Better Schools in Rural Nepal!

Today, we at ETC are delighted to share with you an overview of the wonderful achievements that YOU have made possible during the nearly six years since we launched this "Better Schools" project. In reality there are too many to list, so here are just a handful:

• ETC has provided classroom materials and first aid supplies for 30 schools, multiple times each. These are things that are obviously of daily and ongoing importance, yet may not be readily available if schools' budgets are tight - as was especially the case in the aftermath of the 2015 earthquakes.
• We have supported larger-scale equipment, furniture, and physical improvements to the buildings at 30 schools - including water tanks and toilets, tables and benches, shelving, playground equipment, plastering, fencing, roof repair, floor work, etc.
• We have trained many dozens of teachers at all levels, from pre-primary to upper secondary, in best practices related to classroom management, lesson planning, materials development, and other useful topics. These teachers would almost certainly have had no other opportunities for professional development. An added benefit is that they are now better connected with their peers in other schools and can continue to communicate with and learn from one another.
• We have held 80 parent meetings, covering topics such as the importance of consistent school attendance, proper nutrition, monitoring of homework, and parental communication/involvement with the school personnel. Thousands of parents are now more actively supportive of their children's educational experiences.
• We have facilitated quarterly meetings of the school headmasters/principals, at which priorities for much of the work described above are discussed and set. Working cooperatively to determine which needs are the most pressing ensures that each school's needs are considered and that no school is overlooked. As with the teacher trainings, this headmasters network also serves as an ongoing framework for school administrators to communicate among themselves and learn from each other's experiences. 

Although this project is now funded and retired, the good work in rural Nepal goes on. We invite you to visit and consider supporting our other currently active GlobalGiving project, Finish Strong/Jump-Start! Support Nepal's Families.

Thank you so very much for your support of "Better Schools" during the past six years!

Links:

• ETC's photos and publications page
• ETC's post on Global Campaign for Education's Action Blog

Visiting other schools can be a fantastic way for teachers to gain valuable insights into how to do their own vitally important jobs even better.

Teachers in rural Nepal, however, can rarely or ever participate in this kind of professional development activity, because of the time and money involved. Even beyond that, there simply are NOT many (if any) such opportunities available to them.

ETC is delighted to provide a variety of training and development opportunities for rural teachers, including field trips! Back in the winter, our Nepal staff organized and led a group of nineteen pre-primary and primary teachers from Dolakha on a four-day visit to the Kathmandu Valley, where they visited classrooms at four model schools:

• Prabhat Secondary School
• Bal Bikash Secondary School
• Seraph World Pre-School
• Grand Academy Secondary School

While there, they observed how their peers managed their classrooms, encouraged active participation among their students, and used teaching materials in various creative ways. They were able to ask questions and share their experiences with the model school teachers and among themselves.

As a result of this field trip, these rural teachers have gained not only new skills and knowledge, but also motivation and enhanced job satisfaction. Our staff members have observed that the rural teachers have eagerly incorporated what they learned into their own teaching practices. The participants can also share what they have learned with their peers at the rural schools who were not involved in this field trip. 

As always, we at ETC want to thank you, our friends and supporters, for making this important work possible! 

We all know that academics are important, but so is having fun. And what better way to reinforce classroom learning than to make a game out of it? 

Recently, ETC sponsored some terrific extracurricular activities that allowed young students from 23 of our supported schools to take part in several fun competitions: math contests for first through third graders, spelling contests for fourth and fifth graders, and quiz contests for fourth and fifth graders. The competitions were hosted at Shree Balambu Basic School in Lapilang and Shree Mahadevshwori Basic School in Babare.

In addition to the intellectual challenge, these competitions allowed many students a very rare opportunity thus far in their young lives to travel beyond their own villages and interact with students from other schools. 

Congratulations to all the competitors! And thanks as always to YOU, our friends and supporters, for making possible these fun activities and everything ETC does.

Links:

• ETC's latest photos and newsletters
• ETC's Facebook page
• ETC's YouTube channel

As you know, your generous support of ETC has made it possible for 30 schools in rural Nepal to receive important supplies and physical improvements, as well as useful professional development workshops and networking opportunities for the teachers. This work is at the heart of our education programming and ensures a more enriching school experience for more than 4,000 students every year.

You may not know about some of our other activities that perhaps are not quite as well known or as measurably impactful, but which are no less important for all that. Here two examples:

ETC helped launch Child Clubs at several schools, through which students can plan and carry out a variety of projects that add an extra dimension of learning and social interaction to their daily lives. Clubs meet monthly; occasional and regular extracurricular activities include creating and publishing school bulletins, artistic- and athletic-themed events, and sharing responsibility for keeping school grounds clean.

ETC also supported a professional development field trip for nineteen village teachers to four schools in Kathmandu. The relative isolation of village schools makes it very difficult, or even virtually impossible, for teachers to interact with and learn from any professionals other than their immediate peers. This Kathmandu trip was therefore both extremely interesting to and useful for the nineteen participating teachers. While there, they observed best-practice teaching methods in action and obtained ideas to help them with their own classroom setup and management. 

All of ETC's educational work is designed and carried out with the goal of making education in rural Nepal better and more accessible. As always, we are immensely grateful to you - our friends and supporters - for making all of this possible! We truly could not do it without you.

Links:

• ETC's International Women's Day video! (appx. 2 mins.)
• ETC photos and publications
• ETC's Facebook page

As you know, ETC (with your generous support) works directly with 30 schools, improving the physical environment and educational quality for more than 4,000 students and their teachers.

For this quarterly report, we'd like to focus on recent activities at one of those 30 schools: Jalpeshwori Higher Secondary School, a pre-K through grade 12 school with 310 students and 17 teachers. Here's what has been happening lately at Jalpeshwori:

• The school hosted a quarterly meeting of the Headmasters' Network. These meetings offer an invaluable opportunity for all 30 school principals to communicate regularly with their peers - sharing successes and challenges, and learning from one another's experiences. It is also the forum through which joint ETC-sponsored activities and year-long program priorities are agreed upon, including organizing parents' meetings serving families from multiple schools, inter-school athletic competitions, which schools will be supported for which infrastructural/logistical needs during the coming year, etc.
• Jalpeshwori is one of many schools at which ETC has helped to form and continues to support Child Clubs, which add an important and enriching extra dimension to village children’s school experience. Child Clubs sponsor cultural and sporting events, publication of school bulletins (by the students), and gardening clubs, among other activities.
• Several schools, including Jalpeshwori, have recently received a variety of display items to help make their classrooms more enriching and visually appealing. These include posters, charts, and photos. All 30 schools also received first aid supplies.
• Jalpeshwori teachers have participated in professional training/development workshops. Most recently, these have included training for math teachers and a more general materials development workshop, through which teachers learn to use available resources to create educational materials that enhance their students' comprehension and retention.

On another note, we are delighted to have participated once again in GlobalGiving’s Giving Tuesday campaign, at the end of November 2018. This “Better Schools” project and our (now completed) “Community Learning Centers” project combined received more than $9,000 in donations and matching funds, putting us in the top 2% of eligible projects for that campaign! We call that pretty darned good, and we are so grateful for your support.

Again, we thank you very much for making allof this important work possible. Please follow us on Facebook (link below) and Instagram/Twitter (@ETC_Nepal) if you don't already. Best wishes for 2019!

Links:

• ETC's photos and publications page
• ETC's YouTube channel
• ETC's Facebook page