| What school or organization are you working at? If you are a teacher, how many years of experience do you have as a teacher? |
| I
am working at Kavya School. (www.kavya.edu.np).
I am now working as the principal and as well as an English language teacher. I
have been teaching for the last 30 years.
|
|
Could you please tell us more about your school? Is it a public school
or private one? Which do you think makes it unique and different from other
schools in Nepal? |
| Kavya
is a coeducational day and boarding school for grades I to XII. We welcome and
enroll students of all faiths, races, and backgrounds, and offer various
need-based scholarships each year. We have small class size which enables staff
to build strong relationship with the children, know their families well and
work teachers and parents together as a team for the benefit of the children in
our care. Each child is fully supported at each stage of learning. |
| Grade 4 visit to Bhakutapur Durdar Square, a former royal palace complex
located in Bhaktapur, Nepal.
|
|
| We
are guided by "Parents in school" and "Teachers at Home"
principle where staff, teachers, students and parents work together in a safe,
caring and tolerant community to provide holistic environment with respect and dignity.
This enables the students to achieve emotional, social, physical, moral and
spiritual development. In this partnership, Kavya focuses on integrity in
technology, skills and value to teamwork in diversified community incorporating
local brains with global ideas. All members of the school community will model
the behaviors expected from the students. In doing this, the school will be a
centre of excellence at the forefront of education, community development and
environment awareness.
|
|
How many students are in your class?
|
| There
are 30 students in my class.
|
|
What is the compulsory education system in your country? At what
age does compulsory education start and end? When does the school year start
and end in your country? |
| Basic level education from 6 to 14 years of age is made compulsory in Nepal
as a rule. But there are a lot children out of the school and drop out
ratio is higher as the grades go up.
We follow a different calendar and now it’s the 2nd month of 2080. Our
school starts from the first month of the year and ends at the 12th month of the year. It’s almost April in English
Calendar.
|
| Could you elaborate on the school calendar in Nepal? How is the school year divided into terms? Are there seasonal breaks?
|
We do follow a different calendar and according to it we are in 2080 Bikram
Sambat now. And today’s date, 2023-07-30, is 2080–03-15 in our Calendar. Our school ends at the 12th month of the year and starts from the 1st month of the year. We do have
short term breaks after every term examination. We have four terminal examinations in my school but it may differ in other schools. There are major two major examinations in public schools; half
yearly and final.
There
are basic level examination as a final board examination at the end of grade 8
and National Level Final Examination at the end of Grade 10. It’s called SEE
(Secondary Education Examination).
Students
must pass these examinations to get admission in the upper level.
|
|
 |
|
Bikram Samvat B.S. and also known as
the Vikrami calendar, is a Hindu calendar. Bikram Samvat is generally 57
years ahead of Gregorian Calendar, except during January to April, when it is
ahead by 56 years. The traditional Vikram Samvat calendar, as used in Nepal,
uses Lunar months and Solar Sidereal Years.
|
|
| At what age do your students start learning English? Do they enjoy studying
English as a subject? What are some of the challenges in English language
education in Nepal?
|
| Our
students start learning English from the age of three in the private schools
and Montessori Pre - schools. But in Public Schools the English as a second
Language is taught from Grade – 4 (age 10) onwards. In the cities there is no
problem as such in teaching Learning English as Second Language but in the rural or remote areas the main problem is lack of qualified teachers, lack of audio visual aids and reading Materials.
|
After completing the basic level of the compulsory education, what percentage of students advance to the next level? Do they typically enter vocational schools, middle schools, or higher educational institutions?
|
After the basic level of compulsory education, the drop out ratio is very high in Nepal especially in the rural areas as
the students have to support the family and start working to cope with the extreme poverty.
In
the city areas the drop out ratio is very low.
Some
of the students join the vocational schools and majority of the students go for
higher studies. The biggest problem now is students want to go for abroad
studies in the universities of the developed countries. Only few of them come
back to Nepal.
|
 |
 |
 |
| Students engaged in various activities to
learn about our traditional village activities.
|
How many years of experience do you have in iEARN? What iEARN projects
have you done with your students? |
| I
have been with iEARN for the last 17 years. We have been doing many projects
like NDYS, Early People’s Symbol, Learning Circles or other as well. |
Which project did your students enjoy the most, and why? Which project
was the most memorable, and why? |
| We
have been working in various projects like Early People’s Symbols, Learning Circles,
NDYs, My Hero, and Your school My school. Our students enjoyed NDYS, and Early
People’s Symbols the most. However, they are very much interested in all the
projects they have been doing every year.
|
Has the COVID-19 pandemic affected your school or your students? Were there
any major changes? |
| The
pandemic greatly affected us. It also gave us an opportunity to go virtual and
connected us more in technology than ever. |
Regarding the use of ICT, is One-to-One PC being done in your school? Do
your students take those devices home? Do you use them for online classes? |
| We have been trying to make one to one PC in a lab. We have 30 PCs of desktop
computers in our lab and they are used in a
routine by all 500 students. In one class there are 30 students and all 30
computers are shared. They can’t take them home. Some of the students use
laptops and some use smartphones at home.
|
How are the PCs used in class? In which subjects do students use the PC?
Is Wi-Fi available in the classroom? Do students access the internet and
communicate with others outside the school? |
| We only have PCs in the computer lab. Our students use them there. Most
of the students in my school have lap top or PCs at home as well. But the
students in remote schools have no access. They don’t have PC nor laptop. We do have Wi-Fi in the
school.
|
Could you give any messages to teachers in Japan? |
| We are happy to work with you and would like to do some students exchange
program so that students learn more
about two countries, culture and facilities in education. |
AI翻訳 
