In addition to the Teacher Training program’s expansion to new valleys, the Australian Himalayan Foundation has maintained a commitment to the Key Teacher Training program it began 3 years ago in the Khumbu valley. This year it was attended by 17 teachers - 14 from Solukhumbu, and three from the Kangchenjunga region to the east of Nepal.
Project Overview
The Key Teacher Training Workshop was held from 30th November to 5th December 2008 at Salleri in the Solukhumbu region of Nepal.
The role of Key teachers
Each Key Teacher provides in-school support for the three or four schools closest to their own school. They commit to visiting each school at least three times each year.
During school visits, the Key Teachers visit classrooms and observe classes, undertake demonstration teaching, provide in-school training, monitor changes in relation to the refresher workshop themes, and monitor the use of the teaching resources provided by the program.
Project objectives
The objectives of the workshop were:
- Review of the year’s development in the schools and Key Teachers’ work
- Leadership and life skills development of the Key Teachers
- Strengthening the teachers’ assessment skills and evaluation of the children's work
- Practice good habits of mind and developing creativity in all the subject teaching
- Understand and practice participatory workshop methods and training styles
- Understand the structure of a workshop and prepare session content for teacher training workshop
- Use of effective communication skills and facilitation skills during the workshop
Course Evaluation
- Key teachers appreciated their life skills development and leadership development. Once again the learning styles and creative thinking topics were popular.
- Key teachers reported positive interactions with teacher, principals and school management committees. Teachers were using child friendly methods of teaching and adopting materials introduced in previous training.
- Libraries have been set up for the Room to Read books.
"The new political situation has made teachers much
more relaxed and hopeful. The improvement in classrooms this year has
been very obvious. The Key teachers have visited the schools regularly,
and the latest Nepali curriculum changes give a real focus to the
refresher courses. Thousands of students learn better because of this
opportunity. Thank you Australian Himalayan Foundation."
Bhim Bogati Nepali Teacher Trainer
Challenges and Recommendations
- The project challenges are that there is still a minority of teachers who are unable or unwilling to adopt the new teaching methods, as well as students who do not attend school.
- It is recommended to continue with the Key Teacher Training courses on the proviso that we increase the numbers attending the course to the levels in 2007 and 2008.
- It is also recommended that we try to explore ways in which creative methods can be introduced to all schools in the region.
Program partners
Jim Strang, a New Zealand teacher who was instrumental in establishing in 1998 the Teacher Training program run by Sir Edmund Hillary’s Himalayan Trust is the project coordinator. On the ground the operation is managed by REED (Rural Education and Environmental Development), a Nepalese NGO based in Kathmandu who have worked with Jim from the outset. A further dimension to the project is the contribution of a select team of volunteer teachers.
Program achievements
During its development the program
- Has gained unqualified support from the local District Education Office as well as the village development committees and the school management committees.
- Fully accredited by the Nepal Council for Education Development
- Been evaluated by UNICEF and identified as a model for educational development in Nepal.
Project Background
This 2008 Key Teacher phase of the Teacher Training and Quality Education (TTQE) project builds on the foundation of several years' successful grassroots education projects that Footprints has funded. We are very excited to see the expansion of this program into lower parts of valley (hence, increasing the reach) and also the development into a broader Quality Education program.
You can read past project and participant reports here.
The project costs will cover:
- The training of 45 Key primary school teachers by the AHF program coordinator and volunteers (all teachers) to be teacher trainers themselves.
- The program includes sessions on leadership and teambuilding and provides on-going local capacity to train, mentor and supervise other local teachers, through courses and visits to schools.
- Additionally, the project will supply much needed specific materials and resources to the schools.
Educational improvements
The Teacher Training and Quality Education project program aims to increase the opportunities for kids in this impoverished and remote Himalayan region by greatly improving:
- Teaching and learning levels
- The rates of retention and transition into secondary school
- An understanding of how students learn through child pyschology
- Teaching practices that promote higher-order critical and creative thinking to actively engage learners
- The availability of trained teachers in all subjects - thus easing a severe shortage
The provision of specific requested and needed resources and assistance to particular schools will also increase the teaching and learning skills, and improve the education of the kids of the region.
Part of a larger project
The 2008 Key Teacher Training program is the first phase of the new, expanded TTEQ program, a major cost-effective educational initiative being expanded and rolled out across this Himalayan Region by the Australian Himalayan Foundation.
In the second, central phase, the Key Teachers, with the AHF volunteers, will train more than 400 teachers from about 120 schools, directly improving teaching and learning levels: improving retention rates and the education of more than 8,000 kids in the region’s schools.
Educational issues in the Himalaya Region
In the impoverished and remote communities of the Solukhumbu, there are very limited future opportunities for kids. With highly unsatisfactory learning outcomes and retention rates, teacher education is the most effective way to increase student participation, achievement, and retention in schools, especially when coupled with provision of specific, vital assistance and resources.. It also facilitates significant increases in community support (vital for attendance and retention rates), social cohesion and local involvement in the schools.
Better education in turn increases their job and economic prospects and community leadership and income-gaining skills, and greatly assists community well-being.
Community Involvement
The TTQE program is run in conjunction with the local communities and
experienced volunteers, ensuring sustainable benefits and increased
community support.
The AHF project team is led by a teacher training coordinator who is highly experienced in this profession and region, a group of Australian volunteer teacher trainers and the strong local support of local Nepali teacher trainers. All teachers trained are from the local communities.
Other ways to get involved with this project :
Australian (and others) who are qualified teachers can participate as volunteer trainers of Key Teachers, and of other local teachers.
Can I visit this project ?
You can visit some of the 120 or so schools involved, on specific occasions as a member of an AHF support trek (coordinated by World Expeditions), subject to availability and timing.
How was it this funded?
Thanks to hundreds of tiny donations from these online businesses and their customers.
- ***WorldNomads.com.au
- ***WorldNomads.co.nz
- World Nomads USA
- World Nomads Canada
- www.WorldNomads.com
- ***World Nomads UK
- Travel Insurance Direct AU
- Travel Insurance Direct NZ
Over the years, thousands of Australians have visited the Himalaya. For many it is an opportunity to trek beneath the world’s highest peaks and to appreciate some of the world’s most hospitable cultures.
However, for the remote communities in Nepal, Bhutan and northern India, access to basic health and education services is often out of reach and climate change poses a growing threat to Himalayan communities, livelihoods and glaciers, which are a critical source of water for millions of people.
The Australian Himalayan Foundation believes that the people of the Himalaya know their local environments best. Therefore, since 2002, AHF has worked in partnership with local organisations to design and deliver cost-effective and practical programs that help remote Himalayan families withstand serious challenges such as poverty, injustice and natural disasters.
Giving to AHF as a traveller is an opportunity to give something back to one of the most incredible mountain destinations in the world.