Nepal is a developing country located in the Himalayas bordered to the north by China and India in to the south, east and west. Nepal is famous for being the location of eight of the world’s ten highest mountains, including the highest peak on Earth, Mount Everest.
Nepal endured ten years of civil war between 1996 and 2006. Although the war is over, the country continues to struggle with high levels of hunger and poverty, and the consequences of the war are still felt. Over half the population survives on less than US $1.25 a day.
During the war, many Government run schools were taken over or destroyed, particularly in the remote village areas of the country. Education still suffers from the effects of the civil war almost ten years later, and the Government does not have the resources to rebuild the schools, nor provide essential learning equipment.
Where schools exist, they are often extremely basic buildings, built by the local community, and not well fit for the purpose. Very few children complete a full course of schooling, even to the primary level. Nepal’s literacy rate is among the lowest in the world, despite over 80 per cent of boys having access to some schooling. Very few girls attend school at all, as female education is not considered a priority.
As a consequence, the people don’t have the educational opportunities they need to lift the country out of poverty.
KERE Kids is a private charity founded to address these problems, build schools and provide resources, so that the pre-primary and primary schools can become quality learning institutions and give hope to the children for a better future.
The ideals of KERE Kids are to create a quality learning environment throughout the many schools in the country, adopting the Montessori approach.
Currently the pre-primary and primary schools are very much lacking in educational materials and teachers qualified in Montessori. As a result, many children have little or no education. There is no social support, and many children drop out of the education system entirely, as early as primary school. In the geographical area where KERE Kids is currently focused, at least 50% of the pre-school children are not attending school at all. The ones who do have a local school don’t have access to quality programs, with only very basic materials, text books and curriculum.
Due to the lack of opportunities in the rural villages, those who can afford to, send their children to city areas, to boarding schools. This affects the entire social structure of the villages, and the families who live there.
KERE Kids is introducing social initiatives, as well as educational opportunities to teach the whole child, and care for their educational, emotional and social needs. Every child has a right and should have access to a quality education, without needing to leave their family, and this is what KERE Kids aims to provide the children of Nepal.