The Australian Himalayan Foundation 2006 phase Key Teacher Training project in the Solu Khumbu region of Nepal was completed, highly successfully, in December 2006, with the invaluable support of the donors to the Footprints program.
Under the program, the AHF coordinator, Jim Strang, and the two volunteer teacher trainers, Ruth Luthi and Jeanine Gibby, and other trainers, trained 16 key teachers (to be teacher trainers and on-going mentors themselves) for the subsequent Refresher Training workshops and follow-up work throughout 2007.
Results
The Key Teacher Training - “trainer training” – program, which then lead to the training of more than 200 teachers from over 70 primary schools in this remote and very poor region, greatly improves and extends – through better teaching and learning – the education of more than 4,000 students.
Specifically, the Key Teacher course was again vital in providing on-going local capacity to train, mentor and supervise teachers, through courses and on-going monitoring and mentoring visits to schools.
Outcomes
This year, several specific outcomes were:
- Teambuilding, leadership, use of teaching materials and strategies, demonstration lesson guidelines, and “checklist and feedback” training were all conducted.
- Children from local schools visited and enabled Key teachers to practice various skills and new teaching strategies introduced during the training, so they can better train teachers.
Other items included;
- Problem-solving
- Adult learning principles
- In-school support activities
- And child-centred methodologies.
Feedback
The coordinator of the Program, Jim Strang, has reported from Nepal that the program this year was “very successful” and emphasised the strong need to continue the program for at least another three years to develop a strong local support base, with on-going training and in-school support for Key Teachers to enable this to continue.
(Update posted 12 Sept 2007)
Educational improvements through Teacher Training
The teacher-training program focuses on training 20 key primary school teachers a year to become teacher trainers to then work in a broader Teacher training program covering the Solu Khumbu region.
It will:
- Provide on-going local capacity to train, mentor and supervise other local teachers, through courses and visits to schools.
- Greatly improve learning levels and the rates of retention into secondary school, thus improving the opportunities for kids in this impoverished Himalayan region
- Teach child psychology and an understanding of how students learn. Teaching practices will promote higher-order critical and creative thinking to actively engage learners.
- Fill the severe shortage of trained teachers in all subjects
- Be run in conjunction with the local communities and experienced volunteers
Part of a larger project
The key teacher training program is the first and most essential part of a much larger educational initiative being rolled out each year across this Himalayan Region by the Australian Himalayan Foundation.
When the program is completed, the newly trained teachers will then, with an Australian Himalayan Foundation co-ordinator and volunteers ( Australian teachers), run further training courses for about 200 teachers in the 65 primary schools in the Solu Khumbu region (close to Mt.Everest), benefiting a total of 3,900 children. The 20 key teachers will continue to supervise, mentor and train, through courses and visits to 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. It will also facilitate significant increases in community support, social cohesion and local involvement in the schools.
Better education will in turn increase their job and economic prospects and community leadership and income-gaining skills.
Community Involvement
The AHF project team will be 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 Nepali trainers. In addition, UNICEF are also sending 10 key teachers from 3 poorer districts in the West of Nepal to share in the training held in in Salleri and take back learnings to their own districts.
How was it this funded?
Thanks to hundreds of tiny donations from these online businesses and their customers.
- WorldNomads.com.au
- WorldNomads.co.nz
- WorldNomads.com
- WorldNomads.ca
- www.WorldNomads.com
- World Nomads UK
- Travel Insurance Direct AU
- Travel Insurance Direct NZ
The Foundation has been established to “give something back” to the people of the Himalaya, an inspiring but impoverished region, through working with local partners to develop and support education, medical and environmental projects.
Its core project is the provision of quality education in remote regions of Nepal. It also supports a medical program in Ladakh; scholarships for girls in Nepal and Bhutan; wildlife conservation with snow leopards in Nepal and Ladakh; Tibetan communities in India; art awards in Nepal and Bhutan and a cancer screening program in Nepal. The AHF is a not-for-profit non-government charity with full tax deductibility status.