Collaborative Schools Network

Probably the second biggest challenge our teachers face is teaching students of different abilities, in the same classroom. Our students’ abilities range widely, but our teachers have only ever taught ‘to the middle’. That middle is generally whatever is in the textbook, so anyone who is above the level of the textbooks is bored, and anyone … Continue reading Same class – Different abilities

Most government teachers see their job as simply to teach five lessons. When we arrived at Jana Uddhar, this culture was so ingrained that a teacher who did not have a lesson first period, was not expected to turn up at school until second period. And a teacher who did not have a lesson last … Continue reading The whole school, the whole day

Jana Uddhar is a massively under-subscribed school. We currently have only 122 students… and 16 teachers. You might think that demonstrates a determination to have a low teacher:student ratio (much better than any private school in Nepal), but it’s actually a sign of how unappealing our school had become and how poor managed it was. … Continue reading Why do our teachers say we have 250 students, when we only have 122?

Jana Uddhar was an anti-female school. The female teachers, who almost all teach at primary level were utterly marginalised – they rarely spoke in meetings, and no one took an interest in their teaching or the primary curriculum. The female students shared one disgusting toilet, and there was no provision for menstruation. Girls would just … Continue reading Towards a pro-female school

People often say you should introduce change gradually, but that’s not always possible, or desirable, in a school. Before we began working with Jana Uddhar, if a teacher was absent, their class simply went without a teacher. As a result, each week, dozens of lessons went untaught. In fact these lessons were known as ‘leisure … Continue reading 0% – 100%