VIDYA (education) is one among four core working areas of Volunteers for Change. Since the days of its inception, VFC has been working on the field of education. However, the VFC approach towards education is distinctive in the sense that we try to impart the sense of analysis and questioning in children rather than feeding them with more information. We organize DID YOU KNOW? Workshops, which are devised in such a way that we encourage children to analyze and rethink about everything they read or hear.
We believe that through this approach we will be able to create a group of analytical and aware youth instead of an individual, who in the process of passing through exams indoctrinates himself into various belief systems without questioning their authenticity.
At the root of major conflicts in the world today, we can trace wrongly placed prejudices and prejudgment. These prejudices often result from indoctrinating an individual into believing that a singular perspective or rather their perspective is the only valid perspective. However, no single point can just be judged from one single perspective, as there are 360 angles to look at every point. So, rather than giving them a particular perspective, here at VFC, we try to point out various different perspectives to a single thought.
PROJECTS
1. Bhabisya Nirman Secondary School, Kristi Nachne Chour, Pokhara Municipality)
Fern Kornelson from Canada volunteered for three months at Bhabisya Nirman Secondary School in Kristi, Pokhara. During her volunteer work she helped the school to redesign few of the textbooks. She also introduced Early Child Care Development (ECCD) to the school. With her initiative community school got a new ECCD and revised textbooks for children.
2. Safalta HIV Shikshya Sadan, Kritipur, Kathmandu (Nepal’s only school for HIV infected children)
Since 2013, VFC has sent a good number of international volunteers to Safalta HIV Shikshya Sadan. The school was established with a view of providing basic education for HIV victim children; this is the First School with its unique identity for such children. VFC Nepal with the help of its international volunteers has helped the school to build low cost sustainable classrooms for the children.
3. Jhapa
Suryajyoti English Boarding School, located in the rural community of Jhapa District at eastern Nepal is lower secondary school. The school is committed to develop it’s pedagogy suiting the norms and values of 21st century learning. Teachers are provided with various professional development trainings about the implementation strategies of child centred and 21stcentury learning throughout the session. There is no corporal punishment in school, instead we use constructive approach to discipline the students who have behaviour problem, such as self-reflection, and meditation, psychological counselling and other methods are used with patience and passion to bring the positive change among the students.
Post Earthquake Vfc School Project
The two major earthquakes that hit Nepal on April and May (2015) have killed thousands and left other hundred thousands destitute. As the country is gradually recovering from the initial trauma of the disaster, the responsibility of rehabilitation and reconstruction falls on all of our shoulders.
According to the report made by UNICEF, at least 950,000 children in Nepal will not be able to return to school, unless urgent action is taken to provide temporary learning spaces and repair damaged school buildings following the 25 April. Almost 24,000 classrooms were damaged or destroyed in the 7.8 magnitude quake that hit the country with many suffering further damage in subsequent aftershocks.
In the severely affected districts of Gorkha, Sindhupalchok and Nuwakot, it is estimated that more than 90 per cent of schools have been destroyed, while around 80 per cent of school buildings have collapsed in Dhading. In some areas, including Kathmandu and Bhaktapur, approximately nine in ten surviving school buildings have been used as emergency shelters.
Nepal’s high dropout rate was already a major concern. Around 1.2 million Nepali children between the ages of five and 16 have either never attended school or have dropped out. UNICEF’s experience shows that children who are out of school for extended periods, including during emergencies, become less and less likely to ever return to the classroom.
Methodology
VFC focuses in two aspects while building schools: 1. Construction 2. Community Engagement. While our primary focus will be on building resilient, child-friendly structures, we also go extra miles to ensure community engagement is integrated in the process. We organize relevant workshops, trainings, manage their libraries and help them with their sports supplies. So, we ensure as soon as the structure is ready, the school also has overall basics to start the classes ASAP.
How Can You Join Your Hands With Us
There are several ways you can help us. At present, the most urgent call is to rebuild schools. VFC has already partnered with organizations like Nepal Belgium Youth Club, Burns Violence Survivors Nepal and Story Cycle to build more than a dozen schools at Dhading, Sindhuli and Nuwakot districts.
Sponsor To Rebuild A School
You can help us by raising funds to rebuild a school. We have a transparent system through which you can track down the community and the people, who are being benefitted by your fund.
Volunteer
You can also help us by volunteering to be a part of our school rebuilding process or a part of the curriculum development group.