Having started my PGCE this week, my experiences from this summer have already helped me to appreciate the substantial differences and somewhat surprising similarities that exist between the Nepalese and English education system as well as giving me an edge of confidence in getting up and teaching in front of a full class as an ITT. I cannot express how great the experience was that I was so lucky to have out in Nepal, and now reflecting back upon it, I can appreciate the huge impact that it has already had on my life.
Travelling out just a few days after graduation, it was sensory overload as I touched down in Kathmandu. The head teacher of the school came to meet me at the airport and took me back to his home and school where he welcomed and introduced me to his family and the members of staff that had gathered. The next day I was thrown in at the deep end as I picked up a full timetable of students and was taken to my new classes. I took on years 3, 5 and 7, teaching them English and science. The classes had on average 40 students, however these were somewhat reduced higher up the school; through talking to the students and getting to know them I think this reduction was due to the direct and indirect expenses incurred through schooling which meant it was a less viable option for many families of the older students
The classrooms were somewhat basic, but functional. In each classroom there was a board to write on (if any chalk or pens could be tracked down!), and there were plenty of rows of tables and chairs for the students to work at. I was almost surprised to see how well the students turned out to school; equipped with a pen, each student wore the full school uniform and took great pride in their appearance. Armed with a few books on teaching English as a foreign language and planning fun and engaging lessons with little in terms of resources, I felt that most lessons worked well and it was incredibly rewarding to see the significant improvements that each student made in both their conversational and written English during the short time that I spent at the school. Although the school adopted a policy of teaching all subjects through the medium of English, it was evident that many of the teachers struggled with this themselves and so I also tried to help them improve their English and confidence in speaking the language in turn for some lessons in Nepalese! I have come to appreciate the specific difficulties that students have when learning English as an additional language and hope that when I find myself in a school with a struggling EFL student I will be able to help them settle in and improve their English.
The school was the centre of the community, with many students and staff gathering after school to socialise. Through this I was really lucky to get to know many of the students, and one of the most surreal moments of the trip was staying up to the early hours watching the world cup final being projected onto the side of the school with everyone who had gathered
Whilst out in Nepal the students had 2 weeks holiday. Wanting to make the most of this time and soak up all that Nepal had to offer, myself and my housemate who I was out in Nepal with decided to take on a challenge of a lifetime and trek up into the Himalayas with the goal of getting submerged into the Sherpa lifestyle and potentially reaching Mount Everest base camp. During this round trip trek we visited many of the mountain schools including the infamous St. Hillary School in Khumjung at 3500m, set up by Sir Edmund Hillary himself in 1961 for the Sherpa children of the Khumbu region. A few days on, we were lucky enough to not only reach base camp at 5360m, but also arrive on what was the clearest day in the last few months due to it being the monsoon season whilst we were out there. Having got up at 4am to trek up to the peak of Kala Pattah at 5545m, I can honestly say, sitting there and watching the sunrise from behind Everest was the most phenomenal sight I have ever witnessed and am likely to witness for the rest of my life.
Leaving Nepal at the end of my 6 weeks out there was tough, as I had formed such great relationships with the students and everyone else who I had the pleasure to meet. Thanks to Facebook which has also taken off in Nepal, I have been able to stay in touch with many of the people I met and hope that sometime in the future I will be able to head back and see how everyone is getting on.
I am extremely grateful to the Homerton RSMA for facilitating this incredible experience!
Chloe Davies, B.A. (Cantab)
September, 2011
