Twelve Nepalese schools receive British Council’s International Schools Award (ISA) under Connecting Classroom Project. British Council Nepal awarded International Schools Award to twelve Nepalese schools at an event organized at Kathmandu on 13 August.

According to a press release issued by British Council, this award is endorsed and supported by the Ministry of Education and this is the third year, Nepali Schools are being awarded through this award scheme.

The award was handed over by special guests Khagaraj Baral, Executive Director- National Centre for Educational Development, Diwaker Dhungel, Executive Director- Curriculum Development Centre and Dev Kumari Gurung, Director- Planning Division, Department of Education

Twenty two schools from nine districts of Nepal had applied for the ISA award out of which Full Award is granted to Twelve Schools.

The schools include Sirjana Community Secondary School, Kaski, St. Capitanio School, Palpa, Adarsha English Boarding Secondary School, Parbat, Durga Lower Secondary School, Baglung, Achane Higher Secondary School, Dhading, Traibidya Shikchhya Sadan, Kathmandu, Sakalya School (Eurokids Chauni), Kathmandu, Reliance International Academy (RIA), Kathmandu, Babylon National School, Kathmandu, Karnali Education Foundation, Jhapa, Suryajyoti lower secondary English boarding School, Jhapa  and Delhi Public School  Dharan.

The schools receiving the full award will be provided with a trophy and certificates for the School, Principal and ISA coordinator and will be allowed to use the coveted International School Award kite mark along with their school logo on all the official stationeries and promotional materials for a period of three years.

“In an increasingly globalised economy, it is vital that our students are prepared for working and communicating with each other in their learning and skills development programs across international borders in order to secure a prosperous and harmonious world.  For our students to thrive in a competitive world, they must develop digital literacy, critical thinking and problem solving skills, creativity and imagination, leadership skills, team building and working skills, ICT management expertise and a commitment to becoming responsible and caring global citizens. International School Award tries to embed these essential elements of the students’ growth in the curriculum through this award,” said Brenden McSharry OBE, Country Director British Council.

International School Award (ISA)  is a yearly award given to participating schools. Applications from interested schools are called in every year, August/September period and schools are selected on the basis of their application. The British Council offers the ISA as an accreditation framework for schools to record and evaluate their international work and embed it into the curriculum.

ISA acts as a benchmark that ascertains schools as having an outstanding level of support for Nurturing global citizenship in young people and enriching teaching and learning.

According to Council, the ISA approach to school development is holistic and mirrors the curriculum based project work approach to encourage the teachers to use with their students. It is rigorous and evidence based process. It encourages the leaders to foster teambuilding, innovation, and project management. ISA is content free and schools are encouraged to embed it within their own curriculum. ISA gives context to practice new skills in Information & Communications Technology (ICT) and pedagogy in a safe and structured manner. Participating in briefings and workshops, online community and the award ceremony brings together a large number of schools across the country fostering rich exchange of ideas and creating a vibrant community of education professionals.

A team of representatives from the British Council, Department of Education and Curriculum Development Centre is developed. The dossiers or the portfolio of evidence submitted by the participating schools are evaluated and school visits are organised to see the authenticity of the work and learning outcomes in the children. With the evidences submitted and the outcome of school visits, the schools are granted the award.