Teachers are the key

Did You Know in Nepal:

• Young children are often allocated the smallest, darkest space in a school, often without a teacher!

• Most teachers have not received any training in modern child-friendly teaching methods

• Children under 7 do not have their own classroom teacher but are effectively ‘babysat’ by a rotation of subject teachers

Imagine being a child spending your days in this bare, dark, chaotic space. This is a typical classroom for young children in rural Nepal.

Now imagine if those children could learn in a classroom like this:

Let’s help these children thrive!

With the help of generous people like you, First Steps Himalaya is deeply committed to improving teaching across rural Nepal so as many children as possible can have access to kind, nurturing learning environments.

Young children thrive at school when they have consistent routines, interesting resources and interested adults around them.

Well-trained, enthusiastic teachers are the key to creating successful classrooms where children can learn and thrive. Look at the difference trained teachers can make to a classroom!

This teacher at Dyali School, Sindhulpalchok has her students’ full attention as they practice letter sounds using hand-made flash cards. She is using techniques learned at First Steps teacher training,

Enjoying a story at Mulkharka School. Look at the bright and useful hand-made learning resources decorating the classroom walls.

This teacher’s use of natural materials at our Sangachok Nursery develops a sense of curiosity in young children.

Children working in a small group, focused on puzzles at Sangachok Nursery, Sindhulpalchok

---

Annual Appeal 2022

Help us transform education in rural Nepal!

$50 can buy art material such as crayons, paint, coloured paper for a classroom

$100 can pay a teacher’s salary for a month

$250 can allow a teacher to attend a week-long teacher training workshop

There is a huge need for improved education in rural Nepal. Please help us give children the education they deserve.

For more information about First Steps Himalaya visit www.firststepshimalaya.org

Creating Inspiring Leaders

Successful organisations need strong, inspiring leadership. This is true for First Steps Himalaya and for the schools we work with in villages across rural Nepal.

Founding director, Durga Aran is an inspiring leader and he has recently started to share his leadership skills and techniques with the head teachers at the schools we work with.

“Improving education for children at these small village schools is an evolving puzzle,” says Durga. “When we started First Steps Himalaya in 2008, we concentrated on improving the physical classrooms, but quickly realised that a beautiful classroom full of resources was meaningless unless you have a skilled teacher. Since then we have focused on up-skilling and empowering village teachers, so they can create their own nurturing learning environments.”

Change needs leadership

However, while some schools improve rapidly when their teachers go through the First Steps teacher training workshops, others lag behind. “Over time, it has become apparent that the quality of the school’s head teacher has a lot to do with this, “ says Durga.

“Schools going through change need strong leaders who support their teachers, inspire pride and are active in their school community. Recently, we have added Leadership training to our programme to help ensure long-term, sustainable change for these small village schools.”

Durga’s Journey

Durga’s childhood was characterised by a lack of opportunities. This is a typical story for many children in rural Nepal.

Durga grew up in a small village, north east of Kathmandu, the youngest of eight children. He dreamt of going to school but his parents didn't understand the value of education. Instead, Durga was sent to look after his sister's child when he was just six years old.

When he finally attended school, there were no resources and the teachers were often absent. At age 15, his father arranged his marriage, and he then spent years working in restaurants in Kathmandu.

Needing to make a change

“As a young adult, I wasn’t happy to accept the limited choices I was being offered,” says Durga “Something in my personality forced me to keep pushing to improve my situation.”

Starting in a restaurant as a dishwasher, Durga quickly worked his way up to restaurant manager. He went on to run his own trekking and tour company before becoming the Founding Director of First Steps Himalaya.

“When I looked back on my own childhood, I wanted to give other Nepali children a better one,” says Durga.

Since 2008, First Steps Himalaya has impacted thousands of lives through improved education, teacher training and community support across rural Nepal.

“Sometimes I can’t believe how far I have come. I grew up uneducated with very limited choices and now I find myself educating rural Nepali school leaders on how they can improve their schools and the lives of their students. I am so proud. I could never have imagined the impact our work would have.”

Learning to Lead

Many Nepali head teachers are quite resistant to change in their schools. Although they may be happy for their staff to attend training and get new ideas, they are uncomfortable with embracing change themselves. However, once they relax and enjoy the activities, they begin to identify simple changes they can make within their school.

In rural Nepal, many people in leadership roles have had little exposure to quality leadership ideas or how to manage teams. In a school setting this results in a disorganised, hands-off leader with demotivated teachers and poor outcomes for the children.

Simple steps for big improvements

First Steps Leadership Training for schools consists of several workshop sessions specifically tailored to village school head teachers and management committees. It introduces concepts such as:

• Leadership styles

• Practical goal setting

• Time management techniques

• Importance of supporting your team

• Multi tasking skills

Recently, Durga has delivered these workshops to Nepali schools via Zoom. “I left Nepal in March 2020 in a flurry, catching the last scheduled flight out of Nepal before the borders closed.” However, with border restrictions lifting, Durga is returning to Nepal to deliver his Leadership Training in October and November in person.

“These schools need strong leaders to give their students a quality education. These children are the future leaders of Nepal. I can’t wait to get back!”

For more information on First Steps Himalaya visit www.firststepshimalaya.org

Back to school in the new norm

Back to School finally

After 8 months at home, schools are slowly reopening across rural Nepal. For many children, this will be the first time they have learnt anything for eight months. Whilst children in more developed countries have adapted to learning online and have lessons delivered to a device, most children in rural Nepal have had no form of teaching at all since March!

Back in the classroom: Young children from the village of Sangachok finally return to their Early Learning Centre after 8 months at home.

Re-establishing Routines

Our Project Manager in Nepal, Ranjana Giri says that she was shocked on the first day back to see that the children seemed to have forgotten everything that they had learnt including their manners.

‘It was like starting all over again with most of them’ she said. Many of the children are experiencing feelings of intense fear and dread. Younger children are less likely to fully understand news reports and this can cause a sense of panic.

Socialising at a distance: Circle time is an important way for children and their teacher to reconnect with each other after so many months apart.

It is really important to get these young children back into a sense of routine and understanding of how to be resilient. This includes fun hand washing songs, social distance games and learning about healthy food.

New rules for a new normal

First Steps Himalaya has developed strict protocols for opening our early childhood centres in rural Nepal, combined with the Nepal Government school reopening advice. These new rules and routines are in place to reduce risk to staff, children and their families. Most of us now are familiar with these measures, such as social distancing where possible, wearing masks and staying home if unwell.

Hand hygiene without running water: Many rural Nepali schools must rely of water canisters for hand washing. Clean hands are a fundamental part of keeping our teachers and young students safe.

While Nepal battles on with suppressing Covid-19 in the community, we are so pleased and excited to be able to offer our young students a safe and nourishing place to learn and play.

Social distancing at play: Only learning materials that can be washed or cleaned easily are available in the classroom for one child each day. This avoids multiple sets of hands touching the same materials.

If you would like to find out more about the work First Steps Himalaya does in rural Nepal, improving teaching and classrooms, or to support our work, click here.

2020 vision

As the new decade kicks off, we at First Steps Himalaya have set ourselves the goal of taking our services to new regions of Nepal. This will involve training more rural teachers, fitting out their classrooms and providing them with the support they need to provide quality child friendly early years education.

The FSH team meet with new project partners in Pokhara, December 2019.

To achieve this we are partnering other like minded organisations who share our vision which is Opportunities through learning. These organisations have requested us to provide training and project services in their project areas. It is an honour to be so well regarded and we are thrilled to be reaching out to children, teachers and communities in different project areas in new corners of Nepal.

We would not be able to expand our services without our highly experienced and dedicated team on the ground in Nepal. We know that in order to bring about long lasting change, the key is having local Nepali staff who understand the communities in which we work. Our local supervisors are responsible for visiting a cluster of projects each week, providing in class support, monitoring and on the job training. This can involve walking for several hours up and down hills to reach outlying schools and we are full of admiration to the dedication of our front line staff.

They in turn are supported by our project manager, Ranjana Giri who oversees the day to day running of our projects in Nepal. Ranjana, who started as a teacher nine years ago, is now responsible for thirteen staff. Ranjana is also our senior trainer and along with the assistant Project Manager, runs our teacher training workshops either at Sangachok or off site at various locations. Ranjana reports to Nepal Director Durga Aran who ensures the smooth running of the entire operation.

Project Manager, Ranjana Giri meets some of the children at our projects

We are very excited to be entering into a new phase where we are able to spread our methods to teachers in brand new areas. During a recent visit to Eastern Nepal, a 12-hour drive from our Sangachok headquarters, it was clear that there are thousands of schools across rural Nepal that are in dire need of drastic change both in terms of teaching methods and behaviour within the classroom.

Children in Jhapa, Eastern Nepal

All over Nepal, teachers are still using corporal punishment as well as shouting and insulting children as a means of controlling a class. As soon as modern child friendly teaching methods are properly implemented, teachers understand the importance of respect and modify their behaviour.

Teacher training workshops creating resources and learning about classroom & behaviour management

We are constantly receiving applications from schools all over Nepal to train and support their staff so that they too can provide nurturing environments. It may sound simple, but if you have never known any other way of doing something, you are not likely to change. This is very much the case in the schools that we work with. Until they are trained by us, most teachers have only witnessed teaching in the way that they were taught. Suddenly, they realise that it doesnt need to be that way and their job becomes so much easier as children start to enjoy learning.

Children loving their learning at Sangachok ECD

First Steps Himalaya is entering its 11th year working in rural Nepal. We spend a lot of time fundraising as we are entirely reliant on the generosity of people who believe in our mission. As we enter 2020, we need more support so that we can reach more schools.

It is not too late to donate to our annual appeal which will help us do more in Nepal. We are always grateful for any help no matter how big or small. Thank you!