Summary Report-Nepal Visit November 2009

     1. Nepal State Education System (Junior schools)

• The State does NOT provide buildings, utility costs, consumables such as exercise books, pens/pencils.

• The State DOES provide teacher salaries, core subject textbooks, scholarship grants for girls and Dalit children

• School curriculum based on 7 core subjects, inspections carried out every 3 months, tests applied every 3-4 months

• Teacher training is 10 months for those having passed SLC (School Leaving Certificate 16 yrs)

     2.Schools Visits

• Resources: Four of our schools are housed in community buildings, two are purpose built, two are threatened with eviction. One has no toilet and two have no running water. All schools have electricity and all appear to be receiving the maximum State funding/assistance

• Learning Structures: All schools have the minimum number of teachers. Four have an extra teacher funded by ourselves, the State curriculum is being followed, all willing to add UK studies, qualifications vary from degrees to SLC/basic teacher training, no specific reward system.

• External Environment: In all schools the pupils are “isolated” from the local community due to their low caste/station in life, community support is minimal at Kesh Chandra and Sramik, but relatively high at Bal Bigyan and Bal Kalyan. In the former two schools the Management Committees seem powerless (useless).

• Direction: Direction and leadership is higher at Himalaya, Bal Bigyan and Bal Kalyan schools and virtually non existent at Kesh Chandra and Sramik schools. We are unsure at this stage whether this is an ability issue or related to Nepal's male dominated culture since the successful schools have male Heads.

      3.Further Development

• Each school continues to require our core programme materials of exercise books and school bags, as well as our value added programme of extra textbooks and extra teacher salaries

• Our stated strategy however also includes staged development of the curriculum, teacher skills and leadership

• Earlier this year we provided training to add “Water, sanitation and hygiene” studies to the curriculum and we have initiated each schools thinking on an additional UK studies element

• We have stimulated interest in teachers developing their teaching skills and have an opportunity at three levels as follows:

• Training for teachers from our five sponsored schools

• As above PLUS Programme Officers/Counsellors and teachers from our NGO partner ECCA which could spread the skills to 400 further schools

• As above PLUS staff from the National Teacher Development Centre which could influence the whole system

• Teacher skills development is completely dependent on assistance from voluntary UK teachers who will work with us in creating a skills development programme

• The level of delivery as mentioned above is dependent on Nepal Schools Aid working with ECCA and the State Ministry of Education to specify the required focus, content and audience