Help us rebuild schools in Nepal

Since April, with the start of a new academic year in Nepal, students in 30 classrooms at six government schools in Kavre District have been able to use book corners (shelves, tables, carpets, cushions and of course Nepali children’s literature) all provided by the Santi School Project with a grant from GlobalGiving.

Selected teachers, parents and administrators from each school attended training this winter designed to use children’s books to encourage literacy development. After the training sessions, the participants then led in-school workshops for their colleagues.

Now, as both students and teachers learn to make their own books a part of their school routine, a team of observers from the Rato Bangala Foundation (our partner organization in Nepal) has visited schools to observe and gather feedback on how best to plan the project’s next phase: a course of follow-up workshop and training sessions.

Based on that assessment, we decided to offer in-school trainings focused specifically on organizing existing (and underused) school libraries. A team of trainers visited each school and work with faculty to put the libraries into working order and, most important, to tackle the difficult logistical task of scheduling this school-wide resource to make it regularly available to all classes.

In addition, at the end of August our initial team of parents, teachers and administrators attended a three-day workshop retreat focused on problem-solving. Since teachers had gained experience in using children’s literature, they were able to consider what teaching techniques are effective and what practices needed to be reconsidered and revised, offering peer-based guidance to one another.

The workshop also included instruction in basic bookbinding and participants will write and illustrate a simple text of their own. Finally, participants will work together to continue planning Bal Sahitya Mahotsavs (Children’s Literature Festivals) at their schools, scheduled during September and October.

One of the most exciting developments of the Kavre Literacy Project has been our decision to offer matching grants to schools that are able to devise budget plans for future purchase of books for classrooms and libraries. Until this point, we have worked with books provided at no cost as part of earthquake relief, but most schools in Nepal have no budgetary provisions for ongoing purchases to replace worn-out copies and to buy new titles as they become available. We believe that it is critical for administrators to make plans to sustain the literature-based reading programs that we have begun together.

The Santi School Project believes in the power of teacher training as an indispensable part of improving the quality of education in Nepal.

Better teachers make better schools—and better schools, of course, make better students. Especially in the rural areas where we work, strong schools can provide critical support for the local community and improve lives for women, children and ethnic minorities.

In the months immediately following the 2015 earthquake, however, teacher training work was put on hold to give full priority to school reconstruction.

We never lost sight of our mission to help enhance the quality of children’s classroom experience. In late 2015, we were granted funds by Global Giving to provide training and materials to promote the use of Nepali-language children’s literature in government schools affected by the quake.

Working with six government schools and two private schools in rural Kavre District, we partnered with the Nepal-based Rato Bangala Foundation to lead a four-day on-site workshop with school leaders, teachers and parents. Using children’s books the schools had been provided as part of earthquake relief, our team introduced educators to the power of literature as a tool to teach reading and writing, and as a powerful component of overall academic success.

The Kavre Literacy Project involves several stages. Following the on-site training, teachers were bussed to Kathmandu in February to attend the third annual Bal Sahitya Mahotsav (Children’s Literature Festival), hosted by the Rato Bangala School. Following this, with assistance from one of our Nepali-speaking trainers acting as a mentor, teachers from each participating school led peer-based workshops for their colleagues back at their school.

During April, materials for 30 classroom book corners will be delivered to each of the six government schools, including a book rack, carpet, reading table and cushions for sitting. To encourage schools to fundraise locally for more books in the future, we held a workshop in March, focused on budgeting for ongoing book purchases. As an incentive, we offered each government school the equivalent of about $50 in matching funds.

In October, the schools will work together to host local literature festivals of their own, with the goal of spreading the word in their communities about the power of children’s books. Finally, another four-day on-site workshop will be held in November, offering the opportunity for teachers, principals and parents to give their feedback, solve problems together and share new ideas to build on the work that the schools have begun.

We conducted a survey in all six participating government schools to assess students’ familiarity with children’s books (other than the textbooks that are the standard in every Nepali classroom). At the end of the project, we’ll conduct a final survey that we hope will show increased use and awareness of Nepali-language children’s literature.

Santi School hopes to build on what we’ve learned through this work to expand our teacher education program. Additional funds will allow us to deepen our relationships with the teachers, parents, school leaders and communities we’ve come to know through our post-earthquake literacy project and to build new relationships through intensive, high-quality teacher training.