Project communities:
Yarchu, VDC Chumchet, Gorkha
Following the women’s literacy programme in North Gorkha, the flexible curriculum school (“alternative school”) in Yarchu village, Chumchet VDC that had been launched in the context of this project was continued. Flexible curriculum schools cater to children who for instance are unable to start school at age five because their homes are too far from the nearest primary school for them to walk the distance every day. In smaller classes, they can catch up on the basis of a flexible curriculum and then transfer to the mainstream school after a cycle of three years.
It is in particular girls who often miss out on education in situations like these – they help at home, take livestock to pasture, or gather fodder or wood instead of going to school. Boys, in particular in the Buddhist majority region of North Gorkha, often are at least sent to a monastery school.
In addition to basic literacy and numeracy, the children also receive some health education on hygiene and sanitation and nutrition.
For this project, PHASE Austria funded a female teacher’s salary as well as teaching and learning materials (stationary etc.), and the rent for the school building.
Another flexible curriculum school in Chumchet VDC was funded through our partner organisation PHASE Worlswide.
A total of 47 children in North Gorkha benefited from this project.
