BHAKTAPUR: A bank account has been opened for the students from class nursery to class 12 studying in a community school in Changunarayan Municipality. More than Rs 4,000 has been deposited in the account. An additional four thousand will be deposited this year. This process will continue until the girl passes 12th class. And after passing the 12th grade, they will be able to invest in a business or further higher education with a lump sum interest.
The reason why the urban girls studying in the community schools in the city have a bank account and at least four thousand rupees are deposited in that account every year is due to the municipality's 'savings account for daughter, security for life' program. In order to increase access to education for girls studying in community schools, provide quality education, discourage child marriage, and help in building a secure future by providing financial and social security to daughters, the municipality has started 'Savings Account for Daughters, Security for Life' program in the current Fiscal Year 2077/78. Was
Under the program, the municipality has opened bank accounts of 937 girls and deposited NRs. 37.68 million at the rate of NRs. 4,000 in each account, said Dinesh Aryal, an official of the education branch. According to Aryal, 937 girls studying in 32 out of 35 community schools in the city have received this facility. In three schools, the number of locals' daughters is zero and the program has not been implemented in those schools. The number has been reduced to zero in three of them due to the criteria of city dwellers and students studying in community schools in the city to participate in the program.
In the first year of the program, a student in class 1 gets Rs 48,000 from the municipality when she reaches class 12. Now, students in class 11 will get two years' money. At the beginning of the program, a student in class 5 will get NRs 48,000 for 8 years. The amount of interest will be added to that. In the working procedure, it has been mentioned that the daughters of the permanent residents of the municipality who want to participate in the program of studying from class 1 to class 12 in the community schools of Changunarayan Municipality from the fiscal year 2077/78 should be considered as the target group.
Mayor Som Prasad Mishra also said that such a policy had to be formulated due to the policy of spending the tax money paid by the residents of Changunarayan for the benefit of the people of Changunarayan. He said that the municipality has implemented the 'Savings Account for Daughter, Security for Life' program with a definite objective. Mishra said that this would eliminate the problem of girls dropping out of school and create an environment for them to study up to class 12. Similarly, the municipality has taken the objective of increasing the number of students in community schools, preventing marriages of daughters below the age of 20 and doing something with the money collected in the future. If a student drops out of school without passing 12th class, moves to another place permanently, gets married before passing 12th class or gets married before the age of 20, she will not get the account money. The municipality believes that this will make a big leap in girls' education.
The municipality has stated that it will discourage the tendency to send the son to private but the daughter to government community school due to the existing gender discrimination in the society. "With the development of the society, the discrimination between sons and daughters has been disappearing. Such a trend is very rare in education. Students and school principals who participated in the program said that the program was positive. They are confident that the program will help ensure the future of their daughters. He said that the amount deposited by the municipality would be useful for studying above class 12.
Devi Secondary School's Principal Rajaram Chunka said that the program has brought relief to the economically weaker families. "This program was brought by Napa only last year. Within a year, our school had 90 students. This has encouraged the students to study, ”he said. He said that the parents of the students who did not meet the criteria had complained that their daughters were not included in the program. He informed that there are indications that the number of female students will increase as soon as the academic session starts this year. Ganesh Secondary School's Assistant Principal Sanubhai Rawat said that most of the students were deprived of the benefits of the program as they were from outside the district. He said that 16 girls have participated in the program at his school and will continue to do so.
