Changing lives
“One classroom at a time”
Across rural Nepal, the majority of young children attend schools that are in a poor condition, with very few resources. They are taught by untrained teachers who use rote learning methods that only teach repetition without understanding.
Sitting on dirty and unsafe floors with nothing to occupy them, the youngest children are often the lowest priority in the school and sometimes left without a teacher present.
Without a real foundation, these children are being hampered in their learning and the lack of training and motivation in their teachers is passed on to them in the form of ineffective education.
Nepal based NGO First Steps Nepal is changing that one classroom at a time. With the support of the Rotary Clubs of Himalayan Gurkhas in Nepal and Kirremuir, Scotland early years classes in eight schools in Syangja District are being transformed into nurturing child friendly learning environments as part of a five year programme.
Founded by Nepali, Durga Aran, First Steps Nepal works in rural schools to transform early years classrooms through teacher training and support. “Teachers are trained in contemporary teaching methods that support children to becoming peaceful, nurturing learning environments” explains Durga.
First Steps Nepal had already worked for many years with rotary clubs in District 1010 Scotland and was known for its effective early years project work. When the Syangja project was conceived by the Kirriemuir Rotary club – Scotland and The Rotary club of Himalayan Gurkhas, Kathmandu Nepal, First Steps Nepal was asked to coordinate the early years part of the project.
The story was similar in all of the schools. Classrooms were bare and dilapidated and teachers had no learning resources. However, once classrooms were painted, carpeted and fitted out with low tables suited to young children, the project turned to supporting the teachers to have a better understanding of child friendly methods.
Soon, children were starting to enjoy their classes, becoming much more focused and eager to explore and learn. They attended more regularly and gained a love of learning. Teachers began to realise that child – friendly teaching methods were easy to implement and were in fact more enjoyable for everyone!
Teacher Training
First Steps Nepal provided a series of practical hands on teacher training workshops in contemporary practices. These were well received from teachers who previously had no idea about classroom layout and how to create their own learning materials from basic items found locally.
Teachers begin to see the importance of active movement for young children in their overall development as well as understand the key concepts of behaviour management. Each workshop held over a week encouraged the teachers to supplement the curriculum with a variety of fun activities that would engage the children in their learning.
Monitoring
A local supervisor visits each school on a regular basis to check on progress and support teachers with new ideas and activities. Teachers are assessed on their use of child friendly teaching techniques, behaviour management and the creation and use of resources. The First Steps Nepal management team conduct twice yearly monitoring visits to assess progress, talk to head teachers and make recommendations.
Challenges
Any project in rural Nepal is bound to face all sorts of challenges, but no one could have foreseen COVID and its impact on the project. Suddenly Nepal was under lock down, schools were closed and movement very restricted. Both the rotary clubs and First Steps Nepal agreed on using this period to prepare training that could be delivered either online or face to face. The result was an even better more robust training course that has raised the bar in training delivery and outcomes for teachers.
Other challenges have included the geographical location of some schools, the lack of class teachers for young children who instead are taught by a rotation of subject teachers. Ideally, young children should have their own dedicated class teacher, and this has been difficult to achieve in some schools due to staffing.
School transformations
The before and after photos speak for themselves. The classrooms are now brightly decorated with resources created by the teachers who have a range of fun activities to supplement the curriculum. Children are engaged in their learning and look forward to coming to school.
What’s Next
Project Director Durga Aran says “It has been fantastic to see how simple changes and a bit of training can bring about transformation in the way that young children are taught. I am so pleased that teachers are now so much more motivated and really enjoy what they do. Working with the Rotary Club of Himalayan Gurkhas has been an absolute pleasure. They really got involved and helped us organise the fit out the classrooms working into the long hours to complete the job. They continued to coordinate with us to ensure smooth operations.“
As the current 5-year project comes to a close in March 2024, First Steps Nepal are already in discussion with rotary clubs for the next phase in Syangja.
This will involve opening up teacher training for more schools in the Walling area and refresher training for teachers who show commitment and motivation.
