Popular in rural villages, the students of public schools of Dhanusha, Sindhupalchwok and Lalitpur also left a good impression to the people of different walks who had gathered at Yak and Yeti, Kathmandu’s five-star Hotel.

One of the main attractions in the program was Samir Dunal, an eighth grader of Shree Kundala Devi School in Sindhupalchowk.He is quite popular in his village for his wiring skills.

After visiting a power house in his village for an academic tour, Dunal along with his friends prepared a power house model using locally available materials under the supervision of Teach for Nepal Fellow Hom Bahadur Thapa and it was exhibited in the school.

As Samir came to Kathmandu for the first time for Teach for Nepal’s event Big Brother, Big Sister (BBBS) along with over 65 other students of public schools located in Dhanusha, Sindhupalchowk and Lalitpur, his model got the audiences.

Reflecting on the innovative methods Fellows use for teaching students in classrooms, other students also exhibited drama, music, mathematics, and English related activities. Their activities reflected cultures and traditions of their respective communities. For English, they had exhibited different word games and puzzles, too.

Richa Neupane, a graduate of International Studies from Minnesota State University in the US, who returned to Nepal a few months ago, had applied for Teach for Nepal Fellowship 2016 and got selected. “I wanted to come back to Nepal and work after finishing my Bachelor’s and I felt that TFN was the perfect platform to get started, so I applied,” she said. She added that the experience will provide her with an opportunity to know people and the country in the local level. “The students’ exhibition was great and they are very talented. I’m looking forward to teaching such students and for the two years’ journey as a whole,” she shared.     

During the event, Sunita Danuwar, the keynote speaker, shared about being sold to a brothel as a teenager, and how that inspired her to initiate Shakti Samuha, an organization that works for empowerment of women who share similar life as hers. 

Sujita Chaudhary Memorial Trust Fund was also launched during the event. The trust fund has been established in memory of Sujita Chaudhary, a Teach for Nepal Fellow that TFN family lost during the 2015 earthquake. The Fund will support scholarship for girl students to pursue higher education, promote science education and sports related activities in public schools.

Additionally, the Induction event formally welcomed 45 Teach for Nepal Fellows selected from 555 applications received for 2016-2018 Fellowship. The fourth cohort of Teach for Nepal Fellows will be placed in public schools in Sindhupalchowk, Lalitpur and Dhanusa to teach Math, English, and Science for two years.

“Teach for Nepal (TFN) is a movement of outstanding university graduates and young professionals who are committed to end education inequity in Nepal starting with two years of fellowship teaching in public schools. Teach for Nepal Fellows come from diverse academic backgrounds, with minimum of Bachelor’s degree from universities in Nepal or other parts of the world,” writes a press release issued by TFN.

Although TFN had started off with 33 Fellows in 16 schools in Lalitpur in 2013, it has now 86 currently teaching in 32 public schools located in rural Lalitpur, Dhanusha and Sindhupalchowk districts, reaching to over 6,000 students.

According tothe press release, 45 new fellows of the fourth cohort will be replaced in these schools and some new placement schools located in earthquake-impacted areas of Sindhupalchowk starting from April as the second cohort Fellows complete their two years of tenure. With the new cohort in place, over 100 TFN Fellows will be teaching in the schools, reaching to about 7,000 children.

At a time when teaching quality of public school is deteriorating, TFN’s move will help to enhance the quality of rural students who are attending the public schools.