Asama’s journey back to school
In southeastern Nepal, the Supporting Adolescent Girls’ Education (SAGE) programme helps a young girl return to school and pursue her dreams
Saptari, Nepal: In Belahi Tole, in Nepal’s southeast Madhesh Province, 13-year-old Asama lives with her family. She is the second of five children in a household with no land and no steady income. To make ends meet, her father has taken work abroad, while her mother labors in the fields each day, earning around 250 rupees (approx. US$1.88) daily.
Like many girls in her community, Asama has faced many barriers in her path to education, including poverty, religious traditions, deeply ingrained social norms, and a general lack of awareness about the benefits of education.
Her parents never enrolled her in formal school, despite her eagerness to learn. Instead, she attended a local Madrasa, where she received religious instruction but missed out on foundational literacy, numeracy and transferrable skills — tools that could help break the cycle of poverty that has gripped her family for generations.
A turning point came earlier this year when Asama joined the Supporting Adolescent Girls’ Education (SAGE) programme, a government-accredited non-formal education initiative. The initiative is implemented by UNICEF and partners with support from the European Union and the Government of Finland. SAGE is designed to help out-of-school girls gain foundational learning skills, to enroll – or re-enroll – in formal education.
SAGE facilitators, who work within communities to advocate for girls’ education, visited her village and spoke with her mother, Maherum. Through patient counseling, they helped her understand the importance of formal education for girls. Encouraged by their support, Maherum agreed to let Asama join the programme.
For the next nine months, Asama dedicated herself to the sessions at the SAGE center. Despite the pressures encountered by most girls in her community — including expectations of early marriage — she remained focused.
She made remarkable progress, gaining literacy and numeracy skills while also learning about personal hygiene and the risks of harmful social norms, among other topics. Her hard work paid off when she graduated from the programme and enrolled in Grade 7 at Shree Rastriya Janata Basic School. Now, she attends school regularly, moving closer to her dream of becoming a teacher and inspiring other girls in her Muslim community.
Asama’s story is just one example of how non-formal education programmes like SAGE can change lives. Since 2019, UNICEF has supported nearly 38,000 adolescent girls across Madhesh to re-enter formal schooling through SAGE. Yet, the challenge remains vast, with more than a quarter of adolescents across Nepal still out of school.
To reach the most marginalized girls, UNICEF is working with local governments to expand such accredited non-formal learning initiatives. These programmes offer girls like Asama a chance to break free of the shackles of poverty and early marriage, and enter adulthood with the foundational skills they need to make their own choices. They are a reminder of the importance of investing in every girls’ potential, because when girls are educated and empowered, they uplift their families and communities.
To create lasting change, Nepal’s partners must continue scaling initiatives like SAGE, ensuring that every girl has the opportunity to learn, grow, and succeed.
In Nepal, a significant number of adolescent girls continue to face barriers to enrolling and staying in school. The situation extremely alarming in provinces like Madhesh, where 42 per cent of adolescents are out of school, followed by high rates in Lumbini, Sudurpaschim, and Karnali. Meanwhile, across Nepal, 45.8 per cent of out-of-school girls fall under the NEET (Not in Education, Employment, or Training) category, compared to only 21.2% for boys, highlighting a stark gender disparity that leaves girls more vulnerable to exploitation and limited future opportunities.
