“Literacy is not only about being able to read and write and pass the exams,” says Prem Bahadur Bohara, Founder and CEO of Shiksha Nepal. He adds, “I believe that literacy is about using the support of various tools, be it books or other means, to realize one’s potential and then to move ahead in life.” [break]
With this belief, Bohara and his team are moving ahead to ensure that each child in Nepal gets at least a book, through which his knowledge can be enhanced. “Even if a child isn’t able to read properly or doesn’t know the language, we still place a book in his hands. The child looks at the pictures and observes others around him who have the ability to read the book. It’s only human nature that the child will get the feeling of ‘If he can read, why can’t I?’,” opines Bohara, explaining that this will ignite the curiosity of the child to gain more knowledge.
Bohara, who strongly feels that the academic system of our country is itself a challenge towards achieving 100 per cent literacy, believes in the power of the youth in being able to change the literacy scene. A youth himself, he says, “Young people have the desire to change things, but they lack opportunities and a suitable platform. Although Shiksha Nepal is a small organization, the youths have realized that it is a platform through which they can help create positive change. They are assured that the books they collect will reach the hands of the children through Shiksha Nepal.”
Another team of young people working for the same cause for a literate and educated Nepal, but with a slightly different approach, call themselves Teach for Nepal Fellows. This group of young people has dedicated a minimum of two years of their lives to work to provide quality education in public schools currently in Lalitpur district.
“Literacy is about being able to read and write as well as having the skills to take decisions and to think critically – to not take things as they are given, but to be able to critically approach them,” says Rojee Maharjan, 23, who as a Teach for Nepal Fellow, currently held a storytelling session at the school she’s currently teaching at. “With the support from Pratham Books, I did a storytelling session where I worked with the students on a book called ‘Paplu the Giant’,” says Maharjan. “It was a very new thing for the children and the whole environment was so different,” she shares.
Similarily, Dilu Sijali Magar, 25, shares his approach while working as a Teach for Nepal Fellow. “Learning doesn’t only happen inside the classroom,” says Magar, who believes that apart from being able to communicate through reading and writing, literacy is majorly about being able to relate education to life, to make it a life-long process and to capacitate children to use the knowledge they’ve gained to contribute to their society. By taking students outside the classroom to participate in cleaning campaigns, forming readers’ club in the school or simply encouraging the culture of helping each other inside the classroom, Magar is doing his share in helping education become more holistic and applicable in real life.
Literacy in this century goes beyond the mere skill of reading, writing and arithmetic and the above cases illustrate different approaches that young people are taking to fighting illiteracy and fostering better education in Nepal.
The role of the youth in this sector is inevitable. “It is clear that youths are an important force in fighting illiteracy,” says Babu Ram Poudel, Director of Non-Formal Education Center, which is implementing the ‘Literate Nepal Mission’ starting this year, with the aim to make every Nepali literate. The mission primarily mobilizes young volunteers. In the past year, 12,000 youth volunteers were a part of different campaigns initiated by Non-Formal Education Center.
“We are taking the help of students from class nine to 12 to take this literacy campaign forward,” informs Poudel. Different modalities are being put into practice and experimentation, he shares, “We’ve launched the ‘Each One Teach One’ campaign, we’re talking with the youth wings of different political parties urging them to ensure that every member of their party is literate and we’ve also recently introduced the family literacy campaign in Shikharapur Community Learning Center of Pharping. A definite framework for this family literacy campaign is yet to be finalized but the idea is to use students to help educate members of their family who are illiterate.”
With youth volunteers at the forefront and campaigns to eradicate illiteracy, Poudel is certain that Nepal will reach its goal of ensuring that each Nepali citizen is literate by 2015. The current statistics reveal that 3.15 million Nepalis are illiterate. “If you look at our recent past and evaluate, then the progress was weak. There are people who are critical about it, but I’m certain that we will be able to reach the goal,” he affirms.
Like Poudel says and what goes without saying, young people have a crucial role to play in eliminating illiteracy from the country altogether by 2015, and to show that like in other sectors, young people are not only the future of tomorrow but also the leaders of today.
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