Nepal Educator and Leadership Institute: Building on the past, influencing the future

The Educator and Leadership Insitute model continues to expand! We have been able to build a strong base for ELI in Haiti and Egypt and now, thanks to the work of my colleague Judy Halpern, the ELI evolution in Nepal has been taken to a new level. Judy and her husband Rob have been involved in education in Nepal for 18 years. Their belief in reciprocity and co-learning are key to the success of ELI Nepal.

The ELI model for Nepal is differentiated in a number of ways but the foundations are the same as our other sites:

• Professional learning conference for five days for 90 Nepali educators from 10 schools
• Courses included: Leadership, Non-traditional instruction, Critical Literacy, Early Years, Mathematics, and STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts, mathematics) education 
• The conference took place in the city of Banepa, in the Kavre district, 30 km from the capital city of Kathmandu
• 20 Canadian educators made up the team including eight Laurier Bachelor of Education students and 12 other educators from Ontario, Canada
• The ELI Nepal team differentiated the professional learning for the participants by responding to requests for specialized workshops in five different Extra Curricular Activities (ECAs), including Behaviour Management, Science Challenges, Music, Photography and Eco Club 

Funding for ELI Nepal comes through Wilfrid Laurier University, private donors, HEAL Nepal foundation, and participants fees. It is truly a communal effort to make this training happen and we are very appreciative of the generous support of those in Nepal and Canada.

Our host school is Vidhya Sagar English Secondary School in Banepa, which has the space and the technological capacity for our workshops.  

One of our Canadian course instructors offering work on non-traditional instructional strategies.

Mr. Hira Sharma, the principal of Vidhya Sagar, along with Mr. Tashi Lama, director of HEAL Nepal have been instrumental in organizing our institute.

As ELI expands, we are committed to our foundational mission of building the capacity of teachers in fragile and challenging contexts of the world. We are excited about new emerging opportunities in Ethiopia, Kenya, and Ghana. Updates on these contexts will be provided in the months ahead.