Equal participation of students from poor, rich backgrounds helps beat inequality

Kathmandu– The sense of inclusion and non-discrimination is high among students of those schools ensuring the equal participation of students from rich and poor economic backgrounds.

The research project entitled 'social development and social change in Nepal' ongoing in the education sector shows that it is necessary to bring students from both backgrounds together to make then unlearn the feelings of discrimination, biasness, inappropriate behaviour and social exclusion by developing the feelings of social inclusion among them.

The existence of community based and private schools has promoted the discrimination between the rich and poor. Moreover, in highly mixed schools, students from relatively richer backgrounds are more inclusive towards students from poorer backgrounds.

The present research, the joint efforts of Dr Jeanine Grutter, principal investigator from the University of Zurich, Sandesh Dhakal, collaborator from the Tribhuvan University, Prof Melanie Killen, collaborator of the University of Maryland are based on 764 students in Lalitpur district.

The finding of the research is that the ongoing provision of scholarship to students from poor backgrounds is significantly more effective to promote inclusion if the school has a highly diverse composition in terms of students from poor and rich backgrounds.

In schools, where there are 30-50 percent of students from poor background who receive a scholarship, poor students perceive significantly more positive social interaction in schools with only few students from poor backgrounds (10-15 as defined by government rules). -----