FELLOWSHIP IMPACT REPORT

Dec 2017 - Apr 2018

CONTENTS

Executive SummaryTraining & Activities Fellowship Impact Inspiring Stories

This report provides an outlook of UWS Nepal Teaching Fellowship impact and an assessment of the improvements made in UWS Nepal schools, student’s performance and local community. It also explains the in-service trainings provided to the 2017 fellows and the effects of its implementation and how UWS schools can further benefit from the Fellowship Program.

In the second quarter of the 2017 cohort, Fellows have proved to make enhancements in student retention, implementation of modern teaching methods, audio visual classes, regularity of community and government teachers, hygiene and sanitation and student’s performance in subjects such as English, Mathematics, Science and Social Studies.

Student’s performance in classroom and examinations have improved with the practice of conducting classes with proper lesson plan and use of materials such as chart papers, for visual learning of Science, Maths, English and Nepali. Changing the examination pattern by adding practicals for listening, writing, speaking in English and Nepali resulted in better understanding of the course and improved scores. Fellows initiation in providing tuition classes to students that are weaker in certain subjects has also reflected in the increase in classroom participation, attendance and exam results.

Recognizing weaker students and offering assistance to improve their overall performance has helped the students to build their confidence and participate in class. Manju Lopchan, a student from UWS Baga studying in grade 1, had been facing problems making simple sentences and reading chapters due to forced admission to grade 1 skipping ECD class. Juna, our Fellow designated in UWS Baga, recognized Manju’s inability reading mere ABC’s and after explaining her problem to the teachers and her parents, decided to put her back in grade 1 rather than upgrading her to grade 2. This year Juna guided her closely which resulted in an substantial change seen in her performance in class and daily attendance. Little care and attention toward Manju, encouraged her to complete all assigned homework and classwork, participate actively and to learn more.

The motivation and enthusiasm shown by the Fellows has benefited the UWS community teachers as well as the government teachers. Sharing new ideas for student engagement and teaching techniques has improved the performance of community and Government teachers in delivering the subject content to the children in class. Timely awareness programs have been effective in increasing student participation in various activities and increasing parents attendance in monthly parent teacher meeting, leading to better coordination with the school management team to plan and contribute in monthly and yearly activities.

The Early Childhood Education (ECD) and sanitation training conducted during the second quarter has proved to be very effective. Fellows have started emphasizing sanitation practises in everyday lives of UWS students and their families. The ECD training included different techniques in engaging children, gaining attention, importance of reading, quality education and about child abuse. The sanitation training, “Lifebuoy Schools of Five” included information session on sanitation and hygiene along with distribution of sanitation kits to the students.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The Fellows received two major trainings during the second quarter. The Early Childhood Development (ECD) training and Sanitation training under Health and Education were conducted successfully.

Early Childhood Development (ECD) Training Trainer: Gemma BarkerDate: January 2018Venue: UWS Mude, Mude, Sankhuwasabha  

Purpose: The ECD training was conducted to teach the Fellows and Education Officers different ways to improve quality of ECD Education. The training was conducted with an aim of replicating it with  the community teachers in existing UWS Nepal Schools.

Training Content • Definition of quality education • Techniques to grab students’ attention• Importance of engaging children• Importance of reading• Child Protection

Techniques used: • Group discussion• Individual opinion• Case study• Role play

Resources Used: • Games and children rhymes• Whiteboard, ball, paper, markers, scissors and pens

Learnings/outcome:

A. Quality Education and ECD

Participants understood and refined the definition of ECD and quality education and distinguished their similarities and differences. It helped them to understand the current scenario of ECD in UWS Nepal Schools and further analyze ways to improve and adapt. They also learned about various ECD learning environments.

TRAINING & ACTIVITIES

B. Techniques to grab student attention

Use different language, games, songs and rhymes to attract students and grab their attention. The participants were taught to analyze what children learned from each activity or song and how they could adapt it to different grades or topics.

C. Importance of Engaging Children

Participants learned why engaging children is important for better ECD classes. Read story and activities on Rote Learning versus Engaging Learning and distinguished their differences.They learned about engaging techniques: voice, questions, praise, actions, movement, using names, etc. How participants can adapt lessons to fit children’s interest was also thoroughly explained.

D. Importance of Reading

This session included why developing the habit of reading was important among children and what the purpose of reading was. The trainer demonstrated ways of reading to class – showing pictures, complimenting storyline, tone change, involving children’s movement, asking various questions etc.) The participants were asked to read aloud stories and were given the following  tips for interactive reading:

• Can all children see the book and hear you?• Hold the book away from you with the pictures facing the children.

• Involve movement and noise where possible e.g. “Look at this noisy cat! How does a cat sound?”, “He is putting on his coat, can you show me how you put on your coat?

• Timing: 3 years olds should not sit still longer than 10 minutes; 4 year olds should not sit still longer than 20 minutes. Don’t worry if you don’t finish the book.  Stop before the children lose interest.  You can finish it the next day

• Give children time to answer• Do not lose focus of story by asking too many questions• Consider other follow-up activities: acting the story out, drawing pictures of

favorite characters or events; or making up a new ending for the story

E. Child Abuse

This session included defining child abuse, categorizing its types, child protection code of conduct and case studies. The participants were asked to give examples of child abuse and categorize them. They did case studies on various child abuse cases and role play on how they would react to such cases.

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The Education Officers and the Fellows have been practicing the contents learned during the ECD training in their respective UWS Nepal Schools. They replicated the trainings received to community teachers as well as the Government teachers. The training has helped to develop reading habits among children, include games and activities during classes to make learning fun. The children have started to become more engaging in the classroom and participate in classroom activities more often.

Health and Education: Sanitation Training

Trainer: Unilever NepalDate:/02/2018Venue: Sankhuwasabha

Purpose: Provide, promote and scale up health and hygiene interventions that ensure a tangible improvement to the health of children and families of Nepal.

Training : Lifebuoy School Of Five The campaign “Help A child Reach Five” under the training “Lifebuoy School of Five” was focused on delivering education about hygiene to reduce Diarrhea and Pneumonia, the two top causes of death among children under five. The 21 day behavioural change module taught the primary grade (class 1- 5 ) students about the need, importance and right ways of handwashing with soap on five key occasions. The 21 day period is crucial as it has been proven through a research that an activity done continuous for 21 days will become a habit. So reinforcing the use of soap and water for a continuous 21 days will essentially build the habit of using soap for all the coming days.

The five key occasions are: 1. Before breakfast2. Before lunch3. Before dinner4. After toilet 5. Daily shower

The message was disseminated through interactive educational module with 4 consecutive visits to the primary students within 21 days.

Resources Used: • Flip chart• 1 day calendar• Comic Book • Captain badge• Name sticker• Pledge poster• Small balls• Hand wash poster• School certificate• Hand wash soap

Techniques Used: • Storytelling• Quiz competition• Information sharing

The modality was carried out by the program implementers as per the schedule below. A total of 4 visits was carried out in an interval of 6 days each within a period of 21 days

Learnings:

The program was set to deliver hand washing behaviour change activities in schools with active involvement from the students, teachers and mothers. Also, it delivered the message that wash hands with soap and water is the most cost effective intervention to reduce school absenteeism and improve child health.

Visit ActivityVisit 1 Teachers

BriefingInauguration and Nominate Lifebuoy Caption

Introduction to 5 characters + Diary Hand over

Chapter 1 and Quiz

Glitter ball demo

Pleadge and High 5

Visit 2 Recap Chapter 2 & 3 Quiz

Visit 3 Recap Chapter 4 & 5 Quiz

Visit 4 Recap Chapter 6 Quiz

UWS Schools evaluated the examination pattern and have decided to change the pattern of conducting examinations in UWS Schools. Earlier, the students were evaluated on theory based knowledge. The second annual examination was conducted in better perspective. Practical examinations were emphasized and listening, writing and speaking were added in English and Nepali. Likewise, practical examinations for the subject Science were included.

The ECD Trainings provided to the Fellows have proved to be very fruitful. The otherwise monotonous and unattractive classrooms have now become more attractive and lively. The Fellows with the help of Education Officers, community teachers and local community members have started painting the walls and decorating the classroom with child friendly learning tools. The newly designed U shaped tables have helped the students to interact with each other. The children’s overall performance in learning has also improved because of the fellows and teachers application of techniques to engage the students. The students enjoy learning and have shown better results.

UWS  Nepal Schools have started to conduct regular assemblies in the morning. Group activities during the assembly have also been initiated and have started to show positive impact on the student’s confidence. In the assembly time, a student from each class is asked to perform quiz,  speech or poem everyday to help them build their confidence to speak in front of a mass. Few minutes of exercise during the assembly has now become a regular activity.

The Audio Video classes initiated by education officers has helped the children broaden their knowledge about various fields and increase their curiosity. This has helped students to join classes regularly and has also increased student retention rate that has been reflected in the student admissions for the academic year B.S. 2075.

Outdoor learning is now being used as a tool to make learning fun and practical. Students enjoy attending class and stay active throughout the day. Child friendly playground with safe swings, seesaw, monkey climbing and fences have been built with the help of local community people. The playground materials were built with locally available materials. In a recent reform on school schedule, Fridays are now dedicated to extra curricular activities. On Fridays, one can witness school playgrounds filled with noise. Various games, quiz competition, art competition and play and drama are conducted regularly.

Furthermore, UWS Nepal Fellows have started free tuition classes in the mornings and evenings for students that are weaker in certain subjects. The purpose of the tuition classes are to motivate students to study and complete homework on time. The tuition classes help the fellows to understand their students better and counsel them accordingly. This has helped the performance of the students in class as well as in extra curricular activities, reflected both in student attendance, retention and exam results that have improved dramatically in schools with fellows in comparison to schools with no fellows.

FELLOWSHIP IMPACT

Variables IndicatorsBefore Fellows

Arrival

After Fellows Placement

After Fellows Placement Example

MeasuremnetDescription

Sep - Nov 2017 Dec 2017 - Apr 2018

Stu

dent

Per

form

ance

Students’ ability to finish class work 2 3 3 1 = Never Rating on a scale of '1 = Never' to '4 =Always'

Student daily attendance 2 3 3 4 = Very good Rating on a scale of '1 = Poor' to '4 =Very Good'

Student ability to identify numbers in grade 1 and 2 2 22 3 = Most (50-75%)

Rating on a scale of '1 = Few (0-25%)' to '4 =Nearly All (75-100%)'

Monthly student retention rate 2 3 3 4 = Very good Rating on a scale of '1 = Poor' to '4 =Very Good'

Students ability to identify, read and write albhabets in grade 2 2 3

3 3 = Most (50-75%)Rating on a scale of '1 = Few (0-25%)' to '4 =Nearly All (75-100%)'

Students ability to compose and read complete sentences in grade 3 1 2

2 3 = Most (50-75%)Rating on a scale of '1 = Few (0-25%)' to '4 =Nearly All (75-100%)'

% of students proficient in passage reading 1 22 3 = Most (50-75%)

Rating on a scale of '1 = Few (0-25%)' to '4 =Nearly All (75-100%)'

Behavioral changes of students 2 3 3 4 = Very good Rating on a scale of '1 = Poor' to '4 =Very Good'

English language proficiency 1 2 2 4 = Very good Rating on a scale of '1 = Poor' to '4 =Very Good'

Students ability to speak in front of the public 1 2 2 4 = Very good Rating on a scale of '1 = Poor' to '4 =Very Good'

Students ability to describe his/her dreams to his counterparts 1 3

3 3 = Most (50-75%)Rating on a scale of '1 = Few (0-25%)' to '4 =Nearly All (75-100%)'

Basic Operations of Mathematics (addition, substraction, multiplication, and division) 2 2

3 3 = Most (50-75%)Rating on a scale of '1 = Few (0-25%)' to '4 =Nearly All (75-100%)'

% of students observing handwashing 1 3 3 3 = effective Rating on a scale of '0 = ineffective' to '4 = very effective'

Obey social codes and rules 1 2 3 4 = Very good Rating on a scale of '1 = Poor' to '4 =Very Good'

Visual art skills 1 2 2 3 = effective Rating on a scale of '0 = ineffective' to '4 = very effective'

Student participation in awareness programs 1 2 3 3 = effective Rating on a scale of '1 = Poor' to '4 =Very Good'

Adopt scientific methods and process to obtain knowledge about living beings 1 2

23 = effective Rating on a scale of '0 = ineffective' to '4 = very effective'

Teac

her

Per

form

ance

Daily lesson planning 2 3 3 1 = Never Rating on a scale of '1 = Never' to '4 =Always'

Teacher attendance 2 33 3 = Most (50-75%)

Rating on a scale of '1 = Few (0-25%)' to '4 =Nearly All (75-100%)'

Teacher's use of outside spaces for classroom activities 2 3

32 = Sometimes Rating on a scale of '1 = Never' to '4 =Always'

Number of school activities organized by teacher collaboration 1 3

32 = Sometimes Rating on a scale of '1 = Never' to '4 =Always'

Introduction of newer teachniques of learning in collaboration with fellow 1 3

32 = Sometimes Rating on a scale of '1 = Never' to '4 =Always'

Students ability to complete class-work and home-work 2 3

31 = Never

Rating on a scale of '1 = Never' to '4 =Always'

Teacher presenting himself/herself as a co-learner, facilitator, promoter and motivator 1 3

33 = effective Rating on a scale of '0 = ineffective' to '4 = very effective'

Consultation with parents, principal and school management 2 3

32 = Sometimes Rating on a scale of '1 = Never' to '4 =Always'

Tea

cher

Per

form

ance

Teacher's use of audio video classes 1 2 3 2 = Sometimes Rating on a scale of '1 = Never' to '4 =Always'

Changes in classroom decoration with student learning 1 3 4 4 = Very good Rating on a scale of '1 = Poor' to '4 =Very Good' S

choo

l Man

agem

ent

Availability and implementation of school routine 2 4 4 Rating on a scale of '0 = ineffective' to '4 = very effective'

School calendar with different school activities prepared and implemented 2 4

43 = effective Rating on a scale of '0 = ineffective' to '4 = very effective'

Weekly teacher meeting carried out with guidance from fellows 1 3

33 = effective Rating on a scale of '0 = ineffective' to '4 = very effective'

Monthly parent and teacher meeting organized 2 4 4 3 = effective Rating on a scale of '0 = ineffective' to '4 = very effective'

School improvement plan is developed and implemented, and revised on a monthly basis if needed 2 3

33 = effective Rating on a scale of '0 = ineffective' to '4 = very effective'

Tracking of monthly student retention rates 1 3 3 3 = effective Rating on a scale of '0 = ineffective' to '4 = very effective'

Providing play day jersey to students 1 1 3 3 = effective Rating on a scale of '0 = ineffective' to '4 = very effective'

Changes in school environment (greenery, fencing, playground) 1 2

34 = Very good Rating on a scale of '1 = Poor' to '4 =Very Good'

Com

mun

ity M

obili

zatio

n

Institutionalization of monthly community meeting at any given UWS school 2 4

43 = effective Rating on a scale of '0 = ineffective' to '4 = very effective'

% of parents attending monthly meeting 1 2 3 3 = effective Rating on a scale of '0 = ineffective' to '4 = very effective'

Reporting of hours of Study time at home 1 2 2 3 = effective Rating on a scale of '0 = ineffective' to '4 = very effective'

Regular school attendance of each girl and boy child 2 3 3 4 = Very good Rating on a scale of '1 = Poor' to '4 =Very Good'

Cleanliness of children attending school 1 2 2 4 = Very good Rating on a scale of '1 = Poor' to '4 =Very Good'

% of students observing handwashing at home (parents reporting) 1 2

33 = effective Rating on a scale of '0 = ineffective' to '4 = very effective'

% of community members participating in school infrastructure construction 3 3

33 = effective Rating on a scale of '0 = ineffective' to '4 = very effective'

% of community members showing concern about education standards at school 2 2

33 = effective Rating on a scale of '0 = ineffective' to '4 = very effective'

Name of the School: UWS Baga Story By: Juna Manandhar, UWS Nepal Fellow 2017

Manju Lopchan is one of my students. She studied in Grade 1 and was the only student who struggled to write ABC's. The reason, after 10 months experience, was her forced admission to grade 1 when she should have been placed in ECD. In the last few months, I went on a journey to discover why Manju was placed in Grade 1 instead of ECD.

Talking with the Principal of the school, I learned that Manju’s parents wanted her to study in Grade 1. Being forced to climb the ranks, she has turned out to be the weakest student in her class. While most teachers focus on her weakness as Manju’s fault, I have brought her closer to me and started teaching her methods to identify and write alphabets. In the beginning, when I started working with her, she was very irregular to class and never bothered about being explained. Her performance throughout the year was hindered because she could not catch up with other students who were already making complete sentences and reading stories. Before the start of new academic year 2075 B.S., with the help of the principal and after conversation with Manju’s parents, we decided to put her back in grade 1 rather than to  upgrade her to Grade

2. She is now more focused than she ever was. However, with the new move, her attendance only improved marginally. As her class teacher I noted her daily attendance and tracked her absences without permission. After understanding further, in order to encourage Manju to attend school, I started to give her a chocolate if she attended school without leave for the whole week. This worked! Now that she attends school on a regular basis, we have started a new initiative to reward the highest attendance student with a chocolate or a pencil.

Manju’s attendance has improved now, she submits homework regularly and tries her best to do her classwork. I had never thought that a little support and dedicated guidance could bring such transformation.  She has progressed a lot with a simple act of attendance reward system and is happy to attend her school these days.

INSPIRING STORIES

Name Of School: UWS HeluwabesiStory By: Ashish Karki, UWS Nepal Fellow 2017

Getting in to the UWS Nepal Teaching Fellowship has been one of my biggest achievement so far. As I sit down to write this story and look back, I cannot be more thankful for a wonderful beginning to my professional career. During this short period, I have overcome a lot of challenges and gained increased subject knowledge through trainings and experience. UWS Nepal Teaching Fellowship is making increased positive impact, not only in my life but also in the lives of several thousand students and their communities. One of the several thousand stories is Archana B.K, a girl that I feel has been truly impacted.

Archana, from Heluwabesi village, was born into a poor low caste family. Growing up, as a child born in her conditions, she has forever been deprived of proper care and attention, both from her parents and local schools. Every morning she wakes up and helps her parents in the house and in the farm, leaving less time for reading and homework, thus leading to sporadic school attendance. Despite the school’s existence near Archana’s house, her irregular attendance resulted in bad grades, less friends and increased risk of dropping-out. There were times Archana would rushed to the school directly from the fields in empty stomach. I decided to understand the roots of Archana’s problems and learn more about her condition.

First, in a school meeting, I called her parents and had a chat about Archana. In the one-on-one meeting with the parents we talked about hygiene, irregular attendance, timely travel to the school and the importance of education. At first it was difficult to convince them

to that education was the only way out of poverty, but by the end of the meeting, the parents agreed to provide increased time for Archana’s schooling. Furthermore, to ensure commitment from the school, I convinced all the teachers in the school to give special attention to Archana.

The journey to help Archana started. We paired her with student that had good grades. As time progressed, her parents started sending her regularly to school and her reading and writing improved. As a result of the commitments from the parents and the school, she now has new friends and an improved bonding with both her colleagues and her teachers. Her parents have improved Archana’s health and sanitation. She now comes to school neat and tidy with all her home-works and reading completed prior to her class. Seeing her drastic improvement, I am now encouraging her to participate in extracurricular activities and talk about her dreams. She says, she wants to become a nurse someday.

Seeing Archana change, through application of techniques that I learned during my training prior to the start of the fellowship and the trainings provided last month on Early Childhood Development, I am understanding that little steps can do wonders. Archana is just one of 150 examples I am working with here in Heluwabesi.

Name Of School: UWS MajhuwaStory By: Binata Gurung, UWS Nepal Fellow 2017

United World Schools Nepal has become a seed of hope for the community of Majhuwa. I am absolutely delighted to work with some of the most understanding teachers, concerned parents and a helpful community.

I have seen this school grow from ground zero to today’s thriving state. On my arrival, the newly constructed school only looked like brick and mortar, classrooms were dull, the walls were empty, there was no access to water,  students came with untidy uniform and community members rarely attended meetings. Everything was chaotic, and I found beauty in unpacking the chaos. It took some time to understand the problems, but as I mingled with the surrounding there was a lot to learn.

To decrease chaos in the school, we organized weekly teachers meeting and monthly parents meeting. We came up with monthly and yearly plans for the school and started its implementation. Community members started coming to the school. With the help of my education officer and in collaboration with the government teachers at the school, we changed the school operation pattern, including but not limited to school timing and school assembly. We even started conducting extracurricular Friday.

As weekes became months, our change procedure continued and the changes starting showing fruits. One of the changes we implemented focused on student safety within the school premise. We came up with the idea to start bamboo fencing utilizing local resources. We held parents meeting and asked every parent to bring a bamboo with them. The fencing of the school was completed in a week time. Today the bamboo fencing idea has been adopted by all of our UWS schools in Sankhuwasabha.

Some months on, after the bamboo fencing was done, my Education Officer, fellow colleague Rijesh and I painted the ECD class using different colours in each class. After completion of ECD class, we started decorating the class to make it child friendly. For the safety of children, we placed carpets on the floor instead of benches. We placed a shoe rack outside the ECD classroom. With the help of community members, we painted the walls of the schools and then started decoration all the classrooms. The teachers set a routine to clean the toilets. We utilized the paint bucket in toilets to store water and also made a tap for children so they develop a habit of  washing their hands. Besides the bucket tap, we put soaps so that the children could wash their hands thoroughly. I even started sweeping the classrooms and the school grounds to teach everyone to do so.

We set our  school playground with seesaw made of locally available wood and swings made of rope and woods. A monkey climb was also made which the the children love playing.

I have lived a journey here in Majhua, a journey that has been filled with unpacking chaos and preventing further chaos. I have started creating sustainable solutions for the advancement of this wonderful UWS Majhua School.

In short, in my one year as a UWS Nepal Teaching Fellow, I have worked as a bell girl, cleaner, porter, carpenter and painter. I have been involved in every profession I can find around me. I have taught children how to brush their teeth and clean their hands. I have counselled the children about their aims in life. I have sewed their clothes. I have cleaned their nose. I have guided them, suggested them, scolded them. I have been harsh to them for which I feel sorry but only because i love them dearly. I have seen them happy and sad. I have been like a mother to them. I feel proud when they achieve something. They share their lunch with me and I feel happy whenever I hear them say, “I want to be a teacher like you”. I feel as if I have succeeded, although there is a lot more to do.