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British Council gives EDGE to rural girl’s career dreams
The British council has been running a high-impact, human rights project called the British Council’s English and Digital for Girls’ Education (EDGE) in Nepal, India and Bangladesh. In Nepal, the EDGE project ran in 5 districts for 7 months from Sep 2015 – Mar 2016.
The British council has been running a high-impact, human rights project called the British Council’s English and Digital for Girls’ Education (EDGE) in Nepal, India and Bangladesh. In Nepal, the EDGE project ran in 5 districts — Kavrepalanchowk, Lalitpur, Makwanpur, Gulmi, and Arghakhanchi — for 7 months from September 2015 to March 2016.
At the culmination of the 7 month period, on April 16, a 26-minute long documentary — Bridging the Gap: English and Digital for Girls’ Education — capturing how the project has made a difference in the lives of girls in Nepal, Bangladesh and India premiered on April 16 at Hotel Radisson, Lazimpat.
Following the vision of director Tsering Rhitar Sherpa, the film showcases the rise of confidence in adolescent girls from rural areas and their happy parents and how both the students and their parents are hopeful for a bright future.
Talking about the project Rhona Brown, Head of Programmes, British Council shared, “Our programme focused on raising awareness about the need of education to girls. And we have completed our first phase and we are hopeful that we will have it’s second phase where we expect the participant girls will have better access to opportunities, and are empowered through the skills they learnt from the project.”
Moreover, panel debate on ‘Girls’ EDGE Skills’ was held at the event. The panelist included Khagraj Baral, Director General, Department of Education; Educationist Prof Dr Bidya Nath Koirala; Senior Prof Dr Susan Acharya of Tribhuvan University and representative of Restless Development Kajal Pradhan. They discussed how cultural and social factors like menstruation, child marriage, early marriage, et cetera affect girls’ education.
These panelists also talked about the importance of changing teaching methodologies, enhancing the quality of education and creating bridge between teachers and parents for improving quality of education. Prof Dr Koirala focused on the need of teachers’ motivation for students’ better future. And Baral pointed out that “girl students from marginalised group get to study if only those who can afford education disclaim the advantage of free education”.
The event also featured a photo exhibition by photographer Thomas Kelly who captured the participants’ learning moments during EDGE project.