Education Support

Education is life itself

Happy Kids Center is home to bright, motivated children—many of whom have been denied access to conventional education. Our mission is to break the cycle of poverty among the most vulnerable children in Bhaktapur, with education at the core of that vision.

We serve children from the lowest caste and migrant families from rural Nepal and Northern India—communities often labeled “untouchable” and excluded from opportunity. In these families, child labor is common and school is often seen as unnecessary, especially for girls.

Before 2016, many of our children worked in the streets, collecting recyclables to survive. With the launch of EducateHKC, that changed. School attendance rose from 42% to 89%, and child labor dropped below 10%, with no new children entering the workforce since.

Thanks to dedicated teachers from The Dyola School, children are catching up on lost learning and some are now enrolling at the prestigious, government-run Adarsha Secondary School.

Schooling in Nepal

While the schooling is “free” through Nepal government institutions, there are still major financial burdens associated with affording all of the additional costs of sending a child to school. These costs include textbooks, stationery, uniform, extra tutoring, and exam fees… not to mention the opportunity costs associated with losing a major source of income or caretaker for younger siblings.

It is with this in mind that we designed the Happy Kids Center sponsorship program, EducateHKC, where we treat a child’s education as their full-time job.

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EducateHKC Sponser

By becoming a sponsor with EducateHKC you not only provide the funds to send a child to a reputable school, but you will also free them from a childhood of labor by rewarding the children for regular attendance and participation with a small sum of money for each day they attend school. While working in the streets a child can earn, on average, between 35 and 50 Rupee per day, or $.35- $.50 USD. Through the Incentives Program, the child has the opportunity to earn more consistently for their family while receiving the education they deserve.

At Happy Kids Center we believe educating our children is the key to breaking the cycle of poverty that our community has been living within for generations. We hope you will join us on our mission by becoming an EducateHKC sponsor!

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Incentives

Why Provide Incentives?

In Bhaktapur, many families depend on their children to work—begging, collecting recyclables, or doing other informal labor—just to survive. For these children, education becomes a luxury they can’t afford.

EducateHKC addresses this directly by providing families with financial incentives that reduce the need for child labor and motivate consistent school attendance.

Without these supports, children are often forced to balance work and school. Research shows they are more likely to drop out, fall behind in learning, and earn less as adults. . And because lower education means lower wages, child labor drives poverty from one generation to the next.

But the impact of education is powerful. Just one extra year of primary school can increase a girl’s future income by 15–25% and make her six times less likely to marry as a child.

EducateHKC helps children leave labor behind—and gives them the chance to build a better future.

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