The demand for IT suits in Government schools throughout remote hills is very high indeed. With this in mind The Himalayan Gurkhas initiated a Pilot scheme in two schools, one in Kaski and another one in Syangja in 2011 to install Information Technology classrooms. The Pilot scheme was so successful that the donor clubs and individuals in the UK were enthused to take IT project a step further. As a result The Himalayan Gurkhas and the UK donors, managed to install IT suits in 7 schools in Panchamul valley, 2 schools in Kaski, one in Gorkha and a college in Chitwan between 2011 and 2015.
The demand for IT suits was overwhelming. Schools one after another continued submitting application to The Himalayan Gurkhas for IT suits. There were number of questions which required satisfactory reply, prior to search for a donor. The questions are: a. Is the school Government funded? b. How large is the school, both students and infrastructure? c. Will there be a separate class room for IT suit? d. Is the school connected to main power? e. Does the school have a qualified teacher? f. Does school have back up fund for repair and replacements? And so on. A selected team members with a bit of knowledge in IT, were then tasked to and the “NEED ASSESSMENT” was carried out.
David and Natalie at Naudanda HS
The High schools dotted either side of Andhi Khola river, beginning at Karkineta in the North (a border town between Syangja and Parbat districts) all the way down to Shree Laxmi High school at Waling Syangja in the South were visited several times to determine the need and find if they meet the criteria set by the team. The project team lead by Major Lilbahadur Gurung MBE assisted by Rtn Krishna Prasad Adhikari were convinced that the following 9 schools met minimum requirements:
- SHREE MAIDAN HIGH SCHOOL, MAIDAN, BANGE
- SHREE RASTRIYA HIGH SCHOOL, BICHARI CHAUTARA, PAKHRIBOT
- SHREE SARASWATI HIGH SCHOOL, NAUDANDA
- SHREE PRADUMNA PANERU HIGH SCHOOL, SETI DOVAN
- SHREE BHAGAWATI HIGH SCHOOL, FAPARTHUM
- SHREE JANA PRADIP HIGH SCHOOL, CHILAUNEBAAS
- SHREE SEPAT SIRAN CHAUR HIGH SCHOOL, BANGSING
- SHREE ANDHA ANDHI HIGH SCHOOL, BICHARI CHAUTARA
- SHREE LAXMI HIGH SCHOOL, WALING
While carrying out visits and need assessments in schools, search for the donors was also in progress. With many well-wishing Rotarian friends in the UK a kindhearted donor was found in the name of The Repper Charitable Foundation (TRCF). Mr David and Mrs Lynda Repper with Natalie (dau) are the Trustees. TRCF is London based Registered Trust.
The Himalayan Gurkhas and The Repper Charitable Foundation partnered with EduTech Nepal (ETN) for technical support and the serious business of installation of IT suits in schools began in early 2018. Despite many logistical and administrative difficulties, the IT suit installation project began and completed on time. The donors made couple of visits to the project sites and were satisfied that their Nepal pet project was a success.
The beneficiary schools are keeping up with the IT teaching. Some schools have acquired more Laptops for both educational teaching and for administrative purposes.
The Himalayan Gurkhas is hopeful all it’s effort in ushering 21st Century technology in the remote hill schools will be utilized proper and the future generations are given an education of lifetime in their own doorsteps.
RC The Himalayan Gurkhas and project team would like to thank THE REPPER CHARITABLE FOUNDATION (TRCF), EduTech Nepal (ENF) and many other partners for their help in making Andhi Khola IT project a great success.
