Volunteer Teach Opportunity in Nepal School

  Nepal

• Kathmandu: 
Kathmandu

Durations of Program: 1-2 weeks, 2-4 weeks, 5-8 weeks, 3-6 months and 7-12 months
Typical Duration of Program: 1-2 weeks
Dates: Any time

Description: Situated in the Kathmandu Valley, 4 km from the historic city of Bhaktapur, surrounded by rice and wheat fields, in the quiet village of Duwakot, Nabin English School is your perfect pick for a short or long-term Volunteering Experience. Whether you come for superb scenery, ancient cultures and history or colorful traditions and customs, turn your visit to Nepal into a rewarding and valuable one. The energy, motivation and Smile of 165 kids are waiting for your involvement and help.

The school was established in 1990 due to the lack of public primary schools in the area. During its first year, its total enrollment was only 25 students. In 1998, it was upgraded to lower secondary level, and now plans to run classes up to 12th grade through a gradual annual upgrade. Its current enrollment is 165 students, with the ratio between boys and girls equally distributed.

Nabin is a non-profit school. All the money received from low student fees and donations is used to pay teachers' salaries, supplies and maintenance of the building. Although we do not ask our volunteers to pay a set fee like other volunteer organizations, we kindly ask them to make a donation to the school. This money will be deposited into the school account and used to provide scholarships to students coming from very low-income families and to improve facilities. Many classrooms still don't have windows, and most don't have electricity. Little by little, jobs such as plastering the walls and building a proper roof over some classrooms will be done.

The school has its own building with 15 spacious classrooms, an office, and a playground with a slide and table-tennis. There are also sufficient sanitation facilities and 24-hour running water.

The faculty consists of 12 teachers who hold degrees in Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Geography, Accountancy, English and Nepali language, having studied at Universities in Nepal and abroad.

The school has received four volunteers from the U.K. during the years 1998/99 and 1999/2000, as well as one from the U.S.A. and one from Italy during the year 2002/2003. The students enormously benefit from being taught by native or advanced English speakers. Nabin is a school where the main medium of communication among teachers and students is English. Additional volunteers have come for short-term assignments through HELP/Nepal, our supporting non-governmental organization working in such fields as education, health, women's issues, etc.. Nabin is also a member of the Youth Millennium Project, a joint venture between British Columbia University in the USA and UNICEF Canada, which encourages students' participation in performing and visual arts.

Highlights: School runs from Sunday through Friday, with Friday being only half-a-day. Depending on how many classes you will be teaching and in which periods, you will surely be up by 8 am. All family members wake up at or about 5 am, but you can sleep in if you want to.

You usually have tea first thing in the morning, before bathing and getting ready. You then eat your first meal of rice at around 8.30 am (later on Saturdays) and join the students after that for games. The students start arriving as early as 8.30 am, although school doesn't start until 10.

The first bell rings at 9.45 for assembly. This is the time when all the students must be on school grounds to line up in front of their teachers and recite the morning prayer. The students must wear a uniform, consisting of a blue checker shirt, a red tie, brown trousers for the boys, and a brown skirt for the girls. During assembly, they all must check their dress to make sure all their clothes are in order before school starts. Some of the older students also do presentations in front of their fellow classmates, which they have studied and prepared in their English class.

School then starts, with seven periods of 40 minutes each, interrupted by one morning break, lunch, and an afternoon break. There are classes from 1st to 8th grade, but also kindergarten and nursery. Given that the level of English of the younger students is low, you will be teaching to the older ones, most likely to the 6th-8th graders. They are quite fluent in English and easily understand our volunteers.

Although Nabin is a private school, it must still follow the Government Curriculum, which includes classes in Nepali, Science, Math, Health, Social Studies, Environmental Studies, and of course, English. You will be teaching English Grammar and English Literature from the school books. It's up to you how you want to teach and how much homework you want to give to the students. It's also up to you whether you want to prepare, give the monthly tests, and the three yearly exams.

You can also teach other subjects, depending on your field of education. Some of our previous volunteers have taught Science, Art and Music. The kids really enjoy doing extra-curricular activities. Drawing is their favorite, but you can also teach them how to sing, how to play the flute, how to dance, how to paint, or how to sculpt. The Principal and the Vice Principal will be more than happy to arrange a schedule of extra-curricular activities during school time, or you can always teach such classes after school ends. We had a volunteer from Italy who had a steady group of students attending a music class every day after school, and even when school was closed for holidays.

Once all the students have left, you can relax and enjoy your free time. The village is quite small, but there are endless walks you can take to explore its surroundings. Your host family has a TV with some English channels, or you can help your host mother cook while practicing your Nepali. On Fridays, school ends before lunchtime, and you have more time to yourself to venture off to other places in the valley if you want.

Saturdays are your days off. This is when you can go to Kathmandu or Bhaktapur to catch up on your email, or visit the many temples and palaces of the valley. It's a short weekend, but you will surely be happy that a new week of teaching will start. You are going to love the kids!

Qualifications: Near-native fluency in English

Salary / Pay: Voluntary

Experience Required: no

This Program is open to Worldwide Participants.

Application Process Involves:

• Other
• Resume

Post Services Include:

• Exit DebriefingAbroad
• Re-Entry Debriefing at Home
• Alumni Network
• Job and Internship Network

Volunteer in Nepal's Mission Statement: The mission of Volunteer Nepal National Group is to mobilize and sensitize women and youth on the issues affecting them and how to utilize the resources available in order to promote and support sustainable self-help projects focusing on advancement of women and youth initiatives, income generating activities, human development and environmental conservation efforts. Our objective is to co-ordinate socio-cultural interaction between people of diverse background by creating opportunities for both local and international volunteers to exchange their experience and skills. We provide volunteer service opportunities for people who are genuinely interested in learning about a new and different community and culture while contributing their time and skills to benefit worthwhile community service throughout Nepal. By partaking in the program, it is hoped that participants will experience personal growth as well as open communication channels between different countries and cultures.

Year Founded: 2000