Non-Government Organisations and Community Based Organisations

Running a school is mainly the job of the government and the local level. Still, a government budget rarely covers everything a school needs. One school has a leaking classroom, another has no drinking water, and in a third, poor students cannot afford books or a uniform. Organisations that are active in society but are not part of the government often step into gaps like these. They come in two main kinds: non-government organisations and community based organisations. Both work for the good of society, but they are formed, registered and run in different ways.

Bodies such as the rural or municipal education committee and the district education committee are built inside the government structure. Alongside them, organisations from outside that structure also give schools a great deal of help. Once you know how these organisations are formed, where they are registered, who keeps an eye on their work and what they do for schools, much of what happens in the school in your own neighbourhood starts to make sense.

The name explains itself. 'Non-government' simply means not belonging to the government. An NGO is not a ministry, and it is not a branch of any government office. Even so, it does the same kind of development work the government does: it builds classrooms, brings drinking water to a school and arranges health treatment for students. It is called a non-government organisation because it takes part in development just as the government does, while not being a part of the government itself.

When an NGO registers, it names a fixed geographical area as its working area. One organisation may choose a single district, while another chooses only a few rural municipalities. From then on it is run according to its own constitution, which is the written set of rules stating its aims, its members, its office bearers and the way it will work. So where an NGO works and which rules it follows are settled from the very start.

Nobody can open and run an NGO however they like. The law lays down a clear process. The organisation is registered, it is affiliated with a national body, and every year it accounts for its work and has its registration renewed.

To be renewed, the organisation hands in a progress report. The report is made up of the following:

• An account of the work the organisation carried out during the year
• A detailed outline of the programmes it plans to run next
• Any other documents needed for renewal

Because an NGO must account for itself every year, renewal is the moment when anyone can see whether it has really done the work it promised when it registered. The law also requires such organisations to be run in a fully democratic way. This means decisions are not made by the wish of one person. They are made with the participation of the members and through the procedure the constitution lays down.

An NGO does not usually have a large fund of its own. It collects money from donor agencies at home and abroad and uses that money to run programmes in the schools inside its working area.

With the money raised in this way, NGOs can run programmes such as these in schools:

• Physical infrastructure: building or repairing classrooms, buildings, walls and furniture
• Scholarships: financial help for students who want to study but cannot meet the cost
• Drinking water: a supply of clean water at school
• Toilets: clean toilets for both boys and girls
• Libraries: books and a place to read them
• Health treatment: health check-ups and treatment for students
• Student uniforms: uniforms for students who cannot afford them

Here is an example. A hill school has no tap and no separate toilet for girls. Students walk to a distant spring for water, and some girls stop coming to school during their periods. An NGO whose working area covers that place raises money from a donor agency, obtains the permission it needs, and builds a tap and a separate toilet at the school. Class time is no longer lost fetching water, and the girls begin to attend regularly. One small facility changes how much learning takes place.

Nepal has a large number of NGOs, and each one works according to its own aims and working area. After the devastating earthquake of 2072 BS damaged many school buildings, NGOs became especially active in rebuilding and improving school infrastructure.

An NGO cannot simply walk into a school and do whatever it likes. So that help reaching a school is open and goes where it is needed, it must follow these rules:

• Before running any programme in a school, the NGO must get permission from the district, the rural municipality or the municipality, submitting details of the work it will do.
• The district, rural municipality and municipality where the organisation's office operates must monitor and evaluate its work regularly.
• The monitoring body may praise an organisation that does good work and recommend action against one that does wrong.
• Support received from an international donor agency may be used for a programme only after approval from the office of the Social Welfare Council.

These rules protect both the school and the community. Because permission is required, the local level knows which organisation is doing what in which school, so the same work is not done twice and schools that have received nothing are not overlooked. Regular monitoring encourages organisations that do good work and checks those that do wrong.

Besides NGOs, community based organisations are also active in a community. 'Of their own accord' means they are set up because the people themselves want and need them, not because anyone ordered them to. Mothers in a village meet and form a mothers' group; students get together and form a child club. Their work is focused on their own village, their own neighbourhood and their own school rather than on some distant place. Some examples of such organisations are:

• Child clubs
• Women's groups
• Mothers' groups
• Farmers' groups
• Cooperatives
• Users' committees

These organisations help the schools in their community, each according to its own role. The main kinds of help they can give are:

• Running student enrolment campaigns, so that every child of school age is admitted
• Helping to build the school's physical infrastructure
• Giving voluntary labour
• Supporting students who are struggling
• Raising funds and other resources for the school
• Organising meetings, seminars and discussions for the development of education

Picture a village. Before the new school year begins, members of the mothers' group go from house to house, note down the children who are not in school and remind their parents to enrol them. Members of the users' committee give voluntary labour on a Saturday to clean the school path and playground. The cooperative raises money for exercise books and pens for poor students. Older members of the child club help younger children who are behind with their lessons in the evening. None of this came from a large budget, yet together it makes the school much stronger.

Organisations like these also bring the school and the community closer together. Parents come into the school, treat its problems as their own and take part in solving them. For this reason, rural municipalities and municipalities give support and protection to community based organisations.

A school is a sign of a civilised society, and society has its own part to play in a school's progress. A school develops only when its administration and the community work together, and a well-developed school in turn gives the community its identity. NGOs, registered with government bodies and doing social work, help schools with infrastructure, training and other programmes. Community based organisations, working close to home, can play just as important a role in a school's development.