Many I/NGOs have been found to show interest in contributing to girl’s education, especially the marginalised ones from the developing world. Nepal being one of the least developed with significant gender disparity, it is quite obvious that there is ample scope in this. However, in this regard, it becomes imperative to first question what barriers the marginalised girls from Nepal face in the process of getting education. Moreover, it is equally important to explore what kind of supports I/NGOs can best provide to these marginalised girls for their education.

This paper is written based on the master’s research during the authors M.Sc. course in International Development from the University of Manchester. This research focuses on the theme of providing educational support to marginalised girls through I/NGOs and tries to explore the main challenges in the process and make some suggestions for improving the current status.

This has been carried out through literature review on the topic at the global and national level as well as through primary data collection from interviews with suitable informants. Face-to-face and Skype interviews were conducted with education experts from Nepal and concerned project staffs and beneficiaries of the selected case. Information collected from these various sources were critically analysed and profoundly discussed. Finally, conclusions have been drawn and the recommendations have been made.

The research throws light on the challenges faced by I/NGOs in providing education to marginalised girls. It shows how education is influenced by a complex range of interconnected factors. It also reveals the challenges for including marginalised girls in education both within classrooms and outside the school gates, within families and communities. It also extracts some of the conclusions drawn and lessons learned from the experiences of Nepal and more specifically from the STEM project during the last three years of its support to marginalised girls in Kailali district of Nepal. Based on all these different sources of information, it even makes some specific recommendations focusing on all the actors in the educational community and the different elements of the educational sector. These recommendations include multiple strategies addressing the different level. Thus, for example, at the national level, suggestions have been made for poverty reduction and employment generation; at the district level, establishment of all-girls schools and development of grade-specific tests to test the learning has been suggested while, at the local level, expansion of Parents for Quality Education (P4QE), SLC support and other vocational trainings has been suggested.

Keywords:  education, marginalised girls, I/NGO support, multiple strategies, Nepal.