More ECD

Nepal has targets for provision for large expansion of centres and pre primary classes to meet the Education For All goals, but wide expansion of enrolment does not ensure quality. In the last couple of months, much of the work in our department with the ECD network is beginning to build a picture of provision across the country.

For me a trip to Pokhara gave me 5 days to look at school and community based centres and to talk with another volunteer about provision in villages that she had reached by bus and then a steep all day walk.

Whilst in Pokhara I stayed at a guest house, whose owner works towards improving early ECD in the locality. With the help of sponsorship and donations, www.butterflyfoundation.org

has established and fully covers costs of one centre, and also supports several others in the locality.


A week later I went to Kavre , east of Kathmandu. After a 2 hour drive, which included the 4 by 4 being stuck (this is not my usual method of travel but we were with a prospective donor) and having to reverse some way out of the mud and back down the hill (we walked ), we saw 2 school based centres then a walk across a field and up a narrow muddy track before we reached another centre. This was in a small community in an old Newari building close to a tiny temple. The children were not used to so many visitors and at first sat and watched us.This centre had been set up with small advance from the district education office and some training from an NGO. It is now run and financed by the local community, families who can pay something between them make up 600rps adding to the government 1,000 so that the 2 staff share 1,600rps (£12) a month between them.

Here, for my first time in Nepal, I was able to see some planning for individual childrens learning and the material is shared with parents and families! This is a centre that we would like to use as an example of good practice both for the community involvement and the quality provision for children's learning but it is not easy to access. But maybe we'll consider video.

Love to all
Sheila