I was introduced to CLA during the year zero of the South Asian Assessment Alliance: Communicating and Collaborating for change project, when I worked as a research intern at Street Child of Nepal to conduct a landscape analysis of learning assessments in Nepal. Not having worked in the education sector but having been the product of the education system of Nepal, understanding the problems faced in the education sector was quite comprehensible but being unaware of the solutions, I was attracted to this project since the project aimed to provide solutions for quality learning. This was when I learned about the Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) Citizen-led Assessment (CLA) in Nepal and globally as well.

The ASER’s hands-on experience was exciting, daunting yet inspiring. I got involved in all the assessment processes and activities both directly and indirectly. I feel fortunate enough to be engaged in this ASER 2022 cycle from the very beginning till the end. My involvement in CLA started with numerous literature reviews on citizen-led assessments and ASER reports from different countries. Then slowly I started exploring the current school curriculum, and textbook analysis of different grades 1, 2, and 3 particularly Math, English, and Nepali.

I underwent many question-and-answer sessions with my Program Manager to understand the process and to understand why we were doing what we were doing. There were training sessions organized by ASER Center (India), a pioneer in the ASER process, which further helped me to clarify some of my questions. The different training and learning modules were key to the ASER process and the materials and explanations provided by the trainer were informative and useful to implement in the context of Nepal.

We then developed the Testing Tools which were tested and retested in the field through pre-pilot and pilot assessments. I had not realized that developing testing tools was a repetitive test, and several rounds of revisions. But in the end, it was all well worth it since, in the final testing tool, we knew what the things we would be including and what we would be excluding.

When the testing tools were developed, I thought that the hardest part was over but it was not. Organizing training for volunteers in the community and collecting data in the rural areas of Nepal were one of the hardest parts of the ASER process. It was hardest because one needs to be wary of the local context. One of my major learnings is the importance of coordination with local education institutions and government, especially universities, to gather volunteers required for the ASER.  Recruiting, training, and mobilizing youths from the local level for assessment and survey also gives them hands-on experience to work in research and data collection. In addition to that, familiarity with the locality also supports them in data collection. The assessment experience in their community also provides them the knowledge of the situation of foundational learning in their locality.

After the data collection, we entered data in the system that needed to be checked, rechecked, and verified. The training provided by the ASER Center (India) came in handy to verify our data where needed. Later, we discussed back and forth, brainstorming on the required information that would be interesting and relevant to analysis and data presentation. After data analysis, we started working on report writing. For this, we also had several rounds of consultations with experts, brainstorming topics, and tables to be included and excluded in the report. We had the plan to disseminate the report in the rural municipality. We needed to present and write the report in simple language with a simple design for local people to understand.

After the report was completed, we thought dissemination in rural municipalities would be easier, but it was otherwise. Some of the leaders of the rural municipalities had difficulty accepting the results since they had not expected that the learning level would be so low. Plus, we also learned that engaging local authorities from the beginning of the ASER process would make report dissemination and the process easier. In our case in one of the rural municipalities, a change of leadership took place so the new leader was not aware of our process and so, when we went for report dissemination, the leader along with other local authorities asked us many questions about ASER and its process and finally agreed to give us time to talk about the report. Therefore, local authorities must be engaged in some way in the ASER process so that these authorities feel ownership of the evidence that is generated. The evidence on foundational learning status can also act as a basis for policy formulation for quality learning at the local level, hence their ownership of ASER is critical.

Through these various processes of ASER, I feel that I have become more skillful in conducting ASER in the future. I understand ASER fully, and engaging in various processes has further developed my analytical, reporting, research, and coordination skills. I am glad to be part of the assessment process as part of this project. The process has not only built the capacity of local volunteers and master trainers on CLA but has also developed my capacities in doing background work for ASER which is equally rigorous yet gratifying.

 As I am almost at the end of my 6 months internship with Galli Galli, I would like to share my experience. I applied for this internship with the objective to learn some organizational skills, teamwork, admin, finance-related work, and other professional skills required for my career and personal development.  

 While reflecting on my involvement with Galli Galli at this point, I believe that I have been able to achieve my objectives. This six-month internship has taught me about planning, giving attention to detail, analysis, documentation, writing professional emails, data entry, office management, record keeping, time management, and prioritizing to-do lists among others. On top of fine-tuning my interpersonal and organizational skills, I have also learned many more life lessons and skills from the team members whom I work with.

Apart from admin, finance, and operations, this internship has also exposed me to the world of children’s foundational learning and assessment through Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) –  Citizen-led Assessment (CLA). This has always been one of the areas of my interest. I have had great learning from this internship, and I know that I have to learn a lot more to be professional in this work sphere.

After spending time working with many different organizations, I can certainly say that Galli Galli has been a unique learning experience for me. It is an interesting with the combination of learning and working that helps employees to be versatile. My deepest appreciation and gratitude to Ms. Pramila Bisunke and Mrs. Jasmine Shakya for guiding, motivating, and supporting me at every step, as well as providing me with a warm and welcoming environment during the internship period. At the end I would like to say that the internship here for this short period of time has sharpened me for my personal life and professional career. 

Manisha Gahatraj

कर्णाली प्रदेश अन्तर्गत ५ ओटा जिल्लाका  ५ ओटा पालिकामा असर नेपाल र गल्ली गल्लीको संयुक्त पहलमा समुदायमा बालबालिकाहरुको सिकाई उपलब्धि मापनको लागि दिईएको तालिममा म पनि सहभागी हुन पाउँदा सर्वप्रथम धन्यवाद दिन चाहन्छु।    

यो तालिमको क्रममा नेपाल तथा अन्य देश विदेशमा रहेका नागरिकहरुले आफ्नै नेतृत्वमा गरिने सिकाई उपलब्धि मापनका विधिहरु के कस्ता छन् भनी प्रशिक्षक सर तथा मेमहरुले तीन दिनसम्म लगातार छलफल र फिल्डमा गएर गर्नु पर्ने सम्पूर्ण कार्यहरुको जानकारी गराउनु भयो त्यो अभ्यास मार्फत म आफैमा यस असर जस्तो कार्यसंग सम्बन्धित रहेर आफ्नो समुदायमा थुप्रै खालका काम गर्न उत्साहजनक विचारहरु सिर्जना भएका छन्।  

तालिम पश्चात म आफ्नो गाउँमा गएर सर्भेक्षण सुरु गर्नु पुर्व पालिकाको उपाध्यक्ष सहित विभिन्न सरोकारवालाहरुसंग भेटघाट गरि बालबालिकाहरुको सिकाईको अवस्थाको बारेमा व्यापक छलफल गरियो . त्यसपछि गाउँपालिकाको प्रत्येक वार्डबाट स्वयंसेवकहरु छनौट गरी जम्मा १८ जना स्वयंसेवकहरुलाई ३ दिन तालिम दियौ। त्यस पश्चात् गाउँमा सिकाई मापन सर्भेक्षण गराउन स्वयंसेवक खटाइयो । त्यस क्रममा हामी आफैंले सर्भेक्षण अनुगमन गर्न गयौं। सर्भेक्षण सिकाई उपलब्धि मापन सकेर आएको तथ्यांकको आधारमा त्यसको प्रारम्भिक प्रतिवेदन वार्ड न ५ का वार्ड अध्यक्ष जस्बिर ओलीज्युको अध्यक्षतामा र शिक्षा शाखा प्रमुख मान बहादुर बस्नेतज्युको  प्रमुख आतिथ्यतामा सिकाइ उपलब्धि मापन नतिजा सम्बन्धी  छलफल पनि भयो।

प्रमुख अतिथिहरुकै हातबाट सर्भेक्षणमा सहभागी स्वयंसेवकहरुलाई प्रमाण पत्र वितरण गरियो । हाम्रो पालिकामा सिकाइ उपलब्धी को अवस्था साह्रै न्यून रहेको यस सर्भेक्षणले देखाएको छ । यस कार्यक्रम पश्चात फेरी पनि पालिकामा सबै टिमसंग बसेर कार्यक्रम राम्रो रहेको र यसलाई अझै निरन्तरता दिने उहाँहरुले प्रतिबद्धता जनाउनु भएको छ। अन्तमा यस तालिममा सहभागी हुँदाका क्रममा सरल तथा सहजताका साथ मापन सामग्री तथा सम्पूर्ण सर्भेक्षणका बारेमा खुल्ला रुपमा तालिम प्रदान गर्नुहुने प्रमिला मेम, ललित सर, राजिब सर र अरुण सरलाई विशेष धन्यवाद ज्ञापन गर्दछुं।

सम्पुर्णमा मेरो नमस्कार !

सर्बप्रथम त म यस असर नेपालले एउटा अनुसन्धान विधिलाई नेपालमा संचालनमा ल्याउनुहुने टोलीलाई हृदय देखिनै धन्यवाद दिन चाहान्छु। किन भने यो असर नेपालले बालबालिकाहरुको सिकाई र सिकाईमा गरेका उपलब्धिहरु मापन सम्बन्धि धेरै कुराको जानकारी लिन सकियो ! सिकाई उपलब्धिमा रहेका असहजको कुराको मापन गरि कसरी सहज तर्फ लैजाने भन्ने कुराको महत्त्व बुझियो ।हाम्रो सामुदायमा बालबालिकाहरुले नेपाली, गणित ,अङ्ग्रेजी विषयहरुको पढाईको अवस्था कस्तो रहेछ त भन्ने कुरा र सिकाईमा गरेको उपलब्धि कसरी थाहा पाउन सकिन्छ र यसलाई कसरी मापन गर्न सकिन्छ भन्ने कुराहरु हामीले यस असर नेपालले दिएको ३ दिने तालिम बाट धेरै कुरा थाहा पाउन सकियो। यो तालिममा सहभागी हुन पाउँदा धेरै खुसी छु र अरु अझै धेरै बालबालिकाहरुलाई समेट्न पाएको भए झनै राम्रो हुने थियो भन्ने कुराको महसुस भईराखेको छ। यो कार्यक्रम मलाई धेरै नै राम्रो लागेको छ। र हजुर हरुले यो कार्यक्रम कर्णाली प्रदेशको ५ वटै जिल्लामा ल्याउनु हुनेछ भन्ने पुर्ण आशा राखेको छु। र यो असर नेपाल कर्णाली प्रदेशका विकट जिल्लाहरु सर्भेक्षणको सुरुवात गर्नु हुने टोलीको राजिब तिमल्सिना ,गल्ली गल्ली नामक गैह्रनाफामुलक संस्था, रोशन पोखरेल, प्रमिला बिसुके, ललित जंग शाही सर मेम सबै जनालाई मेरो पुनः धन्यवाद दिन चहान्छु ।

“Tell me & I will forget. Show me & I may remember. Involve me & I will understand.” Confucius 450BC.

It’s an honor and great pleasure for allowing me to take part in Early Learning & Literacy and Numeracy Assessment (ELANA).  It’s astonishing how people are capable of thinking over the hedge and ELANA has made me feel it.  Usually we live only for ourselves here and now but this project is futuristic which commits to upcoming generation.  The ELANA, which is being implemented in middle income global south countries including Nepal that requires direct child assessment. This is my first fresh experience which has forged a new meaning on classroom theory.  Many people asked me if this was related to my work or education and I answered ‘NO’ then again ‘Why, what do you gain?’ Because I want to step out of my boundary and try new. So, this opportunity gave me something new that’s out of my everyday personal and professional life by linking with new people, places, scope with different human approach and aids me as research student. Confronting entirely unknown people from different field was like chalk and cheese. Being a critical care nurse for past 7years I’ve learned much to handle life and death as being around children is not viable but the moment I got indulged, I was able to enjoy my time with children more than expected, also realized that harmonizing children is just as challenging.  I salute all teachers who spend every day with children because its oodles of effort and patience required to blend with them.  As a surveyor of ELANA field trial 1, conducting digital assessment on tablet felt much easy and effective. Children seemed keen to participate with us.  The booklets were child friendly and attractive. Though it requires few changes and all the surveyors have given feedback, it was appropriate and well-built set for the child assessment.  I am grateful towards Ellaine Memorial School for allowing us to collect the data in the school. I am not sure if I have actually been able to fully meet the objective of FT 1 or not, it surely was a step for me to build my experience, confidence and knowledge in the field of child assessment. My heartfelt gratitude to Rotaract Club a local partner in this initiation, ASER Nepal hosted by Galli Galli and all my fellow surveyors from the ELANA team. Many regards to Rajib Timalsina sir for your motivational briefing and Pramila sis for your valuable guidance and support throughout the survey process.

Thank you.

(केनिशा अधिकारी, कक्षा–७, सेन्ट जेभिर्यस स्कुल, जावलाखेलमा अध्ययनरत छिन्)

‘महिनावारी भएकै कारणले पोहोर साल मैले दसैंमा टीका लाउन पाइनँ,’ कक्षा सातमा पढ्ने एक विद्यार्थीले भनिन्।

एक गैरसरकारी संस्थाले आयोजना गरेको भर्चुअल कार्यक्रममा उनले त्यस्तो भनाइ राखिरहँदा मेरो मन अमिलियो। ९ देखि १६ वर्षका बालिकाहरू सहभागी उक्त कार्यक्रममा महिलालाई समाजले बुझ्ने र हेर्ने दृष्टिकोण लगायत यसका चुनौतीका बारेमा पनि छलफल गराइएको थियो। अझै पनि महिनावारीलाई प्राकृतिक प्रक्रियाका रूपमा मात्र स्वीकार्न सकिरहेको अवस्था छैन।

नेपालको विभिन्न भूभाग खासगरी पश्चिमभेगमा निकै जरो गाडेर बसेको यो परम्पराले आधुनिक सहरको पहिचान बोकेको राजधानीलाई समेत छोड्न सकेको छैन। विश्वकै शक्तिशाली मुलुक अमेरिकाको एक सहरमा रहेकी मेरी आफन्त दिदीलाई पनि महिनावारी हुँदा ११ दिन लुकाइएको सुनेकी थिएँ।

मेरो महिनावारी हुनुअघि नै त्यो सुन्दा म छक्क पर्दै मामुबाबासँग किन यसो गरिन्छ भनेर सोधेकी थिएँ। संसारको जुनसुकै कुनामा भए पनि खासगरी हाम्रो समाजलाई पुरातन र रुढीवादी सोचले छाडेको छैन भन्ने भान मलाई भयो।

‘सधैं झैं घरमै सानोतिनो पूजा लगाएर मेरो जन्मदिन मनाउने चलन छ। तर यसपालि महिनावारी भएकै कारण यो अवसर गुम्यो,’ अर्की एक सहभागीको पीडा थियो।

यी प्रतिनिधि मात्र हुन्। यस्ता धेरै उदाहरण हाम्रो समाजमा छन्। अझ मेरी मामु, अन्य मेरा नातेदारका अग्रजका कुरा सम्झिँदा पनि आङ नै जिरिंग भएर आउँछ।

महिनावारीलाई अझै पनि लाज र शरमको विषय बनाएर खुलेआम कुरा गर्ने वातावरण बनिसकेको छैन। यदि महिनावारी लाजको विषय हो र महिलालाई महिनावारी नै नहुँदो हो त के सृष्टि सम्भव छ त? यो सोचनीय विषय हो।

साधारण रुघाखोकी जस्तै गरी यो विषयलाई लिने हो भने यो त महिलाको अभिन्न अंश नै हो। यस विषयलाई महिलाले मात्र नभई हरेक पुरुषले पनि बुझ्नु र बुझाउनु उत्तिकै जरुरी छ। हुन त, प्रायः घरमा समेत स्यानिटरी प्याड देखिने गरी राखिँदैन। र उक्त प्याड किन्ने बेलामा पसलमा केटा मानिस नभएको अवस्था पारेर र सकेसम्म पत्रिकाले बेरेर ल्याउने गरिन्छ।

महिनावारीकै कारण दैनिक जीवन नै प्रभावित हुनु र साधारण सेवाबाट वन्चित हुनु भनेको महिलाको अधिकार खोसिए बराबर हो।

विगत केही समयदेखि महिनावारीलाई समाजले हेर्ने दृष्टिकोणमा विस्तारै परिवर्तन भने देखिन थालेको छ। सबैले आआफ्नो तर्फबाट परिवर्तन ल्याउन सम्भव पनि छ।

संयुक्त परिवारमा जन्मेर हुर्किँदै गरेकी म ११ वर्षकी हुँदा पहिलो पटक महिनावारी भएँ। चेतनाको कुनै कमी थिएन। तर, पनि मनको कुनै कुनामा थियो कतै हजुरबा र हजुरआमाले पुरानै परम्परा पछ्याउँदै अँध्यारो कोठामा धेरै दिन पो लुकाउनु हुन्छ कि?

२१ औं शताब्दीमा आएर पनि यस्तो परम्परागत सोच विस्तारै हटाउँदै लानुपर्छ भन्दै मेरो हजुरबा-हजुरआमा स्वयंले मेरो महिनावारीलाई सामान्य रूपमा लिनुभयो। फलस्वरुप मैले ती दिनहरू उहाँहरूकै काखमा बसीबसी अन्य दिनसरह बिताएँ।

तर पनि मन्दिर र भान्छा भने सात दिनका लागि बन्द नै रहे मेरा लागि। विस्तारै यो सोच पनि परिवर्तन हुनेछ भन्नेमा म विश्वस्त छु। किनकी एकै पटकको परिवर्तन असम्भव झैं लाग्छ। र, यसले विद्रोहलाई निम्त्याउन पनि सक्छ।

महिनावारी भएका महिलालाई सहज वातावरण बनाइदिन उल्लेख्य रूपमा केही गर्न पर्दैन। मेरो घरमा जस्तै सहज वातावरण तय गरिदिनुको साथै बाहिर पनि पर्याप्त सार्वजनिक शौचालय, पर्याप्त पानी र सम्भव छ भने प्याड उपलब्ध गरादिने हो भने रुढिवादी अवस्था स्वतः परिवर्तन हुँदै जाने देख्छु।

विद्यालयमा महिनावारी बारे दिइएको शिक्षाले पहिलो महिनावारीमा मलाई सहज बनाएको थियो। यस्तै सहज म जस्ता अन्यले पनि पाउनुपर्छ।

By Ian Attfield, DFID Senior Education Adviser, Girls Education Challenge

It’s been a pleasure to see the PAL Network evolve and grow over the past decade, the strength of the network particularly evident at the 2019 Conference, jointly hosted by ASER Pakistan and ASER Nepal in Kathmandu, Nepal. PAL members conduct painstaking work to identify, at scale, what children actually learn and can do. Network members then use this data as a powerful rights, advocacy, and most importantly, action platform to improve learning. The UK has been a major supporter of the network and their members for a number of years. I was fortunate to support the work of Uwezo in East Africa up to 2016, which really helped to drive the importance of basic numeracy and literacy up the government’s agenda in Tanzania. Now it’s a pleasure to be involved with a new emerging PAL member ASER Nepal, that is scaling learning assessment approaches in Province Two of Nepal, through UKAID Direct’s support to Street Child.

While Nepal has demonstrated great progress in expanding education and equitable access since the civil war that ended around 2007, the country is still vulnerable to earthquakes, annual flooding and now the global COVID-19 pandemic.  Although Nepal has reported a low number of COVID-19 cases, the pandemic has had enormous socio-economic impacts due to the collapse of its tourism and remittance-worker driven economy. Schools in Nepal have been suspended since 18 March and a country-wide lockdown came into effect with all-but essential services closed down.

The Girls Education Challenge Marginalised No More project was set-up to support up to 7,500 of Nepal’s highly marginalised Musahar girls who, due to their low-caste, face complex, often interrelated barriers and experience limited or no access to education. The project aims to improve learning outcomes, focusing on functional literacy and numeracy to gain employment, and tackle obstacles the girls face, such as fears for safety and early marriage. rapid needs assessment found that all families had experienced a loss of income and 79% had received no support. The overwhelming response was that the food insecurity situation was critical, and in some cases Musahar families had been left off distribution lists owing to prejudice over their ‘Dalit’ caste status.

As the world is rocked by the seismic forces of the COVID-19 pandemic, the fundamentals of the pre-existing global ‘Learning Crisis’ remain. PAL Network members must continue to conduct household-based learning assessments to measure the learning of all children, as well as supporting action to improve learning, allowing children to learn at their own level and pace – particularly in contexts where classes are disrupted and basic needs such as food and protection, are not met.

The ASER Nepal 2019 survey, conducted in tandem with the government of Province Two, in the Southern part of Nepal bordering the Indian state of Bihar, identified familiar trends of:

1. Very low learning levels, compared to Grade-level expectations, especially for girls;

2. Around 1 in 10 girls (roughly 10%) are out-of-school.

A unique advantage of citizen-led assessment surveys is the sheer scale of children tested, both in- and out-of-school. The data provides a more accurate picture of children’s learning, but also drills down into indicators of multiple and inherited disadvantage, such as gender, caste, poverty and disability differences. This creates a powerful basis for designing simple, level-based activities to improve learning, such as the award winning Teaching at the Right Level approach pioneered by Pratham, and spreading throughout Africa and beyond with Nobel Prize-winning support.

A priority to make PAL Network assessment even more impactful is the ability to map or align these to the emerging SDG-4 Learning indicators that track international progress. There are many other similar assessments, usually school based, for example the Early Grade Reading/Maths Assessments EGRA/EGMA.

To help make results comparable and map on UNESCO’s Global Proficiency Framework, the recent initiative taken by the PAL Network to develop the   open-source tool is far-sighted. Metrics of learning have traditionally proven difficult to compare and track over time and geography.

Time will tell how quickly nations and local communities can ‘Build Back Better’ from the COVID-19 pandemic and deliver on the SDG 4 promise of inclusive and education quality for all, but I’m reassured to witness the growing scope and sophistication of PAL Network’s mission and operations to tackle what the World Bank has termed Learning Poverty. For girls such as these I met, pre-lockdown in Musahar communities near to the Nepal – India border, education remains the surest long-term route from discrimination, early marriage and inter-generational poverty.

©Ian Attfield 2020. Please note that opinions in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of DFID or other organisations mentioned.

By Pramila Bisunke, Project Manager-Galli Galli

When I (first) heard the title of the project (Examining the Interpretation of Civic National Values made by young people in Nepal and Kenya), I was literally perplexed thinking what this is really about.

My role at Changing the Story

In this particular project I was responsible for administration and documentation. I started by going through the documents about changing the story, program content particularly in case of Nepal and its projects in different countries such as Kenya, Zimbabwe, Colombia, Rwanda, Kosovo and Cambodia etc. We were supposed to pilot (our project) in two schools; one rural and one urban. (My role involved) communicating with the schools and (translating) the documents we had about the project: about Changing the Story, information sheets, consent forms for children and lesson plans for teachers etc. needed to be translated from English to Nepali for field work preparation. It was only through doing this I got the gist of what we were supposed to do while simultaneously still wondering how it (would) work. (I started to) document planning meetings, seminars in Tribhuvan University, sessions in schools and review meetings. I prepared meeting notes and disseminated among the people involved in the project and my understanding about project got even better.

I grew up in such school environment where I just sit on the bench and listen to the teacher. Even today, I believe more than half of the schools follow the same teaching method. I will not say this method of teaching is the best in today’s context. Because the concept of teaching and learning is not only limited to student listening and teacher speaking, it is now more about (the) participation of students and using various artistic methods to learn as well as apply the learning better in life.

Working on the documents in our own local language gave me the concept of new methods in teaching along with the use of technology i.e. Ipad. During the fieldwork when I engaged in the activities (I saw) fun group work among students, their own lessons on community and moral education from their course book, reflections on their actual concept of community, living in harmony, equality regardless of gender, background, caste, culture and profession. Moreover, their capacity to reflect their thoughts into community context through arts such as drama, poetry and songs were amazing. It was all smiles on their faces after the activities.

I believe such projects need to be demonstrated in as many schools and countries as possible to adapt the teaching methods in schools. In addition to that, the teachers should be trained in such a way that the learning can be fun rather than memorizing the textbook. This will be a major educational change if we can adapt the teaching methods to the present context of post conflict settings. Particularly in post conflict because people have been displaced or migrated from one place to another, therefore the society is more mixed up in between rural and urban, people from different backgrounds. As the title says Changing the Story, it might help young people to learn about respect, harmony, peace, equality, non-discrimination from the schooling age in more practical ways that they learned through their own engagement.

कामको सिलसिलामा श्रम तथा रोजगार विभाग जाने मौका जुर्यो | तीनकुनेमा अवस्थित श्रम विभाग सोद्धै खोज्दै पुग्दा, नदीको किनारमा रहेको उक्त विभाग प्ररिसरमा छिरेका मात्र थियौ, त्यहाको अस्तव्यस्तताले मनलाई चिरा पार्यो | भवन भित्र पस्दा अगन्तुकहरूले गरेको फोहोर देख्दा हामी नेपालीहरु नैतिक शिक्षाको विषयमा जानकार नभएको जस्तो लग्यो | आनुशासन हिन हामी नेपालीहरुले सेवा लिने ठाउँलाई पनि पान खाएर थुक्ने स्थानको रुपमा परिवर्तन गरेको देख्दा नेपाली हुनुमा अत्मग्ल्यानी महसुस भयो |

जब हामी भर्यांग चढेर भवनको माथिल्लो तल्लामा पुग्यौ, सेवाग्राहीको सेवाको लागि बसेका कर्मचारीहरुको व्यवहार देख्दा मन दुख्यो | पहिलो चोटी गएको र त्यहाको सेवाको बारेमा जानकारि माग्दा जनताको सेवाका लागि बसेका कर्मचारी बोल्न पनि पैसा लाग्ने जस्तो व्यहोरा गर्दा रहेछन | सेवाग्राहीले सोधेको जिज्ञासा मेटाउनुको साटो यिनीहरु यहाँ नआइदिए हुन्थ्यो जस्तो गर्दा रहेछन | लिन गएको जानकारी हासिल नभए पछि त्यहीका एक कर्मचारीले यहाको अफिसको केहि भाग ताहाचलमा रहेको हुँदा, त्यहाँ जान सुझाए |

उनले बताए अनुसार भोलि पल्ट म र साथी सोल्टिमोडमा अवस्थित कार्यालय पुग्यौ | ताहाचलको बाटो भरी विदेश जान हतारिएका युवाहरुको लर्को देखेर लाग्यो, हाम्रो नेपालको भविष्य के होला ? भानिन्छ, देशको मेरुदण्ड भनेका युवाहरु हुन् | तर हाम्रो देशका युवा रोजगारीको अभावमा दिनहुँ विदेसीन बाध्य छन् | विदेसिनेको ताती देख्दा एकछिन त मलाई हाम्रो देशको सरकारसँग पनि रिस नउठेको होइन | आफ्नो नागरिकलाई रोजगारीको प्रत्याभूति दिनु हरेक सरकारको दयित्व हो भन्ने मलाई लाग्छ |

तर, यो कुरामा हाम्रो सरकार चुकेको छ | सोहि दिन बिहान म त्यहाँ जानकारी हासिल गर्ने उदेश्यले पुग्दा एक प्रहरी, जो कार्यालयको ढोकामा तैनाथ थिए, लाईन औधि लामो र सेवाग्राहीको भिड ज्यादै भएको कारण दर्साइ भित्र प्रवेशमा रोक लगाए | फेरी त्यस ठाउँमा जादा पनि प्रवेशमा सहजता नपाउनुका साथै जानकारी संकलन गर्ने क्रममा त्यहाका कर्मचारीबाट पनि सहयोगको भावना नपाएपछि, त्यही भेटिएका एक सेवाग्राहीले हामीले खोजेको जानकारी दिनुका साथै थप जानकारी चाहिएमा भेट्नको लागि आफ्नो भिजिटिंग कार्ड दिदै सहयोगको आश्वासन दिनुभयो | फर्कने क्रममा, त्यही कर्मचारीको रुपमा कार्यरत अजय यादवबाट पनि श्रम स्वीकृतिको बारेमा धेरै जानकारी हासिल गर्न सफल भयौ | यसरी, श्रम तथा रोजगार विभागमा श्रम स्वीकृतिको बारेमा बुझ्न जादा केहि मिठा र केहि नमीठा अनुभव भए |

कामको सिलसिलामा श्रम तथा रोजगार विभाग जाने मौका जुर्यो | तीनकुनेमा अवस्थित श्रम विभाग सोद्धै खोज्दै पुग्दा, नदीको किनारमा रहेको उक्त विभाग प्ररिसरमा छिरेका मात्र थियौ, त्यहाको अस्तव्यस्तताले मनलाई चिरा पार्यो | भवन भित्र पस्दा अगन्तुकहरूले गरेको फोहोर देख्दा हामी नेपालीहरु नैतिक शिक्षाको विषयमा जानकार नभएको जस्तो लग्यो | आनुशासन हिन हामी नेपालीहरुले सेवा लिने ठाउँलाई पनि पान खाएर थुक्ने स्थानको रुपमा परिवर्तन गरेको देख्दा नेपाली हुनुमा अत्मग्ल्यानी महसुस भयो |

जब हामी भर्यांग चढेर भवनको माथिल्लो तल्लामा पुग्यौ, सेवाग्राहीको सेवाको लागि बसेका कर्मचारीहरुको व्यवहार देख्दा मन दुख्यो | पहिलो चोटी गएको र त्यहाको सेवाको बारेमा जानकारि माग्दा जनताको सेवाका लागि बसेका कर्मचारी बोल्न पनि पैसा लाग्ने जस्तो व्यहोरा गर्दा रहेछन | सेवाग्राहीले सोधेको जिज्ञासा मेटाउनुको साटो यिनीहरु यहाँ नआइदिए हुन्थ्यो जस्तो गर्दा रहेछन | लिन गएको जानकारी हासिल नभए पछि त्यहीका एक कर्मचारीले यहाको अफिसको केहि भाग ताहाचलमा रहेको हुँदा, त्यहाँ जान सुझाए |

उनले बताए अनुसार भोलि पल्ट म र साथी सोल्टिमोडमा अवस्थित कार्यालय पुग्यौ | ताहाचलको बाटो भरी विदेश जान हतारिएका युवाहरुको लर्को देखेर लाग्यो, हाम्रो नेपालको भविष्य के होला ? भानिन्छ, देशको मेरुदण्ड भनेका युवाहरु हुन् | तर हाम्रो देशका युवा रोजगारीको अभावमा दिनहुँ विदेसीन बाध्य छन् | विदेसिनेको ताती देख्दा एकछिन त मलाई हाम्रो देशको सरकारसँग पनि रिस नउठेको होइन | आफ्नो नागरिकलाई रोजगारीको प्रत्याभूति दिनु हरेक सरकारको दयित्व हो भन्ने मलाई लाग्छ |

तर, यो कुरामा हाम्रो सरकार चुकेको छ | सोहि दिन बिहान म त्यहाँ जानकारी हासिल गर्ने उदेश्यले पुग्दा एक प्रहरी, जो कार्यालयको ढोकामा तैनाथ थिए, लाईन औधि लामो र सेवाग्राहीको भिड ज्यादै भएको कारण दर्साइ भित्र प्रवेशमा रोक लगाए | फेरी त्यस ठाउँमा जादा पनि प्रवेशमा सहजता नपाउनुका साथै जानकारी संकलन गर्ने क्रममा त्यहाका कर्मचारीबाट पनि सहयोगको भावना नपाएपछि, त्यही भेटिएका एक सेवाग्राहीले हामीले खोजेको जानकारी दिनुका साथै थप जानकारी चाहिएमा भेट्नको लागि आफ्नो भिजिटिंग कार्ड दिदै सहयोगको आश्वासन दिनुभयो | फर्कने क्रममा, त्यही कर्मचारीको रुपमा कार्यरत अजय यादवबाट पनि श्रम स्वीकृतिको बारेमा धेरै जानकारी हासिल गर्न सफल भयौ | यसरी, श्रम तथा रोजगार विभागमा श्रम स्वीकृतिको बारेमा बुझ्न जादा केहि मिठा र केहि नमीठा अनुभव भए |

दिउँसोको लगभग साढे १२ देखि १ बजे सम्मको हाराहारीमा म ट्याम्पूबाट गौशालामा उत्रिए | गौशाला क्षेत्र एकदमै भिड हुने र जहाँ पनि पान खाएर थुकेको देख्दा मलाई यो क्षेत्रमा जान नपरेनी हुन्थ्यो जस्तो लाग्छ | गाडीहरुबाट आएको चर्का-चर्का हर्नको आवाज, गाडी कुरेर बसेको यात्रीलाई खलासीहरुले आ-आफ्नो गाडीमा लान गरेको होडबाजी आदि देख्दा मनैदेखि दिक्क लगेर आउँछ | जस्तो दिक्क लागेपनि काम परेपछि जानुनै पर्ने रहेछ |

म गल्ली-गल्लीको कामले गौशाला स्थित कर कार्यालयमा जानु परेको थियो | “सरकारी काम” यो शब्द सुन्दै झन्झटिलो हुन्छ होला भन्ने मानसिकता हामी सबै जनामा हुन्छ | म पनि अलि झ्याउ मान्दै आफ्नो गन्तव्यतर्फ लागिरहेकी थिएँ |

बाटोमा हिंडिरहेको बेलामा एकजना दाईले बहिनी भनेर बोलाउनु भयो | केहि काम परेर कसैले बोलाउनु भयो भनेर आवाज आए तिर फर्किए | उहाँले एक मिनेटको समय माग्नु भयो | त्यसपछी मैले केहि भन्नै नापाइकन उहाँले कुनै एक संस्थाको नाम र कामहरुको बारेमा भन्न थाल्नु भयो | गाडीहरु र मान्छेहरुको भिडले गर्दा उहाँले के भन्नु भयो राम्ररी सुन्नै पाईन| उहाँले ५ मिनेटमै आफ्नो कुराहरु भनेर सक्नु भयो | उहाँको हातमा प्याम्प्लेटहरु थिए | मैले पुनः उहाँलाई के भन्नुभएको भनेर सोधे र यस पटक उहाँले अलिक ठुलो स्वरमा आफ्नो कुराहरु सविस्तार राख्नु भयो | उहाँको अनुसार त्यो संस्थाले विद्यार्थीहरुलाई नि:शुल्क तालिमहरु र छात्रवृत्ति प्रदान गर्ने रहेछ |

मलाई के लाग्यो भने अब मलाई पनि यो संस्थामा आएर यी सबै कार्यहरुमा सहभागी हुन भन्नुहुन्छ होला | हामी सबैलाई थाहा भएकै कुरा हो कि यसरी कोहि व्यक्तिहरु हामीहरु बिचमा केहि कुरा गर्न आउंछन् भने कि त्यस संस्था वा जे कुराको बारेमा भन्नुहुन्छ, त्यसमा आबद्ध हुन वा आर्थिक सहयोग गर्न हामीलाई आग्रह गर्नुहुन्छ | पछी मैले त्यो दाइलाई अब मैले के गर्नु पर्यो त भनेर सोध्दा उहाँले एउटा कलम किनेर सहयोग गर्न सक्नु हुन्छ भन्दै आफुले बोक्नू भएको झोलाबाट कलम निकाल्नु भयो | विद्यार्थी भएको कारणले कलमहरु धेरै मात्रामा किनिरहने हुनाले कुन कलमको कति रुपैयाँ पर्छ भनेर कसैले भनिराख्नु नै नपर्ने होला जस्तो लाग्छ | मनमा लग्यो कि यदी आफ्नो सानो सहयोगले कसैलाई आफ्नो क्षमता बढाउन सहयोग पुग्छ भने म किन पछी हट्ने | त्यसैले मैले आफ्नो ब्यागबाट रु. १५ निकालेर दिए | उहाँले हाँस्दै मलाई बहिनी यो कलमको १५ होइन ८० हो भन्नुभयो | उहाँको कुरा सुनेर म एकछिन तिन छक्क परे र भने तर दाई यस्तो कलमको त बाहिर पसलहरुमा रु. १५ मात्र पर्छ | यो कलम त सहयोगको लागि हामीले बेचेका हौ त्यसैले सहयोग सम्झेर किनिदिनु भए हुने थियो |

फेरी त्यो दिन मैले आफ्नो पर्स घरमै भुलेकी थिए र मसँग गल्ली-गल्लीको दिदीले दिनुभएको गाडी भाडा बाहेक कुनै पैसा थिएन | एकछिन त म के गर्नु के गर्नु भनेर सोच्न थाले | मैले भनेकी म सहयोग गर्न त चाहन्छु तर पर्स घरमै भुलेको कारणले गर्दा म सहयोग गर्न नसक्ने भए | मेरो कुरा बुझेर मलाई मेरो काम गर्न जानदिनुहुन्छ कि भन्ने कुरा मेरो दिमागमा आयो | तर मैले सोचेको ठ्याक्कै उल्टो भयो | वरपर भएका उहाँको साथीहरु आएर मलाई त्यो कलम किन्नै पर्छ भनेर जबरजस्ती मेरो हातमा भएको ब्याग तान्न थाल्नु भयो | मैले मसँग भएको सबै पैसा देखाए र यस्तो सहयोग गर्ने कुरामा त जबरजस्ती गर्नुभएन नि भनेको मात्र थिए एक जना दिदीले हात समात्दै होइन यो तपाइले किन्नै पर्छ भन्नथाल्नु भयो | मलाई उहाँहरुको समूहले एकै छिनमा घेर्नु भयो | त्यति धेरै जना र म भन्दा नि ठूलाठूला दाई दिदीहरु देखेर म केहि बोल्नै सकिन | पछी बल्लतल्ल आँट गरेर यदी सहयोग चाहिन्छ र सहयोग गर्नु नै छ भने म आफ्नो स्वेच्छाले दिन्छु भनेर रु. ३० दिएर त्यहाँबाट निस्के | एकछिन त लामो सास फेरे र जे कामको लागि आएको थिए त्यो कामतिर लागे | त्यहाँ पनि झन् ठुलो समुहमा त्यही संस्थाका व्यक्तिहरु घुम्दै हिंडिरहेको देखे | फेरी पासोमा परिने हो की भनेर म हतारहतार गरेर बाटोको अर्कै साइडबाट हिंडे | पछी फर्किदा त्यही बाटोबाट फर्के | त्यति बेलामा अघिकै समूहले एक जना अधबैंस व्यक्तिको दुवै हात समातेर सहयोग मागिरहेको देखे | यस्तो देख्दा त अत्तिनै हुन थालेछ सहयोगको नाममा भन्ने मनमा लग्यो |

सहयोग त हाम्रो राजी खुसीले, आफुले चाहिए पछि पो दिने हो त | यसरी जबरजस्ती कसैबाट केहि राम्रो कामको लागि सहयोग माग्ने प्रबृत्तिको सुरुवात कहाँ र कहिलेबाट सुरु भयो | जबरजस्ती मागिने सहयोग त चन्दा असुली सरह भैहाल्यो नि ! यस्तो जबरजस्ती सहयोग माग्दा मानसिक रुपमा पर्न सक्ने असरको बारेमा पनि सोच्नु पर्छ नि | यसरी जबरजस्ती सहयोग असुल्नेहरुलाई केहि कानुन लाग्छ कि लाग्दैन ? जुन संस्थाबाट यसरी विज्ञापन गर्नुहुन्छ के ति संस्थाहरुले नै यसरी जबरजस्ती सहयोगको नाममा चन्दा असुल्न बनेका हुन्छन |