School Sponsorship

The scheme ensures the children are able to continue studies until they are 16.  As they leave school after the final exams then a further group of younger children are selected for the scheme by staff. For over 30 years the charity has been helping sponsor children in the Gorkha District and currently supports up to 60 each year. In recent years we have been able to extend this to further education for 16-18-year olds and also Higher Education for Degree level studies at the nearby Drabya Shar Campus

Why Sponsor a Child in Gorkha District?

 Sponsoring a child through GDS

Child sponsorship’s cost from £30 per year which works out to £2.50 per month or less than 9p per day!

• £30 per annum for 8-16-year olds taking them up to their SLC (Senior Leaving Certificate – equivalent of GCSE).  Each sponsored child gets the opportunity to go to school with a new school uniform, shoes, school bag, exercise books and stationery items and has access to sanitary education.
• £60 per annum supports 16-18-year olds (A level equivalent) paying for books and additional tuition.
• £200 per annum funds tuition costs for 18+ studying for a bachelor’s degree at Gorkha Drabya Shah Campus.

We will also ask you if you are a UK taxpayer and happy for us to claim Gift Aid with your donation.  This ensures that for every £1.00 donated it is worth £1.25 to GDS which is amazing so help us to maximise your donation.  Any funds received from Gift aid are spent where the need is greatest.

We try to ensure photographs of groups or individuals together with some basic school reports are presented to us when possible – this is where volunteers are often very helpful in meeting the students, taking photographs and helping the children draw pictures and write small letters to send to us.  This provides us with some links and feedback which we can pass to sponsors though we are not able to link individual sponsors to children.

Schools Involved

We now work with several schools to include – Shree Mahendra Jyoti – Gorkha, Bal Mandir, Gorkha, Sansari High School (11/2 hours by bus from Gorkha), Barpak, (3 hours)

Former Shree Mahendra Headmaster and Vice Chair of GDHEDS Laxman Archarya is responsible for the programme and works with the Headmaster to select and equip the children

Shree Mahendra Jyoti School, Gorkha

The Shree Mahendra School is a government funded school and celebrated its 60th year in 2020.  Though for many years the school had approximately 200 pupils, during the Maoist conflict in the 1990s when many private schools throughout Gorkha and Nepal were closed, then the number of pupils at Shree Mahendra rose rapidly to 800 pupils.

The original school buildings were removed in 2011 as they were unsafe. In addition, many of the schools in and around Gorkha were damaged or destroyed in the 2015 earthquake including Shree Mahendra. For several years’ classes in this and other schools were undertaken in temporary classrooms built using galvanized roofing funded through GDS.

In recent years funds were gained from the government, various overseas charities and with help from parents of the pupils two new buildings were gradually built to provide extra room and to update facilities. The school now has rooms for 6th form students as well as new residential quarters and teaching rooms specifically for disabled children. A ramp providing wheelchair access to an upper level funded by a visitor from the Netherlands must be a first for a rural school.

As a government school there is a set curriculum to include   Nepali, English, Maths, Science, Health, Population (Geography).  There are limited resources for extra activities, but a small computer room has been used with some older students and art classes were started as after school activities.  Though sport is loved by the boys especially, this tends to be in play rather than any taught classes.

The classes are fitted with bench style desks and white boards installed but not necessarily an improvement!  Younger classes from ages 7-10 tend to be small due to the opening of many private schools in the area and a trend towards teaching in English, but older students are in classes of up to 50.

The children start school at the age of 4/5 in reception and may remain at the school until approximately 16 when they take the final SLC exams (equivalent to GCSEs).   If for any reason a pupil does not pass exams at the end of each year, then they will retake the year which leads to classes of mixed age.   Unfortunately, many of the children do not complete their education due to family commitments needing them to work at home.

However, more children now wish to stay at school to age 18 for equivalent of A levels. From here, they may enter a local undergraduate programme at the nearby Campus.

Volunteers in schools

Volunteers in schools are welcomed at the school to help both staff and pupils develop their level of English and to work with individuals and groups.   Traditional teaching and learning is based on learning topics by rote, partly due to lack of resources and also staff training. This means there has been little opportunity for interactive learning though this is gradually changing, and the government aims to review subjects taught to include life skills. It will take time. 

Volunteers are encouraged to work with staff who are keen to gain experience and ideas for including a more interactive style and this can be extremely rewarding for all. With the limited resources available it can be a test of initiative to be spontaneous and inventive in the approach.  After the initial shy start most pupils love the opportunity to join in especially when it becomes clear that learning can be fun!

If you are interested in volunteering please contact us.