Project Inception Meeting
Summary
On June 16th, the Nepal Association of the Welfare of the Blind (NAWB), with support from the Korea Disability People’s Development Institute (KODDI), organized a project inception meeting in Bargachi, Dharan Sub-Metropolitan City. The aim was to introduce the KODDI-funded project, “Promoting Quality Education to Visually Impaired Persons in Koshi Province”, to various stakeholders including government officials, school representatives, and social activists.
Chaired by Mr. Krishna Bahadur Karki (NAWB, Sunsari) and chief guest Mr. Damodar Phuyal (Acting Secretary, Ministry for Social Development, Koshi Province), the event featured discussions on project objectives, the importance of a 15-day Braille training for teachers, and the historical context of Braille education in Nepal.
Speakers including Mr. Pawan Ghimire (General Secretary, NAWB), Mr. Hom Nath Aryal (Lead Trainer), and Mr. Pramod Bhandari (Principal, Purwanchal Gyanchakchu High School) emphasized the need for tailored training to improve Braille literacy, especially in English and Mathematics. Government Representative from Dharan sub-metropolitan city, Ms. Uma Dahal and Mr. Phuyal committed to supporting the initiative and enhancing the academic environment for visually impaired children.
Key Outcomes:
• Commitments from authorities and stakeholders to support and coordinate project activities.
• Renewed focus on improving the education of blind and visually impaired (BVI) children.
• Increased visibility and strengthened relationships for NAWB with local schools and educational partners in Koshi Province.
On 16th, June, Nepal Association of the Welfare of the Blind organized a day long project inception meeting at Bargachi of Dharan sub-Metropolitan city with an aim to share the scope and objectives of the KODDI funded project called “promoting quality education to visually impaired persons in Koshi province” amongst the representatives from different Government to private sectors. In the meeting chaired by Mr. Krishna Bahadur Karki of NAWB, Sunsari branch and presided by acting Secretary of Ministry for Social Development, Koshi province, Mr. Damodar Phuyal, Chairpersons and principal of 5 integrated schools [Purbanchal, Sikhar, Durga, Saraswoti and Kabir High School], section officer of Social Development department of Dharan Sub-Metropolitan city -Ms. Uma Dahal, Social activist-Ms. Sarala Kayasta, school teachers,
General-Secretary of NAWB- Mr. Pawan Ghimire and representatives of different stakeholders had made their gracious presence. While making an opening remarks, Pawan Ghimire- the General Secretary of NAWB highlighted the types of activities to be conducted at integrated schools of Koshi province. The lead trainer Mr. Homnath Aryal shed light on the importance of 15 -days long Braille training to the resource and visually impaired teachers teaching visually impaired children, while Mr. Madav Aryal who had served as the program director two decades back, briefed the history of NAWB and start of Braille education in Nepal. Similarly. Mr Pramod Bhandari – the principal of Purwanchal Gyanchakchu high School- the Nepal’s only special school for the visually impaired children made a presentation on the challenges faced by visually
impaired children and the expectation of school for the promotion of quality education. He heart fully thanked NAWB for introducing the fifteen – day’s long teachers training targeting teachers at integrated schools at Koshi province. He opined that in a context when Government has not able to pay heed on the need do of tailored training to teachers that could enhance braille reading and writing efficiency of visually impaired children, this sort of training would be life changing one to scale up the status of education of visually impaired children . In addition, Ms. Uma Dahal, made a commitment to support integrated schools to uplift their performance.
Addressing the meeting, Mr. Damodar Phuyal -the chief Guest of the ceremony opined the need of tailored training for math and English in braille to enhance academic excellence of the visually impaired children. He further said, math seems to be difficult because it is presented it in such a way. The most of the countries of the world are adopting wrong techniques in teaching mathematic and in such a scenario, it is obvious for visually impaired children to learn
mathematic. He thanked both NAWB and its branch at Dharan for paying its eyes where Government had not been able to pay its attention. He also made a commitment to collaborate with NAWB to implement the project successfully. The inception meeting ended up with the closing remarks from Krishna Bahadur Karki who thanked all for their wonderful presence, coordination and collaboration to make this program successful and he expected similar cooperation while conducting project activities in their areas.
The outcomes of the meetings are;
– Commitments received from concerned authorities to coordinate to make the project successful;
– Stakeholders made Commitments to improve education of BVI children.
-NAWB and its branch got visibility of its work and build a new relationship with schools and other stakeholders working to promote quality education to BVI children at Koshi province.
