Home Startup Stories In a conversation with Sudarshan Subedi, the teen hero who has only...

In a conversation with Sudarshan Subedi, the teen hero who has only two things in mind – Education and Environmental Protection:

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Sudarshan Subedi, who has been working in the leading positions of social organizations like Naxal Group, Nepal Eco Club, and British Council of Nepal is just a teenager who will turn 19 a few months down the lane. He is constant quest of developing new ideas so that the upcoming generation has better things to look at in our country.

One of the 20 under 20 Glocal Teen Heroes of 2018, Sudarshan is a versatile who has dual dreams in his eyes – one to enhance the quality of education in Nepal and the other to become Nepal environmentally sustainable. 

To know how he has been moving forward with his goals and dreams, our Glocal Khabar correspondent, Ms. Mahima Poddar had a candid conversation with him. Here are some highlights from the interview:

  • What are some of your current involvements and future goals?

I am currently working with the goal of enhancing the quality of education in Nepal. I am working as the school project officer of British Council, Nepal and our team looks forward to bringing project based learning and the concept of global citizenship in the schools of Nepal. We are exerting our best efforts to make sure the investment from UK Aid can be diverted towards the education sector of Nepal.

As I aforementioned, I am extremely passionate towards working for the betterment of education system of the country. This passion within me has motivated me to start a venture called IDE-BUS whereby we want to partner with Nepalese schools to implement international standards in the education system of the country. We are currently working day and night at the back-end so our startup can be launched full-fledgedly next year.

As for Nepal Eco Club, I am currently working as the Co-founder and Treasurer there. I recently found an interesting fact about Singapore which states that the country converts all its waste into energy within 12 hours. I would consider it to be my life goal to do something like that in Nepal such that the whole infrastructure of Nepal can be built on recycled waste.

  • What was the driving motivational factor which pushed you forward to bring out the best in you?

A significant event occurred in my life while I was in grade 5 and that event shaped my life to become what it is today. 

I am the youngest of the three brothers in my family. In my academics, I was always an average student until class 3. My elder brother and I studied in the same school and my elder brother used to be exceptionally good in his academic performance. The good reputation of my brother led other people to believe that I was also capable and my school management promoted me directly to grade 5 from grade 3. 

However, in grade 5, I didn’t perform well in my academics and almost failed with a margin of 1-2 marks in Nepali. My generous Nepali teacher however, granted me the passing marks. This event led everyone in my family to believe that I had been given the passing marks because of my brother’s prestige. Everyone started relaying my academic journey to my brother’s reputation and my existence felt dependent on my brother’s. It wasn’t a good feeling. 

On the other hand, I also had become a victim of bully as my new classmates couldn’t well-accept my presence. It was a painful moment for me. I then, transformed myself in such a way and worked so hard that an average student like me who stood 24th in the class became the batch topper during my final examinations of grade 5. 

My positive transformation taught me that ‘Nothing is impossible’ and this value still remains very dear to my heart. So, in short, the desire to have my own identity and my dislike towards dependency led me to become who I am today.

  • Where do you see yourself five years down the lane?

I hope to build a record for myself by travelling to 25 countries by the age of 25. Other than that, five years down the lane, I hope my venture IDE-BUS moves forward in full speed. In my academic journey, I can see myself having completed Master’s education by the end of five years.

  • What is your most memorable moment from the journey of Glocal Teen Hero?

I felt really elevated to be enlisted in the Top 6 finalists for Glocal Teen Hero in the year 2018. I will never forget the last five days before the finale where I met another group of people just my age but who were doing some amazing work in their field. It was great to work with them during those five days. I still am in touch with my other peers in Glocal Teen Hero and we often work collaboratively with the hope of making our country a better place to live.

  • As you are a student pursuing Bachelors of Business Administration from People’s Campus and due to your involvement in British Council and IDE-BUS, you have gotten the chance to examine the education system of Nepal intricately. Do you have any comments on the Nepalese education system?

In case of college and university education, the fact that colleges and universities of Nepal aren’t flexible can be a very discouraging factor some times. The stringent rules like longer study hours, mandatory attendance requirements, etc. leave little space for young people to go and explore the opportunities around them while continuing their education. So, the stringency of the education system sometimes steals the golden opportunity from young minds where they can explore and make the best use of the resources they find outside their university classrooms.

Regarding the school-level education system, it is high time that we move out of the rote-based learning methods and inculcate skill-based teaching pedagogy in our classrooms which will help our young minds learn life skills during the most crucial years of growth. 

Mahima Poddar