Kathmandu World School is the pioneer institution in terms of disseminating progressive education in Nepal which has been imparting world class education. In your view, what are the requisites of globally competitive quality education that are basic privileges for the students at your school?
It is obvious that Kathmandu World School has a peerless identity in the academic sphere of Nepal. The appealing features, such as ultra-modern physical infrastructure, faculty of qualified teachers, a range of cocurricular activities and relevant teaching approaches are the basic privileges for the students at Kathmandu World School. These satisfying benchmarks have retained the flagship of the school as one of the top-notch learning centers in the Kathmandu valley.
We enable our students to be familiar with what is happening in the world and ubiquitous diversity accommodated by the global society, which prepares them to be adaptable to any situations in any swathes. Similarly, we have introduced IPC (International Primary Curriculum) to our students so that they become familiar with existing festivals and ways of celebrating them, cultural diversity and ways of living. Thus, a strong academic foundation, knowledge of global issues and ICT are the bases for globally competitive students.
A series of discussions are held on the importance of progressive education in Nepal which is the need of the 21st century, but the majority of public have no idea about this concept. In your words, what is progressive education? Progressive education is the holistic approach to evaluate the progress of the students. It is a continuous assessment-based evaluation system for overall performance of students. In other words, it is an activity-based continuous learning and studentcentered education where the importance is given to the learners’ multiple capabilities and unique aptitude. So, leaners are at the center and given all sorts of help to ensure their appealing careers.
Progressive education is considered relatively expensive over general education. What is your opinion about it?
Progressive education basically focuses on four Cs, namely Collaboration, Critical Thinking, Computing and Communication. Collaboration is a must in team building at home, at school and in society. Critical thinking helps an individual to develop logical power whereas Computing is for technical expertise and Communication skill is required for the students to become articulate in delivering speeches and expressing their ideas. In this regard, progressive education is relatively expensive over general education since it needs lots of learning materials, and teachers should be trained accordingly. Qualified teachers, adequate learning materials and financially strong parents can make progressive education flourish.
At present, the education equipped with skills, culture and technology is considered essential as per ubiquitous requisites. Do you think all the schools have the capacity to implement this type of education?
Most private schools are moving ahead with this concept; however, it’s challenging for its implementation in every school since progressive education requires spacious classrooms, cutting-edge infrastructures and additional stationery expenses, which is really burdensome for some schools and even for some parents.
In the context of Kathmandu World School, we have adopted different techniques to deliver progressive education. In order for proper implementation of progressive education, sufficient resources including qualified teaching team and physical infrastructure are indispensable. In other words, individual care and adroit and trained teachers are mandatory for continuous assessments, which are comparatively costly. So, it is a real challenge for every school to manage all these requisites.
You have just said that trained and skilled human resources are needed for implementing progressive education. How have you managed to recruit such skilled and trained teachers in your school?
We have recruited qualified teachers who have already been tested in national and international settings. In addition, we provide our teachers essential training to sharpen their preexisting finesse. In this regard, our contributions are remarkable in term of preparing skilled human resources ourselves.
You have closely worked with the local government. What kind of support have you got from the local government in terms of monitoring and evaluation?
What should be the role of the local government for further improvement? Kathmandu World School has received satisfying support from the local government till the date. And there is a reciprocal relationship between the school and the local government. We have adopted Bhairav School (a government school) as a sister organization which is located adjacent to our school, and we are working on training the teachers at Bhairav School with a range of training events.
Similarly, KWS pledges 10 % scholarships to bona fide and underprivileged students, which is a government policy. Additionally, we deposit cash in the account of the local government equal to 5% of scholarship which is utilized for scholarship privileges for the students of Bhaktapur district, and our contributions to social sector as our social responsibility is an ongoing process on the recommendation of the local government. There is good support for monitoring and evaluation from the local government.
Finally, what message would you like to convey to the parents as the Principal of Kathmandu World School?
Kathmandu World School is in the forefront of progressive education campaign that should be spread throughout the country. Our priority adheres to the provision of each child’s holistic development. It is crucial to have a good camaraderie between the parents and the school in order to ensure satisfying academic progress and career development of students. So, I request our parents to maintain the same relationship with the school in the days to come.
