Project report

‘The only load a child should carry is their school bag’.

Children as young as 11 carry heavy loads for days at a time with no chance of availing themselves of the opportunities that education can offer. Our Quality Education program in one of the poorest regions of rural Nepal will help to ensure that all children have access to primary education.  

Project background

This is the fifth year of our Quality Education program and builds on the previous years of successful grassroots education projects that Footprints have funded. This far reaching program extends educational opportunities well beyond the more assisted upper Solu Khumbu region in the vicinity of Mt Everest and focuses on the impoverished districts of Nele and Sotang that are in dire need of educational support. You can read past project and participant reports here.

The project will cover:

• Round-the-year Teacher training workshops conducted in the districts of Nele and Sotang where AHF is operating its Quality Education program.

Photo: Student from the village of Sotang, Lower Solu Khumbu

Educational improvements

The Quality Education program is closely aligned to the U.N Millennium Development Goal 2 (MDG 2) that all primary school children should have access to full time education. We aim to do this by:

• Developing child-centred teacher training methods
• Providing relevant and appropriate teaching resources
• Increasing teacher and child attendance and girls’ enrollment in schools and reducing drop out rates for children in schools
• Enhancing community support for schools by improving the relevance and desirability of education practices for the children in poor rural communities

The program schedule

The Quality Education program is conducted throughout the year and includes a series of workshops that include

• Key teacher training – to train gifted teachers to train other teachers in the region
• Refresher teacher training – to provide additional training to teachers who have already attended the main teacher training workshops
• Primary teacher training – to provide initial training for inexperienced teachers who have only completed a rudimentary education
• Community Support workshops – to ensure community involvement and support that is vital to the long term outcomes of the program

Specifically, the project funded through The Footprints Network, will contribute to the Teacher Training workshops that ensure the provision of child friendly education to primary schools in some of the most disadvantaged regions of Nepal.

Educational issues in this region of Nepal

The Solu Khumbu region comprises of five districts – the Khumbu (Everest region), and the more impoverished regions Sotang, Nele, Necha and Kerung to the south - see map below.

In the impoverished and remote regions of Solu Khumbu there are very limited opportunities for children. With an appropriate education strategy that includes support for community support - vital for attendance), social cohesion and local involvement in schools - there is every likelihood that there will be an increase in the children regularly attending and remaining in school.

Community Involvement

The Quality Education program is run in conjunction with the local community and experienced volunteers, ensuring sustainable benefits and increased community support.

The AHF program is jointly led by a highly experienced teacher training coordinator and our in-country partners in Nepal together with a small team of Australian volunteer teacher trainers

Can I visit this project?

Australian teachers (and other nationalities) can participate as volunteer trainers of key Teachers as well as helping with general teacher training.

You can visit some of the 307 schools involved, on specific occasions as a member of an AHF support trek (coordinated by World Expeditions), subject to availability and timings.