therefore, girls must be educated to increase self-reliance, strengthen families and achieve social transformation, improve economic conditions, provide scientific health care and hygiene, develop healthy family planning, build a violence-free society, develop social leadership, end social discrimination, distortions and evil practices, and eradicate the anomalies that are deeply rooted in traditional society. Education itself builds self-confidence and courage. That is why educating girls is indispensable.
