Shikharapur Open School, located in Dakshinkali Municipality, Ward No. 5, is going to make 45 students from Kathmandu, Lalitpur and Makwanpur districts participate in this year’s SEE examination. In order to develop and manage Open School, established in 2064 BS and has been providing free education for 15 years with the approval of the Government of Nepal. The school is constantly engaged in the campaign to empower the community through open education. In addition, 14 participants will participate in the open basic level municipal level examination. There are 19 female and 26 male participants in this year’s examination from Chandragiri Municipality of Kathmandu to Indrasarovar Rural Municipality of Makwanpur and Kirtipur Municipality. The open school has succeeded in proving that age does not limit education.
People between the ages of 18 and 54 are participating in the exams with dignity. Hari Prasad Acharya, 54, had to miss the exam due to a bus accident. After 36 years, he is participating in the examination from Shikharapur Open School. Also, a Local Government representative of Dakshinkali municipality is participating in the examination. Participants of Chalnakhel Open School, which came into operation last year, are also giving SEE from this school.
Covid caused to start teaching a little later than the academic session. The classes were conducted in the morning for the purpose. According to the reason, the participants in the open education have self-study and meet with the facilitator teacher once a week as a contact class. Online and physical classes were also conducted simultaneously for those who could not attend classes regularly. Participants who are deprived of education due to various reasons are involved in some business for their livelihood and even though they could not attend the class, they have made thematic preparations from the self-study and contact class.
Differently abled participants are also participating the exam this time. Hari Bahadur Budhathoki cannot speak or move his hands. There he writes on his feet. The dream of giving SSE has not made them feel physically different. An environment has been created for them to conduct the examination in coordination with the examination center as per the government rules.
Sabina Rumba, a teacher at the Child Development Center of a school in Makwanpur, is also participating in the examination. She is preparing to give SEE there to further his teaching profession and increase her capacity. Where there is no internet, she took daily data and read it online. Yaman Shahi, who works in a workshop in Balaju, Kathmandu, has come to study now saying that he could not read because he lost his way earlier. Thus, open schools have opened the door of opportunity for many who are deprived of opportunities.
Through Shikharapur Open School, our goal is to take the participants towards higher education and also to make them self-employed by developing their skills. We have realized the need to conduct various trainings in coordination with CTEVT in the near future for this type of skill development. We have seen that if we can create an environment where we can study and earn after attending school, we will attract more and more participants and raise the living standards of people from all walks of life in the community. For this, we need to develop a model that combines education and skills.
In Shikharapur Open School, basic level open SEE level, women who have passed from open and so on have been teaching classes 11 and 12 free of cost from this year. It has also been conducting free computer training. In this campaign, Dakshinkali Municipality, Shikharapur Community Learning Center, Rukmini Foundation, Shikharapur Community Campus also have special cooperation.
Report:
Lalita Lamichhane, Coordinator,
Shikharapur Open School