:: Queen's DREAM ::

NEPAL: SHREE MAHALXMI LOWER SECONDARY SCHOOL READING ROOM REPORT
COUNTRY Nepal		DONOR DREAM, Queen’s University		DATE OF ESTABLISHMENT June 2007
NAME OF SCHOOL OR COMMUNITY Shree Mahalaxmi Lower Secondary School		PARTNER ORGANIZATION NEST		PROJECT ID NO. NP-RR-07-084
ZONE/DISTRICT Narayani/Makawanpur		VDC/MUNICIPALITY Bhimphedi		VILLAGE/CITY Suping
LOCATION The Narayani Zone is located in the south-central part of Nepal. It has a population of 1,250. Narayani is divided into 5 districts: Bara, Chitwan, Makwanpur, Parsa, and Rautahat.Shree Mahalaxmi Lower Secondary School is located in Bhimphedi Village Development Committee (VDC) within the Makawanpur District. It is about 23 km north from Hetauda market. Hetauda is 228 KM South of Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal.
NUMBER OF TEACHERS			NUMBER OF TEACHERS ASSOCIATED WITH THE PROJECT
FEMALE 1	MALE 9	TOTAL 10	FEMALE 1	MALE 0	TOTAL 1
NUMBER OF STUDENTS/CHILDREN				GRADE/LEVEL OF CHILDREN 1-8	AGE RANGE OF CHILDREN 5-15
FEMALE 1,799		MALE 2,215
DESCRIPTION OF COMMUNITY AND LIFESTYLE Narayani hosts Nepal’s oldest and most famous national park: Chitwan (932km²), considered to be one of Asia’s richest nature reserves, renowned for its Bengal tigers and the Indian white Rhinoceros. To the southeast the park is complemented by the Parsa Wildlife reserve with another 499km². Narayani is one of the few zones that have been left basically untouched by Maoist insurgency up to now. It is a relatively prosperous zone of Nepal with a vibrant trading market with India, whose effects can be easily seen in the border town of Birgunj. Hetauda is the capital of this zone. The Makawanpur District lies in the hill country region of Nepal and is an area of natural beauty and historic significance. It contains huge mountains with lush green forests and jungles and produces all kinds of fruit, herbal medicines and timber. Hetauda is its district headquarters and lies in the southern part of the country. Hetauda is one of the oldest cities in the country and was established at the time of Mukunda Sen (around 200 years ago). This area is close to Parsa Wildlife Reserve and Churuiyamai, the holy temple where huge numbers of animal sacrifices were given in Dashain. Most of the area of this district (nearly 20%) is covered with hills. The famous Bhimsen Temple is found in the Makawanpur District. The Bhimsen Temple is dedicated to the god of trade and business and has wonderful, elaborately carved balconies with images of Shiva, Parvati, and Ganesh on them. In Bhadra, the people of Bhimphedi organized Bhimsen Jatra. Bhimsen Jatra is the birthday of Lord Bhimsen and is celebrated at a festival with a lavish procession around town starting from this temple and ending with a sumptuous feast. Lord Bhimsen, one of the great heroes of Mahabharata, is very popular in Nepal. He is known for his strength and bravery. Mahabharata tells us how he always pushed himself in front to fight the wicked and protect the weak. Mainly Brahmin, Chhetris, Tamang, and Magar ethnic groups live in this VDC. The largest industries of the country are located in the Makawanpur and Parsa Districts. The majority of the population, around 70%, is involved in agriculture and 15% in labor-related work. The remaining 15% are involved in business and government office work or as laborers in different countries. Since life in these hills is very hard, many of the young people from these areas go abroad, mainly to work as laborers in India. In the early days, they used to join the Indian and British military but the educated youth today prefer to go to Europe, Japan, the US, Malaysia, Korea and the gulf region. The concept of school education was only introduced after the establishment of democracy in Nepal in 1951. Currently, only 65% of the total population is educated.
CURRENT SITUATION AND REASON FOR SUPPORT The government schools of Nepal receive support in terms of teachers (appointed by the Government) and a small budget to cover administrative costs. Since education until Grade 5 is free, schools do not have sufficient financial support from the government or community to run the schools properly. Schools are always dependent on the local community. Government policies and programs do not support these schools in helping them to manage essential and supportive educational facilities such as: libraries, science labs, computer labs, etc. Most of the government schools want to have a library but haven’t been able to do so due to a variety of challenges. These obstacles typically involve the lack of sufficient financing for the development of education and school progress, as well as human resource needs. Though this school realizes the importance and need for the library, they are not able to support one due to the above mentioned problems. Room to Read (RtR) has partnered with the Nepal Education Support Trust (NEST) to establish libraries in the schools in this district to support readers and promote the habit of reading. Through this, Room to Read hopes to improve their student’s reading skills and enjoyment as well as the school’s educational performance level. The Nepal Education Support Trust is located in the Makawanpur District in Hetauda. This organization was established in 2000 to support educational development and is located around 75 km south of Kathmandu. NEST has been working closely with RtR since 2004. RtR has provided books, constructed school buildings and established computer rooms within this district. Additionally, RtR has been involved in other helpful projects and is the most popular organization in this area. When a team member of NEST, approached Principal Mr. Keshav Pd. Pudasaini of the Shree Mahalaxmi Lower Secondary School for the 2007 library program, he showed great enthusiasm and interest in this project. He requested and received complete support from the partner organization. He was even prepared to contribute the amount that was needed in the challenge grant to run the program at that meeting. All teachers, members of the School Management Committee (SMC) and the Parents Teachers Association (PTA) gave a written commitment to establish the library when they were briefed about the program. The importance of the library, its usage, and challenges were all detailed by a program representative. They requested participation and they committed to raising funds from their own salaries. With this decision and documentation from school, a library was established. This was enthusiastically received by the entire school and community.
DETAILS OF THE PROJECT The Reading Room (RR) of this school is located on the first floor of the main building and is attached to an office. It is 18 X 22 ft and is one of the biggest rooms in this building. The walls of the room and furniture are painted in four different shades making the library attractive and colorful. The room has cross windows resulting in sufficient light. Book racks are placed by the door along with the display racks. Educational wall posters are hung above these racks. Students’ tables are placed in the middle of the room and the teacher’s table and chair are by the door. A notice board is hung inside the room to the right of the door. A color code classification system is being used in the library. All the books have been classified and stickers are placed on the spine of each book. The floor is carpeted with PVC linoleum and a doormat is placed at the door. Every student and teacher who enters the library has to take off their shoes and leave them outside.
CHALLENGE GRANT Community or School Contribution to the Project Room Paint for walls Carpet Doormat Part-time Librarian Some library funds Room to Read’s Contribution to the Project English books Nepali books Educational posters Dictionaries and an atlas Educational wooden materials Two days initial library training for 2 teachers Regular follow up and monitoring Furniture: 3 book racks, 2 display racks, 4 tables, 8 benches, 1 teacher’s table, 1 teacher’s chair, 1 card catalog box, 1 white board, 1 soft board
USAGE TO DATE The School Management Committee decided to open the library during a designated library period for each grade. Each grade was allowed one day a week. Library visits are arranged in the following manner: grade 5 on Sunday 6th period, grade 6 on Monday 7th period, grade 7 on Tuesday 5th period and likewise. This schedule was designed with the intention of assuring equal library access to all the students. Additionally, students are allowed to visit the library during their leisure periods and teachers may visit during their free periods.
COMMENTS Grade 8 student, Shusma Pudasaini said, “The program of Room to Read is very beneficial to all the students as it gives us opportunity and access to all new varieties of books.”