May 2016 | Baitadi
As reported in our last newsletter, OLE Nepal is planning to expand the laptop program in Baitadi district in the far western region of Nepal in partnership with Department of Education (DoE) and the UN World Food Programme (WFP). The program will provide durable laptops and solar power back-up at the schools, install offline digital library servers full of e-books and other resources, provide three-stage training to all teachers, and provide technical and programmatic support to the schools. Solar panels and backup batteries will be funded with support from the Embassy of Finland.
OLE Nepal and Baitadi DEO had announced a call for application from interested schools through the local FM stations and newspaper advertisements. The application forms were made available at the DEO office, resource centers and Food for Education (FFE) offices. A total of 38 applications received by the DEO were carefully reviewed by OLE Nepal and DEO staff, and 24 schools were shortlisted based on the number of students, teachers and school infrastructure.
Two teams consisting of OLE Nepal staff, DEO and FFE officials conducted site survey of the 24 schools on May 21 - 29 to check the infrastructure, meet with teachers and community members, and to assess how well the schools fit the criteria set by the DEO and OLE Nepal. Since many of the schools were located in farflung communities, the teams were often required to walk for days on difficult hilly terrains. Upon completion of the survey, the teams convened at the DEO office and selected 15 schools. The schools have now been officially endorsed by the DEO and approved by the DoE.
The following district map shows the locations of the 15 selection schools.
