Students and Teachers raised NRS 4500 in Deusi and Bhailo

On 17th October 2009, students and teachers of Prajwal School organised a fund raising program by playing Desusi and Bhailo ( a Hindu cultural tradition during Tihar festival , many children and people go door to door in the community singing and dancing. Often families offer the Deusi and Bhailo people sweets, cash donations. ). Many charities, local clubs nowadays use this occasion to raise funds for their projects.

All together 30 teachers and students participated in the programme. We started our Deusi programme at half past five in the evening and played until 4 o'clock in the morning. We were able to collect NRs 4500/-.

A committee of the students of NEST child club and teachers involved in the programme was formed to manage the fund. That committee has decided to use the fund to support disadvantaged children who are interested to study in the Prajwal School . While the school management has agreed to provide free scholarship for them, the fund will be used to provide them with school uniforms and stationary materials . The child club members will identify children whose parents cannot afford to pay for their education. The child club has also decided to collect textbooks from students at the end of the year and donate to students who cannot afford to buy books.

Purna Kumar Sherstha, the founder of the school said. " It is such a noble idea ! I am very pleased to hear that students and teachers have decided to use the fund for educating marginalised children." In order to encourage the initiative of the students and teachers, Mr. Shrestha has pledged to match equal amount to the fund. " We must encourage children to support other less privileged children. It is a very important social skill that children must learn to support others. By donating the matching fund, I hope they will be able to support more students".

Tara Education and NEST to Develop Prajwal School as a Model School

1 September 2009, Hetauda, Nepal.
NEST and Tara Education have entered into partnership to develop Prajwal School as a model school. Prajwal School will be be used as a teaching laboratory.
Tara Education was incorporated as a 5013c in July 2009 by Mary McKenna and Lisa Waugh Howard to continue work in Nepal that they began under the auspices of Bank Street College of Education during the 2008 – 9 academic year. During that time Mary McKenna served as Director of the Bank Street Educational Outreach Project in Nepal and Lisa Waugh Howard was a Bank Street Graduate Student.

When workshop instruction with the Tara Principals is offered, it will be designed around a regular schedule of observations of Prajwal teachers. The workshops will provide the foundational knowledge for the observers to understand the theory and practice of learner-centered curricula. Some of the best training institutions teach how to create activities and teachers leave with “a tin box” of activities. However, hands-on activities themselves do not teach open-ended or critical thinking and the teachers (in training programs that range from week-long to three months) do not have the background theory/knowledge to make the activities cognitively rich and stimulating

Congratulations

School building backside view

Thank you Everest of Apples

New classroom furniture made by donation of Everest of Apples.

Thank you

Prajwal School family would like to thank Melanie Surry, Karen Retter and Chris Swanson co-directors of the Everest of Apples for their contributions to the Prajwal School's development. The relationship between the school and the Everest of Apples has been matured during your leadership. We are more hopeful in achieving our goal to educate children and adults and improve their lives by providing learning opportunities.




The school has witnessed development not only on infrastructure but also in the quality of education it offers. Because of your hard work in Japan, the school has been able to improve its teaching and learning environments. More than 50 students have received scholarship. Teachers feel more confident in using child-friendly teaching methods and children have enjoyed learning. Community members have been inspired and their participation in the school has increased significantly. It would not be possible without your support. So, we owe you sincerely gratitude and thank you very much for your suggestions, commitments and dedication to make a better world through educating children and fighting inequality.



We wish you good luck with your future endeavour and miss you a lot !

World Environment Day Observed

Prajwal School observed World Environmental Day on 5th June 2009.
Prajwal School has initiated environment awareness programmes and pupils have started using cloth bags instead of plastic bags. On the occasion of World Environment Day, Nepali Debate on “Rural life is better than urban life”was organised . Twenty students took part in the competition and the Principal, Prajwal Shrestha distributed awards to winners.

The school congratulated the Executive Director of NEST, Mr. Ganesh Shrestha on having won the National Award for his contribution to a successful environment campaign to stop the use of polythene bags during his tenure as the chairmanship of Nawa Jivan Jyoti Club of Chaughada.

Bianca Pledges to donate £100 to School Bus

Bianca a friend of NEST has committed to donate £100 towards the Prajwal School Bus fund. She has been supporting the NEST projects since its inception.

Prajwal School has recently bought a bus on installment basis with a view to increase its services to wider communities. With the transportation facility, children from adjoining villages will be able to study in the school. It will help to increase access to the school.

Prajwal School buys a bus

March 25, Hetauda

Prajwal School has bought a second hand bus. School can provides its services to children from other communities. With transport facility, it is hoped that the number of students will increase in the school and in long term it will contribute towards making the school self-reliant financially.

Prajwal School is committed to provide education opportunities for disadvantaged children from other communities as well.

Lack of transport facilities, many children from adjoining villages were deprived of having education in Prajwal School.

From Principal's diary : Home visits to Makranchuli

28 February 2009
I woke up early in the morning and arrived at the school at 6 a.m. Our team had planned to go to Makranchuli. The team started walking up hill through the wood; it took about half an hour to reach Makranchuli. Some new members ( Babulal sir, Nirjana miss, Uttam Shrestha, a PTA member) had joined us to visit Makranchuli.

Anil's house SMC Chair Mr. Hari Prasad Sigdel interacting

We first went to Punam Ghimire’s house. Punam is an ex-student of the Prajwal School. She topped the District Level Exam last year. We met her mother and talked about present situation of the school. Her name was Sarada Ghimire who was also a teacher of Juneli School. Hari Prasad Sigdel ( Hari Sir), our team leader and the chairperson of the School Management Committee briefed about recent improvement of our school. He stressed the need of a good relationship between Juneli and Prajwal School. We met a classmate of Purna sir. His name was Badri Sapkota. We gave our introduction and told him about our school. He was convinced to send his daughter to our school when she would complete grade 5.

It was already 9:00 am, so we had breakfast and bought some prizes for students in a local shop. After walking for half an hour, we reached Madan Pathak’s house. Madan and his younger brother go to Prajwal School. When we reached ,they were busy in their studies. His mother greeted us with tea and bananas. This village is famous for bananas. We gave our introduction and learned about their home environment. The home environment wasn't good enough but they were happy with that. The students had poor economic condition. Madan’s father was not there, he had gone to sell bananas in Hetauda. We gave the students ball pens as a gift . We took group photos. It was already half past ten in the morning .
Then we went to Anil Pudasainee’s house, he is a student of grade 7.

We met his father. His father was so impressed the team work of parents, teachers and school management committee. He reported that his son was learning better than before. He said ' If the same learning activities were given before , then up to now students had done much better in their studies'. And I said “This is just a beginning, we must provide proper education to students, not only bookish but helping them to be creative, engaging them in practical works of related subjects. He told us that the use of English language in the school was not sufficient to students. Nirjana miss said “Only speaking English doesn't make students good at English language We must equally give priority to use mother tongue to help students understand the content of curriculum.”

We clarified his misunderstanding about the school. We were served by tea. By then, we already had 7 cups of tea. It was already 12:30 pm so we gave a gift to Anil and returned back to the school. It took us half an hour to come down the hill. These students walk through the wood up and down hill for an hour to Prajwal School.We had a nice time at Makranchuli. I was very pleased that parents, management and teachers were active and parents appreciated our visit. When I reached home it was already 1:30 pm.

Nirjana Sapakota is a young and energetic Nursery teacher of Prajwal School. She got a chance to attend a week long pre-primary teacher training on early childhood education in Kathmandu in August last year. Returning back from the training, she changed her teaching techniques. She has been using teaching methods which encourage children to learn by doing things, children are involved in the activities.
" I used to read out the texts in the books and asked students to memorise". Children are so happy to take part in activities and they think learning is fun, that is the way it should be. I use low cost resources to prepare my teaching materials in the classrooms which enable children to learn social, emotional and numeracy skills.

Everest of Apples Continues its Support to Prajwal School

Everest of Apples has agreed to provide support for the following projects, in the following amounts, in line with the estimate received from the Prajwal School. These donations will cover the costs of 2008- 2009.

Sports Equipment
Plastering of School Building
Plastering of Toilet Block
Painting doors and windows
Electrical wiring of school
Professional Teaching materials/Stationery

Lower Grades furniture

Net/pole fencing (boundary wall)

First Aid kit

Scholarship (cover the students fees who are studying free in the school)
Water supply

Total donation from Everest of Apples will be NPR 882,875.

Prajwal School likes to express its gratitude to all donors, members and coordinators of the Everest of Apples, Aomori for their continuing support over the years. Without your help and generous support the school would not be able to operate in this condition.

Rahul wins the prize in peom competition

29 January 2009
Prajwal school took part in 'Poem Competition' organized by Srijansil Child Club on the occasion of Martyrs day. The programme was held at the Children park. in Hetauda. The topic was 'Martyrs'. All together there were 11 participants . Rahul Aryal of Grade 8 got the third position in the competition.

कविता प्रतियोगितामा तृतीय स्थान

सहीद दिवसको उपलक्ष्यमा श्रृजनशिल बाल क्लबले आयोजना गरेको कविता प्रतियोगितामा प्रज्वल स्कूलका कक्षा ८ का राहुल अर्यालले तृतीय स्थान ओगट्न सफल भए। हेटौडास्थित बाल उद्यानमा आयोजित उक्त कार्यक्रमका मुख्या अथिति नेस्ट का प्रतिनिधि हुनुहुन्थ्यो।

New students to have canteen facility in the school

22 February 2009

The Prajwal School has started a canteen service for new students . Prajwal Shrestha, the principal of the school informed that this facility would benefit parents as it would be cheaper and the food will be healither than junk foods. The school has started this service in response to the parents' request as some parents are very busy and do not have time to prepare lunch for their children.

नयाँ बिद्यार्थीहरुको लागी स्कूलमाननै खाजा

अभिभावकहरुको मागलाई ध्यानमा राखी प्रज्वल स्कूलले नयाँ बिद्यार्थीहरुको लागी स्कूलमाननै खाजा खाने ब्यबस्था मिलाएको जानकारी स्कूलका प्रिंसिपल प्रज्वल श्रेष्ठले दिनुभयो। स्कूलमानै खाजाको ब्यबस्था गर्दा स्वस्थ्य र सस्तोमा खाजा खुआउन सकिने आशा बिद्यालयले राखेको छ।

National Volunteers

The school gave a farewell Programme to Mr. Bishal Kshetri Thapa. Bishal volunteered in the school for 1 month. He helped with teaching computer scienece .
The certificate was handed over by the chairperson of the School Management Committee and also the Executive Director of NEST was present on the farewell programme.
We would like to wish him all the best with his future career.

Volunteering with the Prajwal School

International Volunteers

Contact Us

School Address
Prajwal Shiksha Sadan English Lower Secondary School ( Prajwal School)
Hetauda Municipality Ward No.-6
Chaughada Bazar
Makawanpur District
Nepal
Telephone: 00977-57-69 252

In the UK
Contact Founder of the School
Mr. Purna Kumar Shrestha
41 Mount Road
Mitcham, London
CR4 3EZ, UK

Board of Trustees

Mr. Purna Kumar Shrestha, Founder
Mr. Ganesh Kumar Shrestha, Chair
Mr. Bhim Kumar Shrestha
Mr. Shyam Kumar Shrestha
Mr. Sanjay Kumar Sigdel
Ms. Laxmi Shrestha
Ms. Nirmala Shrestha
Exofficio members
Resource Person, Representative of District Education Office
Representative of Hetauda Municipality

Parent Teacher Association

School Management Committee

Vision Statement

A Vision for the Future

• We are living in a rapidly changing, technological world with a global economy and shifting work patterns. Globalisation and development in communication and technology have directly impacted our lives.
• The society is being complex and disparities are higher between rich and poor, boys and girls. The Government of Nepal has offered free primary education but the education offered has not been of quality. Therefore, many parents prefer to send their children to private schools which are often quite expensive for poor communities. Only poor families send their children to the government schools where they get less attention in their education.
• Prajwal School’s vision is the future in which rich and poor, boys and girls, children with or without disabilities receive the same quality education which enables each individual to utilise a variety of skills and intelligences in order to meet these challenges with determination and confidence.
• Our vision for the future of our school is to continue to pursue higher standards through a broad and cohesive curriculum with an emphasis on individual independence and creativity, as it is through these that individuals can take responsibility for their own learning, make informed choices and solve problems in real life.
• Our children need to develop skills and attitudes that will enable them to learn how to learn, become more socially skilful and manage theirs and others feelings and emotions effectively.Our school will foster an ethos of challenge and high expectation with high self-esteem and respect and understanding of other's cultures and beliefs without any discrimination on the basis of caste, social backgrounds and gender.
• We will seek to provide opportunities for experiential and explorative learning, building on what the children already know.
• Our school will provide learning opportunities not only to children who are students but provides services to all members of the communities to explore their potential through various training, workshops, and learning opportunities. We believe it is vital to work in partnership with parents and actively encourage them to become involved in the life of the school.
• We recognise the importance of continuity in the learning process and will share expertise and experience with other schools and settings. We will raise awareness of wider issues by involving members of the learning community and exploring the surrounding environment.
• Learning is a lifelong process and it is our responsibility as adults to model effective learning. This vision statement therefore applies to everyone who has a role to play in the provision of education at our school.
• Equalisation of opportunity in education is one of the most important conditions for overcoming social injustice and reducing social disparities in the community. Creating opportunities for quality education for disadvantaged children will inevitably have an important bearing on future distribution of income in the society.
• Therefore, our school will provide the same education for poor and rich , rich will pay for and poor will have free education.

Picture Gallery

Extra Curricular

25 January 2009
Prajwal school organised a Drawing competition on the occasion of "Martyrs Day". In that competition Navaraj Timalsina of Grade 8 secured the 1st position.

Staff members

Mission (लक्ष्य

प्रज्वल स्कूलका ताजा समाचार ( News)

Students to have canteen facility in the school

22 February 2009
The Prajwal School has started canteen service to new students . The students can have healthy lunch in the school with nominal cost.

अभिभावकहरुको मागलाई ध्यानमा राखी प्रज्वल स्कूलले नयाँ बिद्यार्थीहरुको लागी स्कूलमाननै खाजा खाने ब्यबस्था मिलाएको जानकारी स्कूलका प्रिंसिपल प्रज्वल श्रेष्ठले जानकारी दिनुभयो। स्कूलमानै खाजाको ब्यबस्था गर्दा स्वस्थ्य र सस्तोमा खाजा खुआउन सकिने आशा बिद्यालयले राखेको छ।





School starts home visits to increase parents involvement
18 February 2009
Prajwal school has started home visit of students. Prajwal Shrestha, the Principal of the school says " In response to low achievements of students in the school and in order to improve the relationship between the communities and the school, we have decided to start students' home visits."
A committee of five mmebers, headed by the School Management Committee Chair, Mr. Hari Prasad Sigdel, Archana Dahal ( Teacher representative) , Mr. Madav Ghimire and Mr. Dipak Thapa ( Parent Teacher Association), and Mr. Prajwal Shrestha, the Principal of the school went home the Rai Community to visit students and their families. This extra ordinary partnership between the School management, Parents and teachers have made an effort to address the cycle of blame that exist between parents and teachers regarding students' low performance. The home visit team rewarded students who were found studying. During the visit, parents and teachers shared students academic performance, their behaviours at home and parents were encouraged to give feedbacks to the school. Parents were also informed about the economic situation of the school and encouraged to pay fees on time so that teachers could be paid timely.

" This home visit has been very useful to establish professional relationship between familes and teachers", says Mr. Hari Prasad Sigdel, the chair of the school. PTA members Deepak and Madav also shared the view that such visits will contribute to increase trust between community and the schools. Archan, the teacher representative of the team says"this visit has provided us to step in to the communities". The home visit team visits families on Saturdays and on public holidays. The team has got positive responses from parents.

Research has shown that when parents and teachers work together students perform better academically and socially.

School Activities स्कूल गतिबिधि

स्कूलको परिचय

प्रज्वल स्कूलको स्थापना पूर्ण कुमार श्रेष्ठले २०४६ सालमा गर्नुभएको थियो । एउटा निजी स्कूलको रुपमा स्थापना भएपनि सन्