The Ministry of Education asked us to share some of the things were are doing well at Jana Uddhar.

Here’s a list of 12 things that are making a difference:

We have introduced a teacher improvement cycle, which includes regular training, observations and feedback.

We have prioritised 3 areas for teacher improvement a) teaching students with different abilities, in the same class b) assessing students effectively during the lesson c) re-teaching topics students do not understand.

We have introduced termly unit tests to check students’ progress. We analyse the results by student and by question. This helps us to understand which questions students find difficult. We then re-teach these difficult topics.

We have improved our exam preparation so that students now receive coaching classes during the exam period (otherwise they can go for days without any teaching). We now require all students to check every answer and attempt every question before they leave the exam.

We have collected the phone numbers of each student’s guardian. Now, anytime a student is absent, we phone their guardian immediately to ask where they are. We also talk to our students regularly about the importance of attendance, and award prizes to students with 100% If a student is regularly absent, we arrange a home visit to talk to their parent / guardians.

Teachers have agreed to take one substitute lesson each week in place of an absent teacher. In the past, when a teacher was absent, no one else took their lessons. We have also insisted teachers turn up on time and stay until the end of the school day, as per the government’s rules. In the past, teachers would leave once they had taught their last We are trying to develop a culture where our teachers see themselves as teachers of the whole school, for the whole day.

We have improved the school infrastructure, in particular the toilets. This has made the students more positive about coming to school.

We have begun to bring order to the school’s finances, with the help of an accounting firm who are giving their time for free. We have stopped financial abuses, like using exam fees to fund special lunches for teachers during exams.

We achieved record attendance at our guardian’s meeting by sending out two invitation letters, followed by phone calls to each guardian. We held the meeting at 7.30am as that is the most convenient time for guardians. We adapted student marksheets to make them easier for guardians to We gave our teachers training on how to give effective feedback to guardians.

We have tried to build a culture where students and learning come first. We aim to always be positive to students, speak to them with respect, use their names and find opportunities to reward them.

We have placed an experienced and highly committed teacher in the school as a co-principal, and employed a dedicated Teach for Nepal graduate.

We have invested significant time in building a coalition of supporters at the local and national level who care about government schools and are willing to publically back our work.