‘WORKING TOGETHER TO EDUCATE’

My name is Sarah Mackaness and I am delighted to have taken on the role of Lead of the BRANNGO Education Working Group. I have worked in the UK state education system for the past 20 years as a Learning Mentor and have specifically worked with young people who require special educational support. My work has involved child welfare, providing support in mental health, speech and language and curriculum based lessons.

In 2018 I spent some time working in a Government primary and secondary school near Pokhara in Nepal. I taught across all age groups and subjects in the classroom, and worked alongside teachers exchanging ideas and ways of working.

The BRANNGO Education Working Group objectives are:

• To provide a forum for sharing information on education in Nepal, to assist in good practice

• To promote collaboration between relevant stakeholders both locally in Nepal, Great Britain and Internationally

• To foster co-operation between NGOs working to achieve SDG4 (‘Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all’) in Nepal.

We organise regular education webinars and face-to-face events during the year in the UK and aspire to host a workshop event in Nepal annually. These forums will provide an opportunity for members to collaborate and share information.

If any NGO member would like to share their experience, a new way of working, talk about how they have overcome challenges, share examples of collaboration, share their expertise in a particular area, provide examples of good practice, etc, then we would be delighted to hear from you. Please contact us using the contact form below.

Education in Nepal:

• Specialist Dialogues – Perspectives on Nepalese Education (#2)

The second in a series of webinars discussing the role that NGOs can play in the Nepalese education sector.

BRANNGO Members can view the introductory presentation by Subash Sunar, Head of Shree Jana Jyoti Vocational Agricultural College in rural Gandaki, and the ensuing interactive discussion – on the Recent Webinars page of the Members’ Area (restricted access) – by clicking here.

• Specialist Dialogues – Perspectives on Nepalese Education (#1)

The first in a series of webinars discussing the role that NGOs can play in the Nepalese education sector.

BRANNGO Members can view the introductory presentation by Bil Prasad Gurung, Headmaster of the state-run Shree Jana Jyoti Secondary School in rural Gandaki, and the ensuing interactive discussion (together with the report and photos of the event) – on the Recent Webinars page of the Members’ Area (restricted access) – by clicking here.

• Shine Together CENN (Care Experienced Network Nepal)

BRANNGO Members can view the joint BRANNGO Education and Health Working Groups presentation by Dikshya Thapa, Junu Lama and Birendra Shahi (co-founders of Shine Together) on child institutionalisation; the status of children in Nepal; lived experiences of care-experienced people, and Shine Together‘s purpose, journey and demands – on the Recent Webinars page of the Members’ Area (restricted access) – by clicking here.

• Volunteer in the Classroom

BRANNGO members can read and download a copy of Volunteer in the Classroom, a ‘brief introduction to English teaching in developing countries, for volunteers‘, written by Aidan Warlow, former Principal of Kathmandu University High School, on the Reference Documents Page of the Members’ Area (restricted access) by clicking here.   

• A Better School

BRANNGO members can view A Better School, the 2013 training film produced and directed by Aidan Warlow, on the Films Page of the Members’ Area (restricted access) by clicking here.

Intended for teachers, school administrators and education students, the film covers 2 days at a school in Kavre, Nepal, and demonstrates the techniques outlined in Aidan’s book Better Classrooms, Better Learning.

  

• Rato Bangala School and Rato Bangala Foundation

BRANNGO members can view the webinar given on 17 June 2022 by Shanta Dixit (Director) and Milan Dixit (Principal) of Rato Bangala School (about their highly successful in-house teacher training programme and the work of the Rato Bangala Foundation within Kathmandu and in rural schools across Nepal), on the Briefings Page of the Members’ Area (restricted access) by clicking here. 

Rato Bangala School is a co-educational school in Kathmandu that also houses a Teacher Training Institute. It has a unique dual programme that caters for students through the Rato Bangala School, and for teachers through the UNESCO award-winning Rato Bangala Foundation.

Since its inception in 2002, the Rato Bangala Foundation has sought to ensure the right of all Nepali children to quality education. It has worked mainly as a Teacher Training Institute, providing different types of teacher training to primary and secondary school teachers. The Foundation’s goal is to transform public schools into child-centred, gender-sensitive, community-owned schools which provide children with quality education.

• Girls’ Education Challenge Fund

Click here to view details of the portfolio of projects funded through the Girls’ Education Challenge Fund (described by Nathanael Bevan, FCDO Development Director in Nepal, at the recent BRANNGO conference). The FCDO are planning a new health and education programme to start in 2023, and intend to keep BRANNGO informed as plans develop. 

• Saathi Teachers Programme – Strengthening the quality of education in primary schools in rural Nepal

Click here to view the webinar given on 18 February 2022 by Jimmy Lama (Director of HELP, the Helambu Education and Livelihood Partnership) and Ranjana Gautam (Saathi Co-ordinator) on how the Saathi Teachers Programme is being implemented (with help from the Mondo Foundation) and improving the quality of education in rural schools in Nepal.

• Raising the Quality: Proposals for improving primary education in Nepal

BRANNGO members can read and download a copy of Aidan Warlow’s book Raising the Quality: Proposals for improving primary education in Nepal on the Reference Documents page of the Members’ Area (restricted access) by clicking here

• Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Education in Nepal

Click here to view the webinar given on 15 July 2021 by Karkhana Asia on the programmes and products they offer to provide STEM training in Nepalese schools.

• The Impact of Covid-19 in Nepal

Click here to view the webinar given by Babu Kaji (‘BK’) Shrestha and Dr Angela Daly to the BRANNGO Education Working Group on 18 July 2020:

• Babu Kaji (‘BK’) Shrestha, Founder and Director of GAN (Global Action Nepal), on ‘The Impact of Covid-19 on Education in Nepal’ (approx 40 minutes).

• Dr Angela Daly, a senior lecturer and researcher in Education Studies and Early Childhood Studies at the School of Education, Liverpool John Moores University, introducing her work on ‘Breaking the child labour cycle through education: issues and impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic on children of in-country seasonal migrant workers in the brick kilns of Nepal’ (approx 20 minutes).

Contact Us:

• BRANNGO Education Working Group: If you would like to be included on the BRANNGO Education Working Group email list, please send us your contact details using the form below. We would be happy to hear from Education professionals in all areas of Education and related professions.

• BRANNGO: If you are involved in SDG4 work in Nepal, and would like to know more about BRANNGO, please get in touch via the contact details form below. Please also take a look at, like, and follow our informative BRANNGO Facebook page.