Kathmandu, May 22, 2017: UWS Teaching fellowship, a unique kind of programme to make a difference in the life of children of poor and marginalized areas has kicked off in Nepal. The fellowship also provides interested Nepali youths an opportunity to serve in rural schools as full-time teachers for two years at a crucial time in their careers.
The fellowship aims to enhance the quality of education delivered to the children of rural Nepal through modern teaching methodology and create a meaningful connection between students, teachers, parents and community leaders understanding each other’s problems through mutual cooperation and collaborations.
In the 2-years long duration, the fellows can develop incredible skills and meaningful relationships with students, parents and community leaders that help further their personal and professional goals.
Similarly, it will also help build knowledge resource relevant to people of rural and remote communities. By improving the learning environment, and life skills of rural children, the programme would ultimately work towards removing barriers imposed by the socioeconomic environment on the poor and marginalized children of rural Nepal.
With the use of play, animated books, and visual-based learning, the programme will develop a passion for learning in the students along with, enabling understand concepts better, develop emotional and social intelligence and gain communication skills.
Speaking amidst the press-conference organized today in Kathmandu, Avinash Jha, Teaching Fellowship Director of UWS Nepal explained how they realized the lack of quality education in rural Nepali schools and how training and allowing the young leaders to teach can solve this. In addition, he talked about how fellowship is going to create future leaders in diverse sectors; including education policy researchers, lawyers, journalists, corporate leaders, entrepreneurs, all with a shared purpose to super head the task of building a peaceful and prosperous country on the basis of educational equity. “This programme seeks to change the scenario in rural Nepali villages. We are hopeful about the tremendous impact by the work of the fellows,” he said.
Similarly, Narottam Aryal, Executive Director of King’s College and advisor for the fellowship programme shared the current scenario of primary education in Nepal. “Education in Nepal is still at a nascent stage. Though the school-enrolment rate at primary levels is good, the drop-out rate is very high and only small portion of the students complete the secondary education,” he said. He further mentioned the main problem of education lies in the lack of proper teacher, and expressed confidence that the fellowship will contribute to fill the void.
Likewise, Ms. Malvika Subba, Goodwill Ambassador of UWS said that the fellowship can play a major role in contributing to better education system of rural areas in Nepal. She also shared few points on female empowerment by educating young female children.
Application opens for UWS teaching fellowship
The application has been called for the UWS teaching fellowship starting today itself. Any Nepali citizen with minimum intermediate’s degree can apply to the fellowship programme.
The applicants would be invited to go through series of interviews and an interaction process, from which ten young fellows would be selected to begin the fellowship journey.
The selected fellows will be trained in child-friendly teaching methods, online and experimental methods, and technical and vocational life skills methods so as to improve classroom management and how to create a culture of interest based learning.
The training is divided into two categories on which pre-service training will last 1 month residential for the development of communication and leadership skills and in-service training will last throughout the fellowship period.
In a nutshell, the programme is a life-changing opportunity for the youths. The fellows would head to the schools in Sankhuwasabha by mid-August.
How will the fellows work to transform education in the rural schools?
Each fellow will be assigned a classroom in one of UWS’s schools and charged to give their students the access and exposure they need to reach their personal, long-term visions in child-centric approach. Throughout the fellowship, the young teachers would work on various UWS commitments in and beyond their full-time role as the leading a classroom where they establish a culture of interest driven education among children and life-skills of rural children.
The fellows will be facilitating a lot of outdoor learnings in the students, and try to make education more practical.
With the quality infrastructures, resources, and teachers, the programme seeks to contribute to change the face of education in rural villages of Nepal.
United World Schools (UWS) is a UK-based charity providing the opportunity to read, write and count to those children who have been denied access to education in Cambodia, Myanmar, and Nepal.
