BHOJPUR, NEPAL, JUNE 22, 2026 – The Learning, Innovation and Knowledge Exchange (LIKE) Lab, Kathmandu University School of Arts, organized a capacity-building session under the “Promoting Gender Equality and Social Inclusion in Schools: Building on What Children Value and Aspire to Do and Be (CVEC Project)” for GESI Focals in Bhojpur Municipality to further strengthen the implementation of LIKE Club and its 19 activities. Held at Vintuna Hotel, the session included the attendance of all the GESI Focals from the 13 partner schools.
The primary objectives of the Capacity Building Workshop were 1) to share the findings of the 2025 baseline survey, 2) officially enlist the GESI Focals as enumerators for the upcoming endline survey, and 3) present the newly created LIKE Club Activity Book video so as to further strengthen their knowledge of the 19 activities for active implementation in their respective schools.
Mr. Saurav Rajbhandari warmly welcomed the participants and gave a short re-introduction to the project. He shared that LIKE Clubs have reached one year of establishment in their schools, and that the project aims to further sustainably expand this initiative to the remaining 30 community schools in the Bhojpur Municipality by the end of the project.
Ms. Yamuna Basnet then gave a brief introductory overview of LIKE Lab and its core values and objectives. She went on to present the findings of the baseline survey conducted in February 2025, which aimed to understand the situations of community schools in Bhojpur Municipality pre-intervention.
The key highlights from her presentation included:
- The survey methodology and a brief introduction to the Capability Approach as a guiding theoretical framework.
- The two distinct spaces of evaluation which included 1) the assessment of the availability, satisfaction and importance of the resources and 2) the status of children’s well-being and agency
- Findings that noted the infrastructural limitations which included the lack of sufficient sanitary pads and spaces for their disposal, and the school premises not being disability friendly despite stating otherwise.
- The gap between children’s well-being and agency and the factors behind it.
- The segregated results based on gender, ethnicity, and grade.
- Suggestions moving forward
Mr. Saurav Rajbhandari then presented the latest Activity Book video to the GESI Focals to refamiliarize them with the core value of LIKE Clubs for their conceptual clarity. After screening it, he further requested the GESI Focals to conduct inhouse training sessions within their respective schools by sharing the Activity Book video, as well as other educational resources relevant to LIKE Clubs, to their fellow teachers to further promote children’s valued educational capabilities. The session moved forward with him explaining about the planned endline survey and officially enlisting them as enumerators, and the CVEC team jointly held a short session exploring and answering their queries. Dr. Binayak Krishna Thapa reiterated the project’s aim of scaling, and opened the floor for any suggestions or feedback for a smoother and sustained operation of the clubs. The workshop came to an end after a round of meaningful discussions.
