Ensuring the Right to Education of Children in Nepal

Abstract

Nepal experienced Maoist insurgency spanning 10 years from 1996 to 2006. The effects of the urest on the right to education were felt mostly due to the enrolment of children in armed conflicts as soldiers. To counteract these threats to the right to education, the Schools as Zones of Peace (SZOP) campaigned at initiating strategic interventions towards the government and the Maoist party to protect children’s right to receive education. I applied the narrative inquiry to explore the role of SZOPs in ensuring children’s right to education in conflict situations. The main aim of SZOP programme is to establish peace and decrease violence so that education can be sustained. This research revealed that SZOP strategies ensured the maintenance of children’s rights to education by securing their safe access to education. As a result, the government of Nepal officially supported this initiative. Both SZOP and Children as Zones of Peace (CZOP) programmes significantly helped in mitigating the adverse effects of armed conflicts on schools.