Story by Sneha Manandhar

Anjali Kumari Mehta served as TFN’s science Fellow in Parsa from 2021 - 2023. She is perpetually smiling and full of anecdotes. As usual, she recalled an anecdote from her classroom, with a contagious glee -  

One summer day when grading papers, she came across an interesting answer for a question, “What is Force?”. A student had answered, “A ball is an Object. For it to move, it requires Force. If we kick the ball, our leg is the Force.” The answer in all its verbatim glory to describe Force by its magnitude and point of application is how Anjali fondly remembers her classroom experience. She nostalgically reminisces that she had a different approach to learning as a student herself. It had not been effective, focusing on rote memorization, with little to do with the application of theories. When she joined Teach For Nepal, she ensured, each day, that her students had a more pragmatic approach. 

Mehta states that throughout her childhood, she never had a sense of confidence. In school, none of her teachers encouraged her to voice her opinions. She had been constantly reminded that what mattered most was her marks – and it had become her identity. It wasn’t until recently, when she became her own person, she realized that children deserve more and how she was taught by her teachers didn’t fully help, she couldn’t possibly repeat the same mistake, that there were more effective teaching methodologies. And so when a student grasps a concept in a way that’s different than advocated by the textbooks, word for word, Anjali understands that the students are on the right path. Regurgitation and comprehension complement each other. Her goal is clear - to ensure students’ comprehension. 

Anjali takes her wins, in large doses or small, and she wears them with pride. Along with other TFN Fellows, she introduced a “WASH Club,” exclusively for female students to open up and speak up about menstrual issues. Just in a few weeks’ time, the girls developed the confidence to ask for sanitary pads from male teachers, a practice previously reserved for the women on staff. 

Mehta has always been the one to go beyond the call of duty, and when one speaks to her, one cannot help but think - this person deserves her very own TED talk. A mechanical engineer by profession with corporate experience to boot, her association with TFN started in 2021 by teaching in Sri Nepal Madhyamik Vidyalaya, a community school in Parsa. A typical day for Mehta and her co-Fellow in the school began at the break of dawn with extra coaching classes at 6 AM, followed by a dash to prepare breakfast, to gulp it down, and then they rushed to the morning assemblies. 

The TFN Fellows wanted to create a culture of positivity, confidence, and self-reliance among students, and consequently a new tradition began, wherein a student was provided the opportunity to conduct the assembly (in English) each day. It turned out to be a simple but effective method to enhance students’ confidence and exposure. The morning assemblies became a platform for them to resound their bold voices and reacquaint themselves with English language with a speech, a thought or a question that they would leave for other students to answer or ponder over.

Mehta also had a lot of interesting tricks up her sleeves. When students had a hard time remembering formulas, she would play fun games with them. For instance, she’d pair up students and assign them a chapter each. They would then use cue cards to quiz each other and help each other learn such concepts. Sometimes she urged her students to stop and smell the flowers. “How else can students understand environmental science?” she says. One can’t help but agree with her. 

When the Playful Engineering-Based Learning (PEBL) project came knocking at the school’s door, it was an opportunity she was really thankful. The project facilitated by Tufts University, U.S.A, PEBL comprised of activities designed to create joyful and engaging iterative experiences for students. Mehta’s students were now equipped with plenty of materials to learn and demonstrate various scientific methods and concepts.

Never one to spoon-feed her students, she believed in the power of teamwork, a quality that she tried to imbibe in all her students every day, and now with PEBL it was effective and what more, it was fun! For example, she taught concepts like “Speed” and “Direction” by grouping students in diverse pairs, where they used wheels or bottle caps as makeshift wheels, a battery, and pieces of cardboard artfully glued together to build mobile cars. These cars would then compete against each other for the podium, racing through a track punctuated by speed brakes. Her students rejoiced in the learning process and the outcomes. 

Anjali is a meticulous teacher by her own admission and likes to be prepared. Always charting out a lesson plan before each class and sometimes even conducting mock classes on her own to ensure that she herself didn’t mispronounce any Nepali words. She admits, “Nepali is not my strong suit.” Fortunately, in the fashion of Anjali herself, she found teachers among her students. When she struggled with Nepali vocabulary, her students were invariably eager to help her find it. By visibly showing her own learning process and asking for help, she even found a way to empower her students, to make them understand that learning never stops, not even when you are a teacher. One can tell that Mehta isn’t just a teacher for these students. She’s a friend, confidante, and that voice that many children need. 

“I didn’t walk into the Fellowship with any concrete expectations. Coming from a corporate background, I felt that in my time with TFN, I always had to make it quantifiably accountable rather than it being an emotional journey. But, has it been a very emotional journey for me? Yes, absolutely. Every day I’ve learned something new from each student and in the process, I’ve come to realize that every individual needs their own variety of catering to. Each student stands equal in my eyes but not all of them can be treated the same.”

There’s almost a bittersweet look that washes over Anjali’s face when she speaks of her colleagues but it’s also the look of admiration. She says that without Utsav Paudel, Pasang Sherpa, and Purushottam Koirala, she couldn’t have imagined her Fellowship the way it played out. She is of the view that when young graduates join the TFN movement, they come as unique individuals, envisioned with their own their ideas and versions of change, and change is inevitable here: 

“When a Fellow joins, they give a lot of who they are to the movement and try to go beyond the expectations laid out for them, but in the process they get back so much. For me, I think I’ve become a more confident person. Maybe one must really go through certain unconventional life situations and leave the comfort zone, to become a strong, confident person.”

Support Teach For Nepal and help transform education for students in Nepal by empowering exceptional individuals like Anjali Kumari Mehta. Anjali, a graduate of Bachelor of Engineering (Mechanical) from Nitte Meenakshi Institute of Technology, Bangalore University, India, embarked on a transformative journey when she joined the Fellowship in 2021. As a science Fellow at Shree Nepal Rashtriya Secondary School Nichuta, Anjali has dedicated herself to making a difference in the lives of numerous students.Your generous donation will provide the necessary resources and support, creating a brighter future for Nepal's youth. Stand alongside TFN today and make a direct impact on the lives of students in Nepal. Donate now to build a stronger education system, empower dedicated Fellows like Anjali, and help thousands of students thrive and reach their full potential.