Isn’t it too early to drop out of school? A study of girls’ education in the Chepang community of Nepal

Abstract

This thesis examines the problem of girls’ illiteracy in one of the poorest and most disadvantaged indigenous communities of Nepal – the Chepang community. The problem of education in this community is very serious, since a significant portion of its members have never been to school and can neither read nor write. The vast majority of uneducated Chepangs are women. The aim of the thesis is to find the factors that have the most influence on the Chepang girls’ dropping out of school at a young age, to examine the impact of these obstacles, and to identify the most influential one/ones. The research is based on data collected during my fieldwork in Nepal and is attempting to answer the research question: What are the main factors that hold the Chepang girls back from education? It has relied on qualitative interviews and observation as methods of data collection, and analyzed with the help of thick description as a theoretical framework. The main findings of the thesis show that the most influential factor that holds the Chepang girls back from education and a reason for their dropping out of schools are the traditional settings of their community.