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Project report

Teacher training and quality education program Nepal , RUN BY: Australian Himalayan Foundation | STATUS: COMPLETED

local teachers from the Sotang region develop teaching skills though the Primary Teacher Training Program. Dec08/Jan09. Photo by: the Australian Himalayan Foundation

This project is 100% Funded

 

 

AUD 38,500

Raised from 12,715 people



Footprints made a significant funding contribution to this extensive educational training project.  It covered three workshop sessions in two locations, supporting over 536 teachers from more than 100 schools.   

1. Primary Teacher Training Workshop, Sotang

This was the first Primary teacher training course ever held at Sotang and was attended by 298 teachers from 65 schools in the region.

The ten-day intensive course was held between 17th December 2008 and 6th January 2009.  It included three resource staff from the District Education Office in Salleri who walked for several days to attend the workshop.

Sotang is south east of the Khumbu (Everest), a region that is in dire need of educational support.

Objectives and course content

The main aim of this basic course was to strengthen the teaching skills and morale of primary teachers to improve the child-centered quality education in the Sotang base 65 Schools.

The main themes of the primary teacher training were

  • The role, responsibilities and expectations of teachers, parents, school management, NGO’s and other stakeholders
  • Teaching strategies, materials development and its use, regular assessment
  • Child psychology
  • Team-building
  • Curriculum study including two days’ training in each of four subjects: Nepali, Social Studies/Science, English and Mathematics.

Course Evaluation

Over 93 percent of course participants evaluated this basic course as being good or excellent and the rest suggested there were some areas in need of improvement. the most popular subjects were Brain gym exercise, practice of class songs, organization and management of classroom, subject wise materials development, active reading, learning styles (learning intelligences) and music.

Note: many teachers were untrained and newly appointed by the District Education Office to the training courses.

Challenges and Recommendations

  • The teachers are enthusiastic and active to learn different skills and refresher training is highly recommended.
  • The materials supplied by local program partner REED (Rural Education and Evironmental Development Centre) can only be used effectively, and the child-centered teaching practiced, if they have good classrooms and trained teachers.  Hence, there is a need to develop the physical infrastructure, such as erecting transparent sheets on the roof, building of toilets, and drinking water for different schools (AHF need to collaborate with other NGO’s)
  • The District Education Office to be requested not to transfer the teachers out of the area for at least a period of three years.
  • The SMC to be oriented to perform the management of the school in a better way
  • Exercise books and pencils to be provided to the schools where the children come from poorer families.

2. Refresher Teacher Training Workshop, Salleri

In addition to the Primary Teacher training program expansion into the Sotang region (outlined above), REED continues to conduct annual teacher refresher programs in the Khumbu (Everest) region.

This refresher Teacher Training workshop was for people who had previously attended the Primary  Training.  It was held from 7th to 12th December 2008 in Salleri, Nepal.

This year it was attended by 156 teachers from 38 schools from throughout the Solukhumbu.

Project Objectives and content

The main aim of this course was to strengthen the teaching skills and morale of primary teachers to improve the child-centered quality education in Solukhumbu primary schools.

Specific objectives were:

  • To learn new child-centered teaching skills for subjects' areas.
  • To build new curriculum knowledge in all teachers in all subjects.
  • To build the understanding of the Key Teacher roles and responsibilities in the school cluster groups.

The themes of the workshops were :

  • teacher responsibility and accountability
  • child psychology
  • team building
  • Assessment and evaluation
  • making of the child-centered learning materials
  • curriculum study including one-day training in Nepali, Social Studies/Science and Mathematics.

Course Evaluation

  • Over 90% of course participants evaluated this course as being good or excellent. Only 2% suggested it could have been improved.
  • Brain Gym, class songs, life skills, Nepali vocabulary development, English phonics, English grammar and vocabulary, Creative writing and music were the popular subjects.
  • Over the year Trainers and Key Teachers reported seeing obvious improvement in teacher's classrooms and the teaching classroom environment.
  • Teachers appreciated the Key Teachers units.

Challenges and Recommendations

  • Many teachers were new to the workshop this year because of staff transfer, which was a difficult challenge.  Additionally, the six days’ training made it difficult to pursue subjects in depth.
  • One recommendation to improve the course success is to find ways for their schools to have the same teaching resources/materials as those found in schools in the more prosperous regions of Khumbu.

3. Refresher Teacher Training Workshop, Khumbu


This refresher workshop was held between 12th to 24th April 2009,  at Chaurikharka & Kharikhola and was attended by 82 primary school teachers.

Objectives and content

The aim of this course was to strengthen the teaching skills and morale of primary teachers to improve the child-centered quality education in the Khumbu primary schools.

The themes of the workshops were

  • teacher responsibility and accountability
  • child psychology
  • team building
  • curriculum study including one-day training in Nepali, Social Studies/Science and Mathematics.
  • Assessment and evaluation
  • making of the child-centered learning materials

Course Evaluation

Comments were very positive and participants really appreciated the training. Four Volunteer Teachers from Australia and Switzerland added a different positive dimension. Two of these volunteers had huge strength in creative language techniques.

Challenges and Recommendations

  • Numbers are always lower for these two courses. Schools in the upper Khumbu region often make it difficult to release primary teachers. We will continue to try and encourage all primary teachers to attend.
  • It is recommended that the course continue next year but will relocate to a region in the south of Humbug that will provide a considerable cost saving

Program partners

Jim Strang, a New Zealand teacher who was instrumental in establishing in 1998 the Teacher Training program run by Sir Edmund Hillary’s Himalayan Trust is the project coordinator. On the ground the operation is managed by REED (Rural Education and Environmental Development), a Nepalese NGO based in Kathmandu who have worked with Jim from the outset. A further dimension to the project is the contribution of a select team of volunteer teachers.

TTQE achievements

During its development the program has

  • Gained unqualified support from the local District Education Office as well as the village development committees and the school management committees.
  • Been fully accredited by the Nepal Council for Education Development
  • Been evaluated by UNICEF and identified as a model for educational development in Nepal.

 
How was it this funded?

Thanks to hundreds of tiny donations from these online businesses and their customers.

***WorldNomads.com.au
***WorldNomads.co.nz
World Nomads USA
World Nomads Canada
www.WorldNomads.com
***World Nomads UK
***RemoGeneralStore.com
 
Australian Himalayan Foundation

Over the years, thousands of Australians have visited the Himalaya. For many it is an opportunity to trek beneath the world’s highest peaks and to appreciate some of the world’s most hospitable cultures.

However, for the remote communities in Nepal, Bhutan and northern India, access to basic health and education services is often out of reach and climate change poses a growing threat to Himalayan communities, livelihoods and glaciers, which are a critical source of water for millions of people.

The Australian Himalayan Foundation believes that the people of the Himalaya know their local environments best. Therefore, since 2002, AHF has worked in partnership with local organisations to design and deliver cost-effective and practical programs that help remote Himalayan families withstand serious challenges such as poverty, injustice and natural disasters.

Giving to AHF as a traveller is an opportunity to give something back to one of the most incredible mountain destinations in the world.