Volunteers in Education
Education remains the key to self-reliance and progress in Nepal, and the Nepali people are keen to raise their standards in this field. However, this continues to be a struggle with much of the education infrastructure suffering in the 2015 earthquakes when the majority of schools in the Gorkha District were damaged or demolished. These are slowly being rebuilt but the resources and the support for teachers especially in government schools show little improvement.
From its inception, founder of GDS Joy Leighton hoped to help improve standards as Nepali education has traditionally been learning by rote, mainly due to the limited resources and teacher awareness. Former GDS volunteers have been involved with schools over many years, many spending some if not all their time working with children of all ages.
Today’s needs for Volunteer Teachers/Trainers
We work closely with local schools, Headmasters and increasingly with the local Education Office are very aware of the current aims for the government to move towards more participative learning. However, we are also aware of the current need to develop these skills. We therefore wish to have a more focused approach to working with local teachers by offering support and training, sharing experience, offering encouragement, developing staff enthusiasm and inspiring them with new ideas to enhance their teaching.
The younger generation of Nepali teachers and trainers are eager to take new ideas on board and make change and GDS hope to help enable this through both the support of skilled volunteers and the continued funding of training courses for both teachers and trainers.
More can be seen under Education Projects and Volunteer Feedback.
Recent examples are Fiona who worked with the teachers of early learners, Megan who spent three months working along side primary Teachers and Madeline who worked closely with the Special Educational Needs teachers and children. Each volunteer contributes to teacher training, which in turn helps to give long lasting impact.
