We've now been in Mahendranagar for 4 weeks and it sometimes seems longer, sometimes much shorter. The heat is still very noticeable when the sun is out (In the upper 30s or 40s degrees C) but we have now moved into the beginning of the monsoon season and every day has a thunder storm and downpour, which cools things down nicely. We are expecting the amount of rain to increase next month and the rivers (and roads) to become much less passable.
We have now got the house into order (although fighting back the dust and mosquitoes is a never-ending task). The bananas in the garden are still not quite ripe.
The main thing that we have been doing over the last 2 weeks is work - we know you're still getting used to this idea and so are we. We have been been visiting schools, meeting and chatting with teachers and other Education staff in our room/office and visiting NGOs in the area(non government organisations usually doing work for the socially disadvantaged).
Since many people have asked and because it is our main concern here, this blog-post will briefly discuss the schools and education system that we have seen so far. No doubt, more information will be added in future.
Getting to school:
Almost all children in Nepal walk or cycle to school. Very few who go to private school go in a special bus or special cycle rickshaw. We wish we had a picture of one to show you because they do look very funny. They involve an adult cycling around with a big, enclosed tin box on the back of their bike (with holes for windows), containing a far too large number of small children for the size of the container (usually 8-15 are squished in).
School buildings:
These vary quite alot but usually the buildings are of brick or dried mud, with corrugated iron roofs. Some of the smaller, remote schools that we haven't seen yet are made of wood or thatch. There is often enough rooms for all the classes but sometimes not and classes have to share or be very cramped.
The only furniture in most class-rooms are some small, rickety wooden benches (table and seat built in) on which the children sit 2, 3, 4 or 5 on each. In some classes (usually the youngest children) there are no benches but a large mat on the floor. There is also, usually, a blackboard, painted directly onto the wall. Some rooms have paintings and alphabets but most are totally bare walled. This is the most noticeable thing when compared with classrooms in England. There is usually no glass in the windows but this is good as the weather is so hot.
Most schools have some toilet facilities although there can sometimes not be enough for the number of children. There is also, usually, one or more fresh-water hand-pumps and water access is not really a problem here. Nepal is apparently the second richest country, in terms of water resources, in the world.
Lessons
The most obvious difference with English schools is that, in Primary classes, the children do not have one teacher all of the time. They have different teachers for different subjects (like in Secondary School) and the teachers move between classrooms.
The number of children in each class can vary alot. Some classes, that we have seen, have 8 or 9 children. Some classes have 50 or 60 or even more. The children will have these lessons: Nepali, English, Maths, Science and Social Studies.
This whole class and the teacher were able to fit onto one small mat on the day we visited:
Lessons are usually less varied than in England and children mostly listen, answer questions and write individually. Unlike in Eritrea (where we did VSO before), it is very uncommon for children to be hit if they are naughty. Children are well behaved, especially since they are often cramped and don't get to move much. They are even usually well behaved when their teacher is absent and they have to look after themselves (their are no substitute or supply teachers here though other teachers help out when they can).
During each grade (like a year in England) the children have exams and at the end, if they have failed, they stay in the same grade and can't move up to the next one. This means that children in a class can be all different ages.
Sometimes, children even bring in their baby brothers and sisters (who they have to look after, otherwise they'd need to stay at home). It can be quite disconcerting to stand at the front of the classroom and see a 3 year old sitting amongst the class (of 10-13 year olds).
Holidays (official and otherwise!)
A big factor that we have encountered here is the number of school closing days. Of course, schools have nice holidays in England and Eritrea also but, since we have been here (1 month), schools have closed for the following:
2 days of festivals.
Two days of surprise government holiday, when the new assembly took power. We found out about this the day before.
Several days of school closure because there were no textbooks and students around the country had gone on the rampage (according to the press). The reason for no textbooks is because the printing press had been printing ballot papers and got behind. The closure was originally going to be for 2 weeks but the students protested again (because the schools were closed) and they only actually shut for 5 days or so. Again, we found out the day before.
2 days of school closure because the 'peons' (caretakers) in this region called a 'bandha' (strike). This was followed by a 1 day closure of our office because those peons had declared their own bandha. We found this out when we arrived at work.
After a further week, there will be 3 days of exams and then the schools will close for 6 weeks for summer vacation (this coincides with the heaviest monsoon). We haven't decided what we'll do in these 6 weeks yet but are likely to be less busy.
Well, we'll leave this blog here but there will no doubt be more about education in Nepal in future postings.
