Better Schools in Rural Nepal!

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

Those of you who have been following ETC's work for a long time know that the 30 remote rural schools with which we have been working since mid-2014 already had a myriad of needs, both big and small, even before the spring 2015 earthquakes. 

During the past four-plus years, with your very kind and generous support, we've made great strides in helping these schools recover from the quake devastation and become safer, more enriching places for children to learn. 

ETC's School Improvement Program is by no means a one-size-fits-all activity. Each school has its specific needs. ETC works closely with all 30 schools' headmasters, who meet quarterly through our Headmasters Network, to determine priorities and ensure that all schools have their turns to get the support they need most.

Today, we are glad to share with you some recent images from three of the 30 schools, showing how much your support really means to these children and their teachers on a daily and practical basis. Note for example the fencing installed as a protective measure at Balambu School, to prevent rocks and other rubble from rolling down the steep hillside onto the school property. 

Because of you, these schools are much better places to learn and grow! As always, we thank you very much for making it all possible.

Links:

• New GlobalGiving project: Community Learning Centers!
• New video! Int'l Day of the Girl & Int'l Rural Women's Day
• ETC's website (photos and newsletters)