Some training perhaps

Welcome to the training of primary school teachers. Today’s theme is Child Friendly School. Why are these trainings needed, you might think. Well, the requirements for a teacher’s education to be able to teach at primary level are not huge in Nepal. The teacher has to finish high school, after this there is a three weeks training from the government, which ends to an exam. Not all get the opportunity to go to this training; there are not enough trainings for everyone. If you haven’t gone or passed this training you can still teach, but you are not a permanent teacher. So the teachers don’t get a very large education on child development, teaching methods or on much anything really. This doesn’t mean that they wouldn’t be good teachers, I’m sure that they learn a lot in the job. But at the same time the culture and personal beliefs can affect their teaching. It is a widely known fact that corporal punishment is still used in schools, and one of the most used teaching method is repeating what the teacher says, and there is a lot of prejudice towards low cast members. Loo Niva wants to change the atmosphere of the society to a more child friendly direction, but also offer children a chance to finish their studies.  

The day starts with a ceremony, which introduces the trainers who are head teachers that have taken part in the training before. After this there is a game, where all of the participants, 28 of them, can introduce themselves. Then the day starts with child rights, the trainer goes through the idea of child rights, with information, practical examples and sometimes asking questions from the participants. This is an important issue, because in the culture children seem to be seen as something else that full humans. They are seen as little adults, with almost the same capacities, but less respect. The training tries to make the teachers see children as individuals, who have the same rights as adults and perhaps a bit more: they are the adults in making, and how we will treat them, will mold their thinking and them as a person. So it would seem that Loo Niva is changing the cultural picture of a child, towards something that is precious and to be protected and supported. Before the tea break we play a game.

The training is not like a lecture, where the trainer speaks and participants listen. But the day is full of speech, laughter, games, sharing ideas- kind of what the child friendly classroom should be like. The teachers are taught new methods, games that they can bring from the trainings to the classrooms. Their ideas are challenged – why do you need violence to get respect, in fact you are only creating fear. They are taught about equality and tolerance – gender or cast doesn’t define our skills or us. They are explained about child development and other very important things during the two-day training.

In the end of the training the teachers are asked for feedback and if they have learned something new. They all are very enthusiastic about the new ideas and say that they will use them in practice. They also hope for new trainings: they want to improve and be better teachers. And think how many children’s lives these trainings affect: on the public side, there can be more than 40 children per classroom and with around 30 teachers per training.. Well you do the math; you probably have been fortunate enough to get an education.