STEPS

Scaling Impact: Strengthening Public Schools through Partnerships (STEPS)

We Can Build Bigger When We Come Together

For more than 15 years, BlinkNow has worked alongside communities in Nepal to create access to education, healthcare, and opportunity for children and families. Now, through the STEPS Program, we are expanding that impact beyond our own campus and into Nepal’s public school system.

In partnership with the Social Awareness Center (SAC), the Scaling Impact: Strengthening Public Schools through Partnerships (STEPS) Program focuses on transforming under-resourced public schools in Nepal’s Karnali Province into inclusive, high-performing learning environments.

Surkhet is home to many families migrating from remote regions of Karnali and Sudurpaschim in search of opportunity. Among the most vulnerable are Dalit and Janajati communities, girls, migrant children, and orphans, many of whom face systemic barriers that lead to low attendance, poor academic outcomes, and high dropout rates.

By combining government leadership and infrastructure with nonprofit innovation, community partnership, and proven educational practices, STEPS is designed to strengthen public education where the need is greatest.

Why STEPS?

Creating meaningful, lasting change in education requires supporting the entire ecosystem surrounding a child. Through STEPS, we focus on five core pillars that directly impact student success:

Teacher Training

Supporting educators with modern, inclusive, and child-centered teaching practices that improve classroom engagement and learning outcomes.

Infrastructure Improvements

Upgrading overcrowded classrooms and improving sanitation facilities to create safe, supportive learning environments.

Health & Nutrition

Providing health screenings and nutritional support so students are healthy, present, and ready to learn.

School Governance

Strengthening School Management Committees (SMCs) to improve accountability, leadership, and long-term sustainability.

Parental & Community Engagement

Partnering with families and local communities to build strong support systems around students and schools.

The Transformation We Envision

STEPS is designed to create measurable, sustainable improvements across Nepal’s public education system through collaborative public-private partnerships.

Through this initiative, we aim to achieve:

Increased Enrollment & Retention

Helping vulnerable children enroll in school, stay in school, and reduce dropout rates.

Measurable Learning Outcomes

Improving literacy and numeracy through evidence-based instruction and standardized assessments including Early Grade Reading Assessment (EGRA) and EGMA (Early Grade Mathematics Assessment) testing.

Improved Learning Environments

Creating classrooms with proper learning resources, sanitation facilities, and infrastructure that supports student success.

Empowered Local Leadership

Building the long-term capacity of teachers, School Management Committees, and Parent Teacher Associations to independently sustain quality education.

A Replicable Model for Change

Documenting a scalable framework for public-private partnership that can help strengthen public education systems across Nepal.

Join Hands With Us

The STEPS Program is more than a local initiative. It is a blueprint for scaling educational equity and opportunity across Nepal.
We invite donors, educators, advocates, and global partners to join us in bridging the educational divide and creating brighter futures for children across the Karnali region.

Want to Learn More?

Contact SP Kalaunee
Country Representative
sp@blinknow.org