What if your first job was changing the nation?

The Fellows of Teach For Nepal are doing just that, reaching out to students in different parts of the country. Almost two years since the first batch of TFN Fellows headed to public schools in Lalitpur District, there are now 49 Fellows who are doing their best to impart quality education to students. Twenty one female Fellows and 28 male Fellows are now teaching English, Math and Science subjects to secondary schoolchildren in Lalitpur and Sindhupalchowk districts. In many parts of the country where quality education isn’t even an issue, education for the girl child isn’t a priority. To encourage more girls to stay in school, female teachers have a pivotal role. They can be the much needed role models to these girls.

Shisir Khanal, CEO of TFN, underlines the need for inviting more female teachers in the vocation. He states, “Overall, in the school system, there are only 34.3% female teachers in Nepal. And at the secondary level in government schools only 13.8% teachers are female.”What makes a good teacher?

Bhawana Shrestha is clearly a favorite at Jyotidaya Cooperative School in Chapagaun, Lalitpur. Her student Bishal Nepali, 16, says, “Before Bhawana Ma’am came to the school, we didn’t make charts as often as we do now.”

If one looks around the small classroom, there are a dozen chart papers on various subjects stuck on the walls. Another student, Manisha Deshar, says, “We also do a lot of group work in class and this way we can learn from each other.”
As Bhawana takes another class through an exercise in learning meanings of new words, the students are clearly not bored. She reads out passages from a novel, encouraging students to ask questions.Like the rest of his classmates, 12-year-old Sabin Poudel enjoys Fridays. “Bhawana Ma’am divides us in groups and gives us books. And every Friday, we have to do a presentation from the book. She’s a really good teacher.”
Another TFN Fellow at the school, Seetu Shakya, teaches Math.

“I had a horrid Math teacher when I was in Class Nine. I had a hard time learning the subject, and even when we asked questions, he would tell us to learn on our own or from each other. So I always thought to myself that if I ever became a teacher, I would teach Math,” she says.
Learning from her experience, she makes sure she teaches Math in the most practical way possible. She takes her students to the Math lab and works with them extra hours when they are having difficulties.

Sabin says, “She uses geometric instruments to make us understand. And if we don’t understand, she teaches us again and again.”
Her students have advanced a lot since last year. Math is a subject that worries most students but they have started to enjoy it now, she says. Students from Classes Six to Nine also organized a Math exhibition where they made presentations on different topics and even handled the management themselves.

A good teacher leaves a lasting impression on the lives of the students long after they leave the classroom.
What makes a good teacher? If you were the students of Jyotidaya, you would say, “Someone who is polite and never beats us. Someone we don’t feel scared of and feel comfortable with.”

Why Teach For Nepal?

After a year and a half of teaching English at Jyotidaya, Bhawana is considering extending a year after her two years as a TFN Fellow is over.
“It was a rape incident in Morang that made me think about doing something to change our society. A girl was raped by her classmate but people actually assumed it happened because the girl led him on. At TFN, we get the opportunity to help where it’s really needed,” says the Itahari native.
TFN requires a Fellow to live and work among the grassroots community for two years which could seem a bit daunting to most. But according to Bhawana, two years is not enough. She says, “It takes one year for us to really understand our students and that gives us only a year to work with them the way we should. Two years can feel like a lot but we often waste a year after our Bachelor’s waiting for our results. Why not use that time to do something good?”

For Bhawana, this period has been an eye opening introduction to the society. She believes that when she became part of the community, she learnt about their customs and traditions.

“I was told that we must throw sanitary napkins in the river. And when a girl fainted, one of the first things I heard was who will marry the girl now!” she says. Even personally, there’s a lot of growth to be had from this experience. Because TFN Fellows are expected to live in the community, independence is a big lesson, too, says Isha Shrestha, a TFN Fellow, and one of the only three female teachers at the secondary level in Udayakharka School in Pyan Gaun, Lalitpur.Caption:TFN Fellow Seetu Shakya instructing Class Seven students during Math class.(Photos: Poonam Maharjan)For Rijuta Maharjan, 26, her students at Shree Goth Bhanjyan Higher Secondary School in Dalchoki, Lalitpur, are her biggest encouragement. She relates how some students walk three hours each way to get education. “Their investment and commitment to education inspires me. I want to continue in the education sector after I finish my term.”

Why female teachers?

UNICEF Representative to Nepal Tomoo Hozumi recently stated that we need more women teachers in order to encourage girl education. Girls need strong role models. Hozumi, while speaking at an anti-child trafficking discussion, said, “There should be access to education for all children. I think it’s been proven all over the world that girl education is the best investment that can be made.”

Isha says, “This is a semi urban area. So, most families prefer to send their sons to private schools while their daughters come here. I know a student who drops off her brother to the bus stand and then comes to school. So we have a lot of female students here. For instance, in Class Nine, there are 20 girls and only nine boys.”

And why do we need more girls to be leaders and inspiration? Another Fellow, Shina Shrestha shares her observations. “Because we need to step out of the traditional boundaries where daughters are limited inside the house and prove that it takes courage and not gender to work in the field far from the drawn boundaries.”