Collaborative Schools Network

There are two things that everyone with an interest in public education in Nepal can agree on. First, public schools are failing. Second, most of the attempts to improve public schools are failing too. Here are eight steps to rapidly and radically improve the quality of public (government or community) schools in Nepal: Open and … Continue reading 8 steps to radically and rapidly improve public education in Nepal

A few months ago, our new students could not read a word of English. Look at them now! We chose these students at random from Class 1 and 2 in Madan Ashrit School. They are sounding out the words, using the reading skills they have learned in our phonics lessons.

We have just achieved our best ever Secondary Education Exam results at Jana Uddhar (the equivalent of GCSEs in the UK). Over a third of students achieved an average grade of A+ or A. No one got less than a B. That student is Arun, and outstanding young man, whose results put him in the … Continue reading Best ever results!

Why do we give primary students pencils, not pens? Think about it. Pens don’t need to be sharpened (so no time is lost in endless sharpening, or simply trying to find a sharpener). Pens do not need erasers (so no time is lost in endless erasing, or simply trying to find an eraser). And since … Continue reading Why do we give students pencils?

Here is an article we wrote about the number one problem facing public schools in Nepal. In the week it was published, the article became real life. Due to the huge increase in students in one of our schools, Bhanodaya, the authorities decided to give us an extra quota – that means a new teacher. … Continue reading More freedom, more accountability

You’ll often hear policy-makers, commentators and journalists point to absent teachers as one of the reasons for the poor quality of public education in Nepal. Certainly there are teachers who simply never attend school or disappear for months at a time, but this misses the real problem. It is not that teachers are bunking, it … Continue reading Teacher absenteeism is NOT the problem