Globally, women are entering bachelor’s and master’s degree programs at the same levels as men, but the UNESCO Institute of Statistics finds that women are far less likely to pursue a career in STEM. UNESCO suggests that Women hold less than 30 percent of jobs in STEM, which encompasses the fastest-growing and highest-paying professional fields, particularly in low-and-middle income economies. To address this issue, Teach For Nepal alumni Astha Khatri, Milan Kumar Sardar Tharu, Shina Shrestha, and Richa Neupane organized a three-day workshop named “Udeshya - Girls in STEM” for their Teach For All Global Girls Education Fellowship.

“The main aim of the workshop was to break the stereotype of people towards girls and to give girls exposure in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math”, says Teach For Nepal Alumna and workshop coordinator, Richa Neupane. “We wanted to ensure that girls from all backgrounds living in rural parts of Nepal have access to STEM education and to the dream of becoming an engineer, doctor or tech entrepreneur.”

The three-day program hosted students from 8 public schools where Teach For Nepal is working. Activities included building robots, using Microsoft Powerpoint and Word, how to search on Google and sending and receiving emails. The hands-on interactive workshop also lead a series of problem-solving activities. Students learned how creativity and ingenuity can be used in the classroom, and how knowledge of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) subjects can lead to rewarding engineering careers.

“Through ‘Udeshya - Girls in STEM’ workshop, girls were able to build confidence in themselves and know that their ideas are powerful and valuable,” says Teach For Nepal Alumna Shina Shrestha, one of the four organizers of the workshop. “It also provided exposure to girls, particularly underrepresented minorities to jobs in high-growth industries, advancing economic opportunities for girls, their families, and their communities.”

Through this workshop alone, Teach For Nepal Alumni reached 20 students from four districts in Nepal. During the workshop, Teach For Nepal Alumni guided students through an experiential STEM-based curriculum, where the students applied their own special skills, as well as math and science concepts they learned in school to solve real-life challenges.

“The girls learned to work in a group, learned values of life and were able to build confidence through the sessions,” said Teach For Nepal Alumna, Astha Khatri, Udeshya workshop organizer “Our goal was to empower girls to contribute their ideas in order to solve Nepal’s thorniest problems and we wanted to start by strengthening their foundations in STEM. When girls are equipped to change our nation, they will.”

The workshop was organized by Teach For Nepal Alumni as part of Teach For All Global Girls Education Fellowship - Astha Khatri (2016), Milan Kumar Sardar Tharu (2015), Shina Shrestha (2014) and Richa Neupane (2016). Ayush Bajracharya assisted "Udeshya - Girls in STEM" team with Social Media and photography.

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For more information about the Udeshya - Girls in STEM, visit its Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/Udeshya4Girls/

This news was also published in:

English

Republica Newpaper
Glocal Khabar

Nepali

Shikhar News

महिला शसक्तिकरणका लागि “स्टेम” कार्यशाला

बिश्व तथ्यांक हेर्ने हो भने महिलाहरुले पनि पुरुष सरह नै स्नातक शिक्षा हासिल गरेको पाइएको छ तर युनेस्कोको तथ्यांक अनुसार महिलाहरुको  “स्टेम” अर्थात् बिज्ञान, प्रबिधि, इन्जीनियरिंग र गणित संकायमा रुची नभएको देखिएको छ । युनेस्कोको अर्को तथ्यांक अनुसार स्टेमको क्षेत्रमा महिलाले  ३० प्रतिशत मात्र रोजगारी ओगटेको छ, तर यस क्षेत्रमा कम तथा मध्यम आर्थिक श्रोत भएका देशका लागि टेवा पुग्ने र आर्थिक रुपले धेरै सहयोग हुने विधाहरु पर्दछ । यहि समस्याको समाधानका लागि टिच फर नेपालका पुर्व प्रज्ञार्थीहरु ले ३ दिने कार्यशालाको आयोजना गरे जसको नाम " उद्देश्य: गर्ल्स इन स्टेम" थियो l

"प्राविधिक शिप बिकासका साथै यो कार्यशालामा छात्राहरुले महिला माथि हुदै आएको विभेदका बिरुद्ध चेतनाको विकास गरेका छन् " कार्यशालाका सह ब्यबस्थापक तथा टिच फर नेपालका पुर्व प्रज्ञार्थी ऋचा न्यौपाने बताउनुभयो । यो कार्यक्रमको  उदेश्य ग्रामिण भेगमा रहेका छात्राहरुलाइ “स्टेम” को बारेमा जानकारी दिन र यसमा आफ्नो भबिस्य बनाउन उत्प्रेरणा दिन रहेको बताउनुभयो ।

उक्त कर्यक्रममा टिच फर नेपाल कार्यरत ८ बिद्यालयबाट २० छात्राको सहभागिता रहेको आयोजकले बताएका छन् । ३ दिने कार्यशाला अन्तर्गत छात्राहरुले रोबोट बनाउन, माइक्रोसफ्ट पावरपोइन्ट र वोर्ड, गुगल सर्च गर्न र इ मेल पठाउने र पाउने तरिका पनि सिकेका थिए । विद्यार्थीहरुले रोचक तथा ज्ञानबर्दक रुपमा कक्षामा प्रस्तुत गर्ने तरिका र  बिज्ञान, प्रबिधि, इन्जीनियरिंग र गणित बिषयबाट राम्रो भबिष्य बन्न सक्ने बारे पनि ज्ञान प्राप्त गरेका छन् ।

“यो कार्यशालाबाट छात्राहरुको आत्मबिश्वास बढेको र उनीहरुका कुरा पनि महत्वपुर्ण हुन्छ भन्ने कुरा बुझे “ कार्यशालाका आयोजक तथा टिच फर नेपालका पुर्व प्रज्ञार्थी शिना श्रेष्ठले बताउनुभयो । कार्यशालाबाट छात्राहरुले क्षमता विकास गरी रोजगारको अवसरका बारे पनि जान्न सफल भएको उहाँले बताउनुभयो ।

यस कार्यशालाबाट आयोजकले सहभागी छात्राहरुलाइ स्टेमको पाठ्यक्रमबाट क्षमता बिकास गर्ने र जीवनमा आउने विभिन्न समस्याहरुको सामना गर्न प्रयास गरेको बताएका छन् ।

“कार्यक्रम बाट छात्राहरुले समूहमा कार्य गर्न, जीवनका अभिन्न मूल्य मान्यता बुझ्न र आत्मबिश्वास बढाउँन सहयोग पुगेको छ ।” कार्यशालाका आयोजक तथा टिच फर नेपालका पुर्व प्रज्ञार्थी आस्था खत्रीले बताउनुभयो । “यो कार्यशालाको मुख्य उद्देश्य छात्राहरुले उनीहरुका समस्या समाधान गर्न आफुले नै भूमिका खेल्न उत्प्रेरित गराउनु हो र यसको सुरुवात स्टेमबाट भएको छ । मौका मिले महिलाले पनि देश बदल्न आफ्नो योगदान दिनसक्छ ।”

उद्देशका बारे थप जानकारी फेसबुक पेजमा रहेको छ :

https://www.facebook.com/Udeshya4Girls/