KATHMANDU, April 22: Many of those who could have been child prodigies in their own fraternity might have gone unnoticed due to the socioeconomic causes of education inequity, or simply lack of the necessary ‘push.’
Therefore, a group of Nepali youths who graduated from some of the renowned universities in the world decided to tackle this deficiency.[break]
“Bloom Nepal was established with the ideology to identify the talents of those students and polish them. We want to help children embark on a journey of self-discovery,” says Ram Krishna Rijal, Chairman of the Bloom Nepal School Network.
The first school of the network, in Ekanta Kuna in Patan, was inaugurated on April 15 and the first session is set to begin from April 28 for classes one, four and seven. Plans to expand the network in various locations over the years, and upgrade each year and eventually incorporate the International Baccalaureate (IB) program at an affordable price are also in the pipeline.
According to Rijal, the framework for teaching is based on three pillars – specialized education which includes customized curriculum apart from the syllabus prescribed by the government, good communication skills through the medium of technology and regular reading habit, and technical and financial aid for students to pursue their interests.
“We have to follow the government syllabus which will cover most part of the classroom hours. One hour per day will be allocated for specialized courses,” adds Rijal.
The school has adapted the syllabus from the Matematička gimnazija (Mathematical Gymnasium) of Serbia and students will take up advanced courses in Math during these extra class hours. For the first year, as they are starting small, the school aims at establishing regular reading habit right from the primary level.
“We want to build up reading habit gradually, in a way that doesn’t pressure students so they will start reading because they want to, not because we tell them to,” said Rijal, adding, “In time, we want to incorporate additional courses on arts and sports as per each student’s needs.”
“What happens abroad is that if you’re good at one thing, there are several opportunities for you to excel in that particular field and make a living out of it. In Nepal, students are often pressured to be an all-round packages,” says Rabindra Shrestha, administrator of Bloom Nepal who also has plans to teach Economics at the school when classes are upgraded to secondary level.
The self-designed curriculum focuses largely on subjects with technical and quantitative base such as Mathematics and Economics which require critical analysis.
The first Nationwide Mathematics Olympiad was also organized by the school with the aim of making students at par with the international standard, so after four or five years, these students can represent Nepal in the International Mathematics Olympiad.
Despite the fact that the group of proprietors is young, some of them being fresh graduates with no experience, they say they are appreciative of the importance of education and believe that finance should not hamper knowledge. They charge nominal tuition fees and are willing to provide need-based financial aid.
Giving back to the country
Rijal came up with the idea which would later take the shape of Bloom Nepal when he was studying at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the US.
“Students there would talk about technology, entrepreneurship, and most importantly, creating things. The environment there made me realize that Nepali youths are misaligned and that it is halting the country from going further,” he says.
Rijal, who is originally from Rukum, studied IB in the UK and went to MIT on scholarship, believes that there are many talented students in Nepal who need opportunities and exposure.
Similarly, Rabindra, who graduated with a degree in Accounting and Finance from Saint Peters University, US, hopes to change the mentality that being a jack of all trades is important.
The school started with the concept of educational reforms, most importantly to progress at the same pace as the rest of the world in terms of education without letting business cloud the ideal motive behind this establishment.
The school library, too, will be open to the community of Ekanta Kuna once the sessions begin and slowly to the public at large.
Setbacks of being young entrepreneurs
The staffs at Bloom Nepal are young, and while it has certain advantages, it has been difficult for them to convince parents regarding their commitments. The group asserts that, as starters, they are willing to take risks and it is easy to streamline ideas.
It is equally difficult to retain the energy, especially during the early phases when a lot of manual job is required and things get tiring.
“Some of the staffs are fresh graduates and we’ll be organizing distance workshops and feedback mechanisms to track their progress to help them gain effective experiences,” informs Rijal.
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