June 18 2002
Japanese Local Schools Donate Educational Equipment
|
The handing over ceremony for the distribution of the educational equipment from the Milan Club, Nepal to the primary and secondary schools was held on June 7, 2002. Ambassador Kaminaga, Mr. Amar Narayan Mali, vice president of Milan Club, teachers and headmasters of various schools were present at the ceremony.
This equipment is second-hand, donated by local schools in Japan to Nepal under the Grant Assistance for Grassroots Projects (GGP) Scheme of the Government of Japan. Under this scheme, 12 primary and secondary schools, including 1 vocational training centre in Sangla, Phutung, Kavresthali and Dharmasthali VDCs in Kathmandu district are being provided with educational equipment such as tables and chairs, blackboards, musical instruments, harmonicas, video cassette players, and various other educational equipment. Altogether over 2,000 sets of educational equipment in total have been donated by local schools in Japan. Of them, 1,040 pairs of tables and chairs were handed over to these schools along with 200 other pieces of educational equipment. The remaining will be distributed to similar needy schools in the very near future after they have been identified by the Milan Club, Nepal.
Even though the above 4 VDCs lie within the vicinity of Kathmandu Metropolitan City, the primary and the secondary schools in these areas are still devoid of modern facilities. The main reason for this is the lack of resources to produce such modern teaching aids. School children are forced to sit on the floor and use traditional forms of class materials. As a consequence, children are discouraged from attending schools, thereby exacerbating the problem of a high dropout rate in the country.
Milan Club is an NGO established in 1988 with the objective of supporting orphan girls so that they can attend school through scholarships. It also encompasses activities such as assisting schools to improve their sanitary conditions, providing assistance to schools to introduce vocational courses, and so on. At present it holds 180 club members, and provides scholarships to 140 female students.
Speaking on the occasion, Ambassador Kaminaga applauded the initiative taken by Milan Club of Nepal to identify the problems facing the schools so that concrete steps can be taken to address their deficiencies. He added that distribution of the above equipment is expected not only to motivate children in those VDCs and encourage them to attend schools, but also to help students and teachers alike acquaint themselves with modern teaching techniques and the joy of learning.
This donation from the people of Japan is expected to boost enrollment ratio in those VDCS and take a step forward in aiding the Government of Nepal in achieving its goal of universal primary education in the country.
|
