Color the FutureObjective

As a volunteer teacher in the project 'Color the Future' run by AIESEC in Kathmandu in association with United Nations, working at Shree Yantra English Academy my objective is;

To work for the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 4; Quality Education, by actively trying to improve the qualtiy of edudcation in Kathmandu

Color the FutureAcknowledgement

I am thankful for AIESEC in Delhi University who gave me the opportunity to enroll for their prestigious Global Volunteer Program. I would specifically like to thank Ayushi Rastogi, Executive Head of AIESEC in Delhi University for her guidance and support.

I am also grateful for AIESEC in Kathmandu and specifically Bhaba Shrestha, Executive Head of AIESEC in Kathmandu for accepting me for their noble initiative 'Color the Future'. This project aims to improve the level of education in Kathmandu in accordance to the United Nations SDG 4, Quality Education.

But most importantly this project report would not have been possible without the sincere support and guidance of Mr Laxshman Narayan, Principal of Shree Yantra English Academy. He has inspired and motivated me at every step of the way.

Color the FutureIntroduction

1. What is education?

Education is the process of facilitating learning, or the acquisition of knowledge, skills, values, beliefs, and habits. Educational methods include storytelling, discussion, teaching, training, and directed research. Education frequently takes place under the guidance of educators, but learners may also educate themselves. Education can take place in formal or informal settings and any experience that has a formative effect on the way one thinks, feels, or acts may be considered educational.

2. What is the education system in Nepal?

Education in nepal follows a 5-3-2 system, with five years of primary school, beginning at age 5, 3 years of lower secondary and 2 years of upper secondary. Schools may be community funded, state funded or private.

3. What are the current challenges faced by the education system in Nepal?

The education system in Nepal, lacks proper infrastucture for the holistic development of the student. The education system focuses too much on rote learning and academic excellence but falls short in practical learning experiences.

4. How can we overcome the challenges faced by the education system in Nepal?

The solution to the current challenges faced by the system of education in Nepal is by creating practical learning experiences. This is exactly the goal of AIESEC in Nepal. They are working towards the same, by inviting international volunteers such as me, to provide practical learning experiences and global exposure to the studetns in Nepal.

Color the FutureBackground of School

Established with just 7 students in 2062 B.S. , Shri Yantra English Academy has grown over the years to reach 400 students currently studying in the school.

Shri Yantra English Academy envisions the creation of a child-friendly world for students from all ethnicities, religions, regions and social as well as economic backgrounds to open up and release their potential for their all-round development to guide the world to a rewarding destination through honesty, inner discipline and sense of accountability.

Shri Yantra English Academy is on a mission to produce effective leaders who can contribute to the betterment of their society, country and the world at large.objectiveShri Yantra English Academy seeks to develop students who are healthy, mentally sharp, spiritually sound, religously tolerant, socially amenable, morally strong, highly articulate, ambitious beyond individualism, and visionary enough to contribute honestly to their field of work being empathetic to people with fewer opportunities.

For preschool , the school has an 8-room building that houses classrooms and a teaching lab with audio-video facility and play ground with all play materials.

For grades 1-10, the school boasts of having a 22-room building housing classrooms, a well equipped science lab, a weel furnished and equipped computer lab, a library with a good number of latest books and internet facility along with a hall for holding co and extra cirucular activities.

Color the FutureProblems and Analysis

The current problem faced by Shree Yantra English Academy is the poor quality of spoken english. Depsite being an english medium school, the students are unable to reach a satisfactory level of fluency in english. The children also face difficulties in reading and pronounciation.

The school has a well qualified staff and faculty, however due to deficits in the spoken english of the students, the teachers are forced to converse with them in nepali only. Hence the language fluency of the students detoriates further.

After analysis, a simple solution to this problem is force the students in a position where they will have to converse in english.

This is where we, the volunteer teachers come in. As we have no knowledge of nepali, the only common language we have in between the students is english. Hence the students are put in a position where they must converse in english to interact with us. Aside from creating a culture of speaking english, we also bring experiences from our own culture. This gives the student a multi cultural experience in the classroom. The children learn to respect and appreciate foreign cultures and are acquainted with the workings of foreign countries.

Color the FutureResponsibilities

Volunteers are responsible for creating, promoting and sustaining a culture of world-class spoken english. Volunteers also have to create awarenesss about their own culture and country and provide a multi cultural experience to the students.

As a volunteer teacher of the project run by AIESEC in Kathmandu in association with UNESCO working at Shree Yantra English Academy my current tasks are;

1. To create, promote and sustain a culture of world-class spoken english.2. To teach moral values through interesting and engaging activities.3. To bring awareness of both domestic and foreign affairs to the students.

Each responsibility was carried out through the implementation of creative and engaging activites to help the students cope in areas they lack in.

Color the FutureActivities

DREAMS

What are dreams? Dreams are things that come at night. Dreams are imaginary stories. Dreams are images that we see, which may become true if we work hard for it. Every child had his or her own answer. To me, dreams are hope. They are beacons of light which shows us a glimpse of the wonders we can achieve.

The objective of this activity is to motivate children to work hard to achieve their dreams. First I discussed the meaning of 'dreams' with the students. After a short discussion I ask each student to come up individually and draw something that symbolises their dream. Each student comes up to the blackboard and draws something that symbolises their dream. Once all the students have drawn something, I proceed to explain them the importance of hardwork to achieve their dreams.

Caricature: Never Give Up

To most, art is mode of expression, and this very expression has, is and will continue to inspire millions.

The purpose of this activity is to teach students to believe in themselves and never give up. First I asked the students how many of them can draw or how many of them think they can draw well. Only a few students raised their hands. Then I started to teach the children simple caricature, and everyone was able to do it. After a few more examples of caricature, I again asked the students how many of them think they can draw well. All of the children raised their hands. Then I explained to them the importance of belief in one self. If you experience difficulty in some task or feel there is something you cannot do, just believe in yourself and keep trying and you will achieve it!

ATLAS

“Nigeria! From A sir? Yes. Okay...Amsterdam! Now M, hmm.. Malaysia!”

The objective of this activity is to improve the knowledge of geography of the students as well as coerce the students to speak in english. It is a simple game, in which the first person takes a name of a country, state or city and the second person has to take a name of city, state or country that starts with the last letter of the

Color the Futureprevious game. In small groups this game can be played individually but in largeer groups, the class can be divided into teams or it can be played pop quiz style.

Simon Says

“Simon says sit!”The entire class sits with pindrop silence. “Simon says stand up!” Once again the entire class obeys without a sound. “Sit down!” Most of the class sit, while a few remain standing. “Those who are sitting are out! I didn't say 'Simon Says'”

The objective of this game is to teach the students to understand commands in english. In this activity, a single person or the teachers are designated as 'Simon'. The children have to obey whatever commands 'Simon' gives as long as the prefix “Simon Says” is added. If the children obey a command without the prefix or are unable to obey they are out of the game.

BANG BANG!

Old western cowboy movie narration/description/dialogue

The objective of this activity is improve the english vocabulary of the students. Divide the class into two teams. Explain that they are cowboys (or in our case police and robbers). One student from each team comes up and draws their pistols. The teacher says “how do you say the word?” or “what do you call such and such thing?” The first student to say the word says bang bang and kills his opponent. He remains standing and the defeated one goes back to his team. For every victory the winning team gets 1 point and if the same student wins 4 times in a row then the team gets 4 extra points.

AIESEC Roll Calls/Jiving

As an AIESECer, rolls calls or jiving has been fundamental to my local chapter's culture. They motivate and rejuvenate the participants and prepare them for a tough session.

The objective of this activity is to energize and motivate the students. In this activity, I play songs and dance on pre rehearsed steps and the students dance along too.

Mock Conversation

Color the FutureIn a world, with increasing rates of globalization and urbanization. Where national and cultural barriers are quickly detoriating and international relations is becoming increasingly common. The need for a common language for communication has arisen and english is quickly filling this vacancy.

The objective of this activity is to stimulate a real life english conversation. In this, two students stand in front of each other and engage in a dialogue. For the ease of the students, the dialogue is written on the blackboard. After a few times, the students are able to repeat the dialogue without the blackboard or any help from the teacher.

Public Speaking

I believe the art of speaking in public is one of the most important skills an individual can have. As such, I have made sure that my students will always have this indispensible skill wherever they go.

In this activity, I first introduce the importance of public speaking. Then I teach students three important rules, I believe is important for public speaking:

1. Grabbing the attention of the audience; many times, when the speaker is speaking the audience is not paying attention. All that energy and speech just goes wasted. Before starting, one should make sure that the audience is paying attention.

2. Positive body language; One should have a open and assertive pose. The speaker should stand with their legs apart, body relaxed but standing straight. Their body should face the audience. If and when possible, they should make use of hand gestures.

3. Voice modulation; The loudness of one's voice can be manipulated to great effect in public speaking. When giving an argument or narrating points, be loud and clear. Let each word sink into the mind of the audience. Do not rush to give your opinion. When you want to draw attention to a specific word or keypoint, whisper. The audience will pay even more attention to word you suddenly whisper as their drawn in by the curiousity as to why you whispered. Always remember, no one likes a monotone robotic voice. Put some emotion into your speech.

Color the FutureConclusion

Overall my stay in Nepal was delightful and enligthening. Working as a volunteer teacher has taught me alot about effective communication and management.I have learned four important techniques during my project in effective communication.

1) When a student gives a correct answer or accomplishes any task desired by me, I have the entire class clap for this student. Explanation: This accomplishes two things: It acts as postive reinforcement for the student increasing the frequency of the behaviour that I desire of him or her. Secondly, when other students observe that this student is being rewarded for a particular activity, they too learn to do the same through the process of modelling.

2) Creating a loud noise like banging a table or clapping immediately grasps the attention of the entire group regardless of it's size. This is very helpful when you want to grab the class's attention. Explanation: According to evolutionary psychology, loud noises are percieved as immediate danger or threat and demand immediate attention of the individual.

3) When orating a topic or facilitating a discussion it pays to speak loudly and clearly. Explanation: When we speak louldy and clearly then the its is easier for the student to differentiate and comprehend the words. This is because each word has an intensity of sound, this intensity is the absolute limen of that word. The word that comes after too has an intensity of sound and is the relative limen compared to the preceding word. If the relative limen is not significant then the student will not be able to separate the two words and will not comprehend our speech.

4) When you want to make a point or give focus to a certain concept, speak in low tone or softly. Explanation: Doing so creates cognitive dissonance in the student's mind as he conflicted as to why the teacher is speaking softly. This leads to increased attention of the student and hence better understanding of the concept.

Aside from work as a volunteer teacher, I have done ample sight seeing and have satisfactorily experiened nepali culture. Nepal is a truly unique state and its people have a very different lifestyle compared to indians. I enjoyed my stay in Nepal and it has truly changed my perspective on everything.