By: Swastika Shrestha (CEO and Co-founder - Teach For Nepal

Amidst Problems and Possibilities,

I often find myself amongst well-meaning people who talk about the problems of our public education system with a sigh of exasperation. 75% of students in Nepal attend public schools. The issues of low academic achievement of students at each level, the staggering dropout rates, and the meager graduation rates in the tenth-grade board examinations seem like a perpetual problem so deeply entangled that it is hard to find a starting point for transformation.

And thus, amid overwhelming limitations of our political, economic, and socio-cultural infrastructure and education systems, we are often tempted to reduce education to equipping our students with skills to have means for a “livelihood”. We resort to strategies that would “at least” give our students some technical skills and language abilities to earn a living.

But the question is – Is that enough?

Would that kind of education be enough if we envisioned the future of our sons and daughters?

Can we envision that all children in Nepal, will not just be able to earn a living, but receive the kind of education that put them on the path of becoming leaders of our Democracy, our Economy, and our Nation towards Justice, Peace, and Sustainability?

Can we look at public schools, not as a problem to be solved, but as a place holding immense possibilities for our future leaders, entrepreneurs, change-makers, academics, innovators, and thinkers to emerge?

The “Ten Stories” are stories of “Change and Possibilities” that show how despite all the challenging contexts, it is possible to put our students on a transformative path of fulfilling their potential as individuals, members of their community, and citizens of this country and a global community.

It is easy to be tempted to see these “Ten Stories” as exceptions. Every day, our international airport experiences an outpour of families bidding farewell to their sons and daughters who are leaving this country with no desire to return. In the last couple of years, annually, 100,000 labor migrants and another 100,000 students and young professionals have left the country. One might be tempted to ask – what difference will a handful of stories bring?

Since 2012, 500 outstanding youth have left the comfort of their homes to travel to villages and live a life they’d never known before. Often living in a small room furnished with the bare minimum, they worked, lived, and learned in the community where they served as Teach For Nepal teaching Fellows.

Every year, Fellows teach over 8000 students, who are not just learning to pass exams but are building their character and values of resilience, justice, sustainability, equality, and mutual respect and responsibility.

After completing the Fellowship, our alumni have moved on to innovate, initiate, and lead programs that make quality education more equitable and accessible to thousands of more students.

500 youths may appear like a small number in comparison to a hundred thousand who leave. 8000 students might seem insignificant compared to the total number of school-going students in our country.

But not everything small is insignificant.

Let’s ask ourselves - What if just 100 outstanding youth decided to stay back in this country every year?

And what if these 100 youths taught, empowered, and nurtured 10,000 students every year to become leaders, innovators, and creators?

Imagine where we would be in 10 years, in 20 years, in 30 years, and the kind of transformation that we could potentially witness within our lifetime.

Teach For Nepal believes in the possibility that we as a nation can ensure all children in Nepal will receive an excellent education and become leaders of our Democracy, our Economy, and our Nation towards Justice, Peace, and Sustainability.

Click the link to read our 10 Years 10 Stories