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>View discussions about this entry País: Nepal
Organization: Minimally Invasive Education
Field of Work - education
Year project started (or projected start date) (yyyy) - 2008
Project URL: http://www.adventureinbnks.com
What is the primary problem your venture is trying to address and how are you addressing it (or planning to address it)? - Nepal, with a literacy rate of mere 53.74 percent, is experiencing what experts call 'School Wastage'. Majority of the primary level students are repeating grades and some are even dropping out of their school even before completing their primary cycle. These problems can be attributed to the obsolete education environment in Nepali schools where being educated simply means memorizing the course. Through the MIE project, we plan to make the classroom environment more interactive by involving the students. We do this by involving them in constructionist education system; by encouraging them to discuss any topic in groups before actually entering into the main topic formally in the class and also by asking the students to make chart papers. We also plan to invite prominent personalities on different sectors to take a few sessions with students on the field they are involved with. We will also take the students to educational visits frequently so that they gain first hand information about the content of their syllabus.
Project Description - Describe your project in one sentence: MIE is an ambitious project that aims at achieving educational paradigm shift by changing the traditional and impractical way of how students learn in Nepal.
Unique and different - Describe what makes your idea unique and different: The MIE project has been recognized as a new endeavor in the field of education by Nepal's Department of Education. We have a different approach of making the students understand the essence of the content of the prescribed syllabus. We integrate the trend of taking students for educational field trips into the class curriculum, thereby making the learning process less cumbersome for the Nepali students. More than 35 volunteers from one of the best schools of Nepal (Budhanilkantha School) go to the project school to mentor and tutor the junior students there. Teachers will be given trainings frequently on what they should really do to make the classroom environment more interactive. All these things, in my understanding, has never been tried in Nepal before and our recent piloting of this concept has shown that this method can really bear desired results!
Project plan - What is your project plan for the next 6 months? We are currently implementing the project in one of the least facilitated schools in Nepal with support from Save the Children USA. Our plan for the next 6 months is to continue the implementation in the school where we are currently doing the project as well as seek funds to expand the project in further two schools in the country. We have recently come up with a preliminary report of MIE and are sure that the concept is going to bid well for Nepalese education.
Partnerships - What are some of your most successful partnerships and how have you created them? Most importantly, our project managed to get recognized by Nepal's Department of Education as a new venture in the education field in the country. We also submitted a proposal to Save the Children USA and after few long interview, they agreed to financially support us in the implementation of the project in one of the public schools in the country. Similarly, during the second half of the project, we also managed to garner books and resources worth more than US$4000 from The Asia Foundation under their 'Books for Asia' program. All these were possible due to our eagerness to foster our networks and our readiness to open channels for help from donating parties.
Impact - Provide one sentence describing your impact/intended impact. Education is the prime tool for development -and especially for a country like Nepal which is placed in the bottom half of the Human Development ranking, education holds the key for a prosperous 'New' Nepal; and our aim through the MIE project is to revolutionize the traditional, outdated teaching methodology of Nepali education and to produce capable and efficient manpower for our country in the future.
Effectiveness - How many people has your project served to date? Exactly who benefits from your innovation? The primary beneficiaries are the junior students whom we work with, but our volunteers have acquired important life skills. More than hundred people have benefited.
Obstacles - What are some of the foreseeable obstacles to maximizing your impact? Nepal is a very traditional society which is still thinly smeared through impractical social obligations. Majority of the families of the nepalese society are still reluctant to send their daughter to school. They are stuck with the belief that ladies are born to do household chores. This traditional mindset can inhibit the performance of our project as well as our country significantly.
Finance details - If known, provide information on your finances and organization:
• Money raised and/or in-kind donations (donated space and/or materials) • Number of people on your team and their roles • Number of partners: Budget details will be included in the file attached. Project team Composition: Volunteer: 40-50 (will not be a member of the MIE Project Team) Creative funding - Please describe creative ways that you have acquired funding and other resources? We plan to bring out a magazine soon (which will include writings of the junior student whom we work with) and sell it with a profit margin to suffice for a few of our expenses.
Other non finance needs - What non-financial resources/services do you need in order to help sustain your project? We require the commitment of the community members, senior students who serve as tutors and mentors, and also the teachers at the school to sustain our project.
Motivation - What was the motivation or defining moment that led you to create this project? Tell us the story. It all started when my friend Shirish and me were touring a government run school at the outskirts of Kathmandu when we realized that our education system was not functioning to its optimum. Having worked with the OLPC Nepal team previously, we had this wonderful concept of Minimally Invasive Education instilled in us. We therefore devised our own concept of Minimally Invasive Education that suited the Nepali education scenario. After seven months of implementation, we now see that our idea is working!
Awards - Please describe any awards or recognition you have received (either personal or for your team)? I was awarded by Bishal Milan Kendra for my performance in the national examinations. I received a letter of appreciation from United Nations for organizing the Model UN and Panel Discussion in partnership with the United Nations. I am also the recipent of Nepal Scout Kings Badge-the highest level of badge received by any scout in Nepal upto the age of 17. I have also been nominated by the British Council in Nepal as one of the Nepal representatives for taking part in Guildford Forum 2009 (the final selection for which is underway..).
What is your age? - 17
Contact Information:
Nimesh Ghimire
Team Leader, Minimally Invasive Education Minimally Invasive Education (Self initiated project) Discussions about this entry
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Minimally Invasive Education: Changing the traditional face of education in Nepal
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Hi! My name is Vanesa. I'm from Argetina and I'm studying to become a teacher of English. I was doing some research on the influence of peers in second language acquisition and I came across the MIE.
I fully agree with a more interactive classroom.
I have read as much as I found on MIE but I couldn't find any reference to the learning of a language.
Have the experiments (carried out using MIE) taken into account second language learning? Did this more interactive apporach work?
I would be very grateful if you would send me as much information as you have on this.
Thanks in advance!!!
(e-mail: vane_3_86@hotmail.com)
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Vanesa
Hello Meg,
I have no words to thank you for your interest in our project. I have sent you an email and I look forward to hearing from you soon.
Sincerely,
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Nimesh Ghimire
Team Leader, Minimally Invasive Education
Budhanilkantha School, NEPAL
hello,
i would duly welcome any suggestions you may have for the project...
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Nimesh Ghimire
Team Leader, Minimally Invasive Education
Budhanilkantha School, NEPAL
Hi
My name is Meg Infiorati-Fleming and I am living in Kathmandu, not too far from Bodnath, working on my PhD dissertation. My topic is on the education system barriers that Dalit's experience so I am interested in your project.
My background includes bsiness, law, marketing, law enforcement, business management, contracting, and a host of other things.
I read with interest your approach to a more interactive education environment and applaud your project.
I would like to suggest that one of the missing elements in Nepali education, both informal in childhood and in the school system, is how to think critically, strategically, and futuristically. I would be happy to speak with you about this if you feel it would be of value to your program. In my experience thus far, it is difficult to discuss aspects of a topic if you are not well versed in critical, strategic discourse. I would be interested in providing this if you feel it would be helpful.
Additionally I am interested in understanding what types of guest speakers you are looking for.
Please feel free to email me at megifl@yahoo.com
Regards,
Meg