When we settled in Boudha, we arranged for the kids to attend KEBS Academy. It is part of the co-operative that also has the Health Institute, and Stupa Community Hospital under the same board. It is a school, for ages 3 to 18 years, located behind the Health Institute where I teach on Fridays. We can take a short cut from our hostel to the school through the Stupa Square. On the way home from school, we have developed a habit of buying fresh Tibetan barley bread (the only bread we’ve found that is edible) and fried pretzels for snack. We walk home with a group of unattended school children. There is a batch of 23 ‘sponsor’ kids who live at a hostel past ours. They are orphans, most from villages in the valley, whose school fees are paid for by Europeans. This batch of kids is very impressive-I want to meet their hostel mother for parenting tips-one kid in Kai’s class is the class monitor, first in his class (this academic competition is constantly stressed), and he is so sweet. His English is impeccable, and he is great at soccer. There are many more ‘sponsor’ kids like him. Some live with their families and some live in orphanages.
The school uniform is-as in the photos-but Tuesday and Friday is white day. Yes, they have white uniforms. The impracticality of this doesn’t seem obvious when you see the kids line up in their clean, pressed uniforms for morning assembly. They line up, stand at attention, stand at ease, about face, callisthenics, morning prayer in English and Nepali, and the National Anthem. By noon however, everyone is covered with the dust kicked up from 2 simultaneous soccer games taking place.
‘Tiffin break’ is lunch. Kids bring their own lunch in these stacked metal tins with handles on the top, or they can eat at the canteen. There are noodles, samosas, fried cauliflower balls, soup, and fried chips called papul (I mistakenly called them japul-which means ‘slap’, the guy at the canteen graciously corrected me). The canteen is run by a family who live at the school-in the kitchen actually, and their kids attend the school.
Class time seems hectic at first. In class III (grade 3), one girl brings her 2 year old sister with her to class for the day, everyday-which doesn’t seem to distract the other kids. The noise level can be deafening with the rote learning method, rocking back and forth, repeating words and answers over and over again. And kids don’t put their hand up but a few shout out the answers as quickly as possible (the same kids over and over again) and the others remain quiet. I volunteered there for a few days while Kai and Aaryn were getting settled. The principal just handed over three full days of teaching to me as 3 teachers didn’t show up. If a teacher doesn’t show up, the kids play soccer or skipping for that period. It is easy to teach the class because they have workbooks and you just follow the exercises, plus Aaryn suggested “Simon says” which ended up being a new favourite. While there, I was able to observe some telling signs about the school. Memorization is the key to success for the younger kids, and really young children have exceptional handwriting-which is highly praised. Kids can also read anything but don’t know what it means. I also had comments from the children like “Ma’am! He Is Speaking Nepali! This Is Not Nepali Class! Beat Him!” Errr, I will not beat him, please sit down, thank you.
The library holds the textbooks that are needed for the older kids for special assignments and there are 5 English story books for loan for a reading level of grade 3 to 4. However, with the amount of homework assigned from the workbooks, there really is no time for free reading.
I was asked to teach conversation to the grade 5 to 10-and I felt like I couldn’t say no after so many of the staff made such an effort to make my kids feel at home. So one afternoon a week, I teach two periods. So far, we have talked about Canada, constitutional monarchy with Parliament versus a Republic, and the English Royal family during the time of Shakespeare. Next week, we are talking about Shakespeare’s play Romeo and Juilet. I was very impressed with their knowledge on so many subjects and developed a greater respect for all the rote learning that serves as a foundation for the kids as they get older.
And to answer the common question regarding the bathrooms. This school has water and one flush toilet and 4 squat toilets. Both my kids keep a stash of toilet paper with them. Regardless, Aaryn will have none of it and holds his iron-clad bladder until we get home.
