Government School

Life in Kirtipur continues to be going well and is ever-interesting. The Lonely Planet guidebook for Nepal describes Kirtipur as a "sleepy" village of 9000 people. I can only assume the author visited exclusively in the dead of night when everyone was, in fact, asleep. By day it is very much alive and active with people out walking, motorcycles honking, small shops in the bottom of lots of houses, and people working at the sides of the streets day in and day out. Even some nights, such as last night, not much sleep happens, as the drum-beating and cymbal-clanking can continue very loudly and very lately in the streets. Last night they were celebrating the birthday of the Hindu god Krishna, which was actually the day before, but why have just a one day festival when you can celebrate for two?

The work / school week here is 6 days long with only Saturdays off. I'm planning on suggesting the Encana-style 1st and 3rd Friday policy just as soon as I can work out how to say it in Nepali, though I'm not expecting it to gain much traction. No matter, the days are shorter, usually 10am - 4pm, and a "Saturday off" really is a Saturday off rather than just a "chance to do more work without as many distractions" as they tended to be known in Regulatory.

I'm happy with the school I've been placed at, which is just a short 5 minute walk (on dirt trails between rice fields) from where I live. There are many private schools in the area, where anyone who can possibly afford to will send their children, and our school collects the remaining children whose families cannot. The private schools teach every subject in English, except of course Nepali, but government schools like mine teach all subjects in Nepali, including usually English because the students don't understand enough English to get by without a full Nepali explanation. Even the grade 10 class has lower English comprehension than the 6 year old I live with. He's in kindergarten at a private school.

The building itself is basic and run-down, though highly energy efficient (it uses none). We don't have lights and rely on sunlight coming in through the doors and windows to read and write with. Luckily there are a number of smaller, unplanned windows to provide just a touch more daylight where bricks have fallen out of the walls. There is one classroom per grade, from kindergarten to grade 10, with about 12 students on average in each. Old benches in rows attached to equally old desks and a blackboard are all that sit within the rooms. Unless, in some cases, there may be a mess of scrap wood sitting in the corner. No teacher's desk. No colourful, inspirational posters covering the walls. But lots of bright, smiling children.

Much of the way it is at Vaishnavi Secondary School gets explained with a shrug of the shoulders, a shake of the head, and the words "government school". I must've got this from at least a dozen people on my first day alone. The resources, the learning environment, the commitment of the teachers...all seem somewhat lacking from what I've seen in my first couple weeks.

Unfortunately, all of this is very clearly apparent to the students themselves, who often give me the same "government school" answer to explain why the school gates are still locked at 10am with only the students milling about and no one else in sight, or why their teacher didn't show up that day without notice. What's remarkable to me, and very inspiring, is how despite such low expectations and obvious lack of resources, most of the students are all very eager to learn, especially English. Teacher or not, they are there in class every day waiting to be taught something new. Some have begged me to please come to their classroom to teach when they found out what I was there for. The older ones especially understand that English is a possible ticket to get into higher education and do something of interest to them rather than fall into the same rough lifestyle their parents lead, breaking their backs to barely scrape by.

In short, it is exactly the kind of place I want to be. Amongst very deserving children and with lots of room to provide support in a place where not a lot of it is often found.