TEACH FOR NEPAL ALUMNI SUPPORTING GIRLS TO UNLOCK THEIR POTENTIAL THROUGH STEM WORKSHOP

Globally, women are entering bachelor’s and master’s degree programs at the same levels as men, but the UNESCO Institute of Statistics finds that women are far less likely to pursue a career in STEM. UNESCO suggests that Women hold less than 30 percent of jobs in STEM, which encompasses the fastest-growing and highest-paying professional fields, particularly in low-and-middle income economies. To address this issue, Teach For Nepal alumni organized a three-day workshop named “Udeshya - Girls in STEM” for their Teach For All Global Girls Fellowship.

“The main aim of the workshop was to break the stereotype of people towards girls and to give girls exposure in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math”, says Teach For Nepal Alumna and workshop coordinator, Richa Neupane. “We wanted to ensure that girls from all backgrounds living in rural parts of Nepal have access to STEM education and to the dream of becoming an engineer, doctor or tech entrepreneur.”

The three-day program hosted students from 8 public schools where Teach For Nepal is working. Activities included building robots, using Microsoft Powerpoint and Word, how to search on Google and sending and receiving emails. The hands-on interactive workshop also lead a series of problem-solving activities. Students learned how creativity and ingenuity can be used in the classroom, and how knowledge of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) subjects can lead to rewarding engineering careers.

“Through ‘Udeshya - Girls in STEM’ workshop, girls were able to build confidence in themselves and know that their ideas are powerful and valuable,” says Teach For Nepal Alumna Shina Shrestha, one of the four organizers of the workshop. “It also provided exposure to girls, particularly underrepresented minorities to jobs in high-growth industries, advancing economic opportunities for girls, their families, and their communities.”

Through this workshop alone, Teach For Nepal Alumni reached 20 students from four districts in Nepal. During the workshop, Teach For Nepal Alumni guided students through an experiential STEM-based curriculum, where the students applied their own special skills, as well as math and science concepts they learned in school to solve real-life challenges.

“The girls learned to work in a group, learned values of life and were able to build confidence through the sessions,” said Teach For Nepal Alumna, Astha Khatri, Udeshya workshop organizer “Our goal was to empower girls to contribute their ideas in order to solve Nepal’s thorniest problems and we wanted to start by strengthening their foundations in STEM. When girls are equipped to change our nation, they will.”

The workshop was organized by Teach For Nepal Alumni as part of Teach For All Global Girls Fellowship - Astha Khatri (2016), Milan Kumar Sardar Tharu (2015), Shina Shrestha (2013) and Richa Neupane (2016). Ayush Bajracharya assisted "Udeshya - Girls in STEM" team with Social Media and photography.