The Condition of Street Children in Nepal (A Case Study of Chabahil Area of Kathmandu District)

Abstract

Children who are neglected, abandoned or orphaned and either beg or collect and sell recyclable goods or work in other similar types of informal sector, and live in streets are called street children. They are usually violated and their rights are often neglected and they are not taken care of in any aspect of their life. They are isolated from the family and society. Therefore, the problem of street children is really a big one in many parts of the world. Nepal, especially Kathmandu is not an exception to this problem. Hundreds of innocent children are seen dwelling on the streets of Kathmandu city. They live in streets, sell recyclable goods and make the provision for food. No one cares about their education, health, shelter, food and other basic needs. This study is an attempt to assess the condition of these street children. The main objective of the study is to find out the socio-economic status of street children in Chabahil area of Kathmandu metropolitan city. For the study, asemi structured questionnaires, observation check list, formal and informal interviews and case study were used as the techniques to obtain required in formation in order to fulfill the objectives. The study covered 20 street children, out of whom 18 were boys and 2 girls selected from different surrounding areas of Chabahil of Kathmandu Metropolitan City by using judgmental sampling. The study found that one-third of the children had left their home due to maltreatment/abuse as a major cause and the minority of then left their home due to expectation of better life, influence by others, poverty, conflict and death of parents. Out of total sampled children most of them were literate, where as parents of only 25 percent of them were reported to be illiterate. A large proportion of the children responded that they didnot have an experience of primary level education. Some of them had completed primary level and some had dropped out already. The places of origin of street children were very.However, many of them were from the periphery of Kathmandu valley. Street v children who dwell in Kathmadu were of various caste and ethnic background like-Chhetri, Brahmin, Rai, Lama, Tamang, Chaudhari, Madhesi, Magar,Damai. Of the 20 respondents, 35 percent respondents were rag pickers.Similarly, 30percent of the children were found to be beggars and a small number of the children had adopted other occupations. Half of the total children understudy earned sufficient income for their daily food, but they spent most part of their income in watching movies, drinking alcohol, sniffing glue/gum and smoking cigarettes. The study has also covered such aspects as the street children's age structure,reasons for not joining school, parents being alive or dead, parental education and occupation and the children's future aspiration, reasons for the leaving previous work, their harassment, and exploitation by others and such other facts. Overall, the situation of street children was found to be very vulnerable,this is why, some practical recommendations have been presented so that consideration of these would lead to improvements in the existing situation.