NEST organised different programmes to celebrate  this year’s international literacy  and national education day  in different parts of Makawanpur district in Nepal.

 Poetry  and Open Quiz Contest (Hetauda Resource Centre Level)

To mark international literacy and national education day, NEST organised Inter resource centre level poetry contest  and open quiz contest were  organised at  Bhutandevi Higher Secondary School,Hetauda on 7 September 2011.  The  program was  chaired by  Mr. Ganesh Kumar Shrestha, Executive Direct of NEST.  Mr. Yadhav Gajureal , School Superviser of  the District Education Office, Makawanpur was the chief guest of the programme .

Anjana Bhattarai, the first prize winner reciting her poem

Thirteen students from different schools took part in the contest.  Ms.   Anjana Bhattarai of  Banshagopal Higher Secondary School,  Aashim Neupani of  Baljyoti Secondary School, Hetauda-4 and  Asmita Praja, Bhutandevi Higher Secondary School Hetauda , won the first, second and third prize  respectively.

 Mr.  Shrestha  distributed the prizes and certificates to the winners and participants.

After the poetry contest, students took part in the  open quiz contest.   Forty two different prizes were given to the  winners  in the quiz contest.

Local journalists, teachers and students from different schools were present in the programme.

The programme was financially supported by Room to Read .

Mr. Ganesh Kumar Shrestha, Executive Director of NEST awarding the first prize to Anjana Bhattrai

Quiz Contest ( Janakalyan Higher Secondary School, Palung and Chhatiwan)

  NEST  conducted a primary level quiz contest in Janakalyan Higher Secondary School in Palung on 8 September 2011.  12 school  teams took part in the contest. Each team has four members.  Ms. Pratibha Dangol , Room to Read representative /Reading room program associate attended the programme. Ms. Dangol shared her views on the importance of  literacy and education day  and she also highlighted the role of community and schools to ensure sustainability of the  library programme.

The team from  Janta Primary school, Daman-1, Damki won the first prize.  The members of the winner team included Nagendra Thing, Ambika Thing, Shanta Moktan and Rupesh Karki.  The Mahakal Primary School team from Rupse, Daman, won the second prize.   Umesh Gurung, Subharaj Bhamjan, Sumina Gurung, and  Nisha Lama represented the second winner team.

Similarly,  the team of Jhamkeshowari Secondary School,Palung, secured the third prize in the contest.    Prakriti Shrestha, Susma Lama,  Sanush Shrestha  and  Chandra Bahadur Thokar  were members of this third winner team.

Open  Quiz Contest, Palung

Students at Palung Resource centre participating in Open Quiz contest

48  students which included  students  from different schools,  participants of  the poetry  contest and students of Janakalyan Higher Secondary School took part in the quiz contest.  45 different prizes were given to the winners.

NEST also organised a similar quiz contest  in Prabhat Secondary School in  Chhatiwan .

 Spelling Contest in Chhatiwan

A student receiving a prize

 NEST  organised  a lower secondary and secondary level English Spelling Contest in Prabhat Secondary School in Chhatiwan.    The team of Durga Raj Syangtan, Arjun Syangtan, Phurba Bal, Anita Nepali won the first prize whereas the team of   Pema Lama,  Rajiv Aryal,  Kamal Pariyar and Sarmila Moktan won the second prize. The third prize was secured by  the team of   Rajkumar Gole, Chiring Ghalan,Sunita Thing, and Subhadra Gole.

All programmes were sponsored by Room to Read Nepal.

Under the name of INSPIRE Teachers  NEST  is running a teaching internship programme for college students of remote areas in order to introduce them the concept and practice of Child Friendly Education through a 4-month-long teacher training course at Prajwal School in Chaughada bazar, Hetauda, Nepal.

This year 6 candidates have been chosen to take part in the internship programme.  The programme itself has a daily timetable of morning classes and afternoon teaching observation periods. During the morning sessions interns learn about the basics of language learning and the implementation of those skills into classroom teaching by preparing and conducting different language tasks.

Morning sessions are based on the schedule of a typical lesson plan and are broken into the following parts: warm-up activity, introduction of a new topic (handouts and teaching posters provided), language practice or project work done in pair-work or individual work related to the given topic, presentation of the project, end of class activity to revise the most important key words of the day.

The whole programme focuses on language teaching on 5 levels: Grade 1-2-3-4-5, the 4 language skills: reading, writing, speaking, listening, and the preparation and conduction of a specific language task.

During the first 3 weeks the programme covered 2 language skills: reading and writing. The interns learnt about the purpose, types, forms of each skill and the preparation and conduction of any language task related to that skill.

They are also expected to write their journal every day, edit their portfolio using the given handouts and make their own collection of teaching materials and resources for future use, and also to hand in daily homework assignments. The portfolio will include a collection of teaching materials of all grades related to the different language skills. e.g. book record, warm-up activities, book reviews with illustrations, detailed instructions, variations of the activity suitable for all levels.

All interns have improved a lot since the beginning in terms of developing their language knowledge as well as becoming more aware of what child friendly teaching is about and how to use child friendly methods in classroom teaching. It is such an amazing experience seeing them enjoy the activities and gain more confidence through active participation in the day-to-day learning, especially that this week they have been given the
opportunity to start mini-teaching on warm-up activities. In their journals they all reflect to the fact that although child friendly methods and activities are new to them, they find this attitude and practice a useful,
applicable, and fun way of effective learning. Also, they comment on profiting greatly from attending the course, both on a personal and professional level, and realizing that they all have the potential to become successful teachers in the future.

Andrea Kun is a volunteer facilitator of INSPIRE teachers project.

Chaughada bazaar, Hetauda, Makawanpur, Nepal (28 August,2011):

I have been working as a NEST volunteer for two weeks, but I could write a whole colourful novel about all the impressions I have had since my arrival. This place is a real treasure of warm hospitability offered in a small town called Chaugada, where Prajwal Schoolis located.

Adrea Kun from Hungary is working as NEST volunteer in Nepal

I am a TEFL trained English language and drama teacher with an extensive experience working in secondary, language, art and summer schools, and also as course director for international summer language camps in the UK.

As a volunteer I am involved in training future teachers admitted to the 6-month-long INSPIRE Teacher internship of NEST.  I am hoping to contribute to the success of the programme by implementing all my experience and expertise into this wonderful project.

I will also deliver arts and craft and drama classes for school kids to help them know more about the world and themselves while participating in an activity and also to realize the potential in themselves to achieve all set-up goals for the future.

I am receiving great support from NEST, an organization of a devoted community whose dream was to establish a school for children of the Chaugada region and whose dream is now an actual reality in Nepal. I feel privileged to be part of this amazing project and given the opportunity to support this dedicated work

Adrea Kun from Hungary is working as NEST volunteer in Nepal

Andrea Kun has recently arrived in Hetauda from Hungary to volunteer with NEST for three months.

Before coming to Nepal, Andrea has worked as the Course director of  Edinburgh School of English, Edinburgh, UK . She was responsibile for the set-up, running and administration of the summer language centre .

She has worked as  an Art and drama teacher in Táltos Art School, Szeged, Hungary  and  as an English language teacher in different schools  for several years.

She holds MA degrees in English (TEFL) and  Hungarian  and  BA in drama and theatre studies. She has also been trained as Psychodrama assistant therapist.

She will be working as a facilitator of NEST Inspire  internship programme and running art and drama workshops for pupils of Prajwal School .

“I would be interested to do some arts and craft or drama and theatre, or even music classes as I have played music and participated in orchestras since primary school. The ongoing Inspire Teachers program also sounds great to me”. 

NEST  organised an orientation  for the participants of INSPIRE teacher  internship programme in the premises of Prajwal School  on 17th August, 2011. The four month intern programme was introduced with an objective to ease the student-teachers’ transition from study to work.

NEST believes that it will help trainee teachers to enhance their professional skills, gain self confidence and identify self strengths and weaknesses.

Among  18 applicants  , 6 successful candidates were awarded scholarship for  the INSPIRE teachers internship programme . “It is so encouraging to see overwhelming response from  youths to learn and become professional teachers” said Pratistha Shrestha, coordinator of the Inspire teacher programme.

Ms. Shrestha  highlighted the course overview and objectives to the six selected interns. Mr. Subash Neupane, Vice-Principal of Prajwal School, briefed about the school’s history and its teaching philosophy while Laxmi Shrestha, General Secretary of NEST, shared the history and recent projects of NEST.

Ms. Andrea Kun, who arrived from Hungary to volunteer as a facilitator of the INSPIRE  Intern Programme, was also present in the programme.

Mr. Prajwal Shrestha, the  Principal of Prajwal School, and Bhim Kumar Shrestha, board member of NEST, were among other guests.

Ms. Pratistha Shrestha, Coordinator of INSPIRE teachers programme giving overviews of the course to interns.

INSPIRE teachers programme has been sponsored by Dr. Mary Mckenna, an honorary member of NEST ,  with her desire to inspire teachers in Nepal to be professionally skilled so that Nepalese children can access quality education that  exploit their full potentials.

 Boston, MA, USA May 2010
In the spring of 2010, we hesitantly informed our bosses at schools and social service agencies in the greater Boston area that we would not be returning in the fall. We were off for an adventure to travel, explore, learn, grow and teach overseas. Destination: unknown. We knew in our hearts that we wanted to work on a project in which we could find personal enrichment while working towards a goal of sustainable and systemic change. The options seemed overwhelming. A simple Google search for volunteer agencies overseas provides hundreds of thousands of nonprofits, schools, health clinics, community centers across Asia, Africa, South America and beyond.
 
When we met Mary McKenna, Ph D and learned about the mission and scope of her work with Tara Education in Nepal, we were intrigued and excited. This was not another organization aimed at transplanting Westerners into classrooms overseas with a predetermined curriculum for 10-12 months, an organization that would put a ‘band-aid’ on an educational crisis. Rather, the mission of Tara Education is to reform the Nepali system of education by training teachers and creating a coalition of model schools where Nepali teachers will be able to serve and mentor other Nepali teachers.  In our initial meetings, Mary focused on our personal experience and individual skills to help us develop roles in the project in which we could be most useful.
 
Kathmandu, Nepal- November, 2010
On November 8th we arrived in Kathmandu excited by the notion of working on any of the various Tara Education initiatives in Nepal. The overwhelming warmth, enthusiasm, determination and progressive vision of the Shrestha family—the founders and administrators of the Prajwal School in Hetauda— compelled us to jump on the next jeep to Hetuada and to join them in their efforts. And thus began our adventure.
 
Our journey from Kathmandu brought us up mountains, over rivers, through herds of goats and water buffalo, down snaking roads inches from steep cliffs as we passed through colorful traditional Nepali villages, farmlands and the Himalayas.  Despite the constant fear of flying off mountain edges and the pain from our sore bottoms, the unbridled beauty of the hills and our desire to learn more about the people behind the stone houses and dancing prayer flags made every minute of the trip worth it.  5 hours (and a mere 50 miles) later, we entered a new universe: the village of Putali Bajar, our new home. 
 
Hetauda- November, 2010- present
We were graciously received by Laxmi Shrestha and have been living in her home and working alongside her ever since.  As we have adjusted to the slower pace of village life, candle-lit dinners every night (due to electricity cuts!) and new understandings of shared personal space, we are constantly amazed by the hospitality and generosity of our Nepali family and community. With every bite of Dal Bhaat (the staple Nepali meal), with every namaste from our neighbors and with every bicycle ride through the village on our way to school, our conception of reality is constantly expanding and evolving, challenging our preconceived notions and helping us to better understand our world. 
 
The Prajwal School
Founded 21 years ago by Purna Shrestha, a 16-year old Nepali boy with a vision, the Prajwal School is open to students of all genders, religions, castes and socio-economic statuses. This may not seem too radical to our Western minds, but the Prajwal School has taken an extremely progressive approach to education in Nepal. Alongside the administration and teachers we are working together to replace age-old systems of rote­-memorization and authoritarian teaching with child-centered education: lessons that incorporate group work, creativity, fun and thinking outside the textbook. The ultimate goal of the Prajwal School is to become a teacher-training center and a model school for rural schools in the surrounding villages.
 
Our day-to-day work involves observing and filming teachers, assessing areas for improvement within the school, conducting one-on-one meetings with teachers to help them establish individual goals and work towards sustainable change. We have also led school-wide workshops to address areas for improvement amongst all teachers. We have focused on: reducing ‘choral responding,’ classroom management, setting a purpose for each lesson, using group work, preparing for lessons, identifying weak and strong students and encouraging students to raise hands in classrooms.  Another highlight of our experience has been teaching a music class during the activity period.
 
Our work has been possible solely due to the exceptional gratitude, enthusiasm and excitement with which we have been received by the teachers, students and administration.
 
Together we are working towards an optimistic and attainable goal—but change doesn’t always come easily, or quickly. Like all non-profits working to provide opportunities for the disadvantaged, there is not a lot of money in the budget and teachers and administrators work extremely hard. On a day-to-day basis, we’ve found that things don’t always go according to plan, and we often spend mornings shooing goats out of our classrooms, trying to overcome language barriers and making sure that there is a teacher in each classroom. The idea of having ‘substitute teachers’ doesn’t exist here, so if teachers don’t show up on any given day, we often hop into the classrooms— much to the students delight, and our enjoyment as well. Surrounded by swarms of bright eyed, beautiful children who yearn for knowledge and want nothing more than to be engaged in a meaningful way, we are constantly reminded of why we are here at the school—to offer quality education and a brighter future for the children of Nepal.

Students of Grade 6 & 7 interacting with the officials from the Hetauda Municipality 

Ajaya Bartaula, information in-charge of the District Development Committee (DDC), Makawanpur said, “It is so encouraging to see young students visiting the DDC to learn about the functions of local public authorities. When they are matured, they will have learnt a lot about the functions and roles of the public institutions. I see a bright future for the students of Prajwal Shiksha Sadan, who are learning practical life skills.

He congratulated the school for its initiative to promote active citizenship and wishes best of luck for the school in achieving its mission to offer transformative education. “I would like to wish all students all the best for their bright future”, said Mr. Bartaula.

According to Mr. Bartaula, it was the first time that students of a lower secondary school had ever visited the District Development Committee to learn about its functions.

At the end of the meeting, the District Development Committee gave a photo of Makawanpur district highlighting 12 important places to visit as a token of love.

Sharing her experience of the field trip, Suraksha Neupane, a student of Grade 7 said,” I feel happy today because I went to  two important offices of our district. They are Hetauda Municipality and the District Development Committee office”.

” First, we went to the office of Hetauda Municipality and we asked a lot of questions”. Now I know the process of making citizenship certificate”.

Prajwal School is a not-for-profit school which has been supported by  Everest of Apples. We would like to thank all  members and supporters of the Everest of Apples, without their support, the school would not be able to  introduce transformational and practical learning in the school.

Play for Peace

Sports materials worth NRs. 1,20,000 were handed over to seven schools in Makawanpur district under NEST’s Play for Peace project at Prajwal Shiksha Sadan, Hetauda. The money was raised by three Dutch students- Mayke Heijmerink, Nicole van de Ven and Roos Kwakkel of Windesheim, School of Human Movements and Sports, the Netherlands.

Prajwal  Shiksha Sadan English Lower Secondary School, Bansha Gopal Higher Secondary School, Janapriya Higher Secondary School, Dibyajyoti Lower Secondary School, Churiyamai Secondary School, Baljyoti Secondary School and Shanti Deaf School  were   beneficiary schools which received the sport  materials.

The Chief Guest of the distribution ceremony was Mr. Him Sharma Paudyal, Acting District Education Officer of Makawanpur district. The programme was chaired by Mr. Ganesh Kumar Shrestha, the Executive Director of NEST.

On behalf of interns, Mayke shared their experience in Nepal. Mr. Ramesh Prasad Lamichhane, the Principal of Bansha Gopal Higher Secondary School and Sport teacher Mr. Uadaya Bidari shared the contribution of interns in promoting peace through sports and building sport teachers’ coaching skills.

Play for Peace was initiated by Sandra and Loes, two interns in 2005. This project has been run in partnership with ICFON, the Netherlands which has been supporting NEST from its inception.

NEST likes to thank Sandra and Bas who coordinated the internship programme in the Netherlands on behalf of ICFON.

Thank you Mayke, Nicole and Roos for your hard work and contribution to sport education in Nepal

Participants of NEST Children’s camp wrote a speech on ” I have a dream”. To Listen to their dreams in their own voice

I Have A Dream

click here.