Overview

The main objective of STEAM Education Nepal is to give students enrolled in grades 6 access to STEAM education in Nepali CG schools, with a focus on young girls from low-income families.

The Challenge seeks to reduce the gender educational gap and prepare young girls for the difficulties of a fast-changing society by providing them access to fields that are thought to be largely male-oriented.

The project's long-term objective is to provide equitable access to STEAM education to a more significant number of CG schools, including those in more remote areas of Nepal.

The project also aims to build up schools’ resilience by providing them with the knowledge and skills to modify the kit and create their STEAM education activities and toolkits.

What is STEAM? And what is Its importance?

STEAM Education is an approach to teaching and learning that combines science, technology, engineering, the arts, and math to guide student inquiry, discussion, and problem-solving.

STEAM learning can foster greater interest in STEM disciplines, especially among adolescent girls which tend to lose interest in STEM. Including the Arts (visual and movement arts, crafts culture, music, social science and literature) into STEM teaching, incorporating the benefits of scientific creativity and artistic creativity.

Sense of belonging in learning (SoBL)

A sense of belonging in learning (SoBL) refers to the emotional and psychological experience of feeling accepted, respected, and valued within an educational environment.

A strong SoBL can give a student the confidence to ask for help, seek resources, and feel that they are working toward success.

STEAM pedagogy can support students' SoBL through constructive learning, real life problem solving, creative activities, and creating projects pertaining own identity.

Culturally Responsive Activities

Culturally responsive teaching means using students’ customs, characteristics, experience, and perspectives as tools for better classroom instruction.

In designing culturally relevant activities, we focus on using local knowledge that may help students understand complex topics or issues more easily. We use familiar contexts, notions and experiences that may help make sense of new things and retain new knowledge.

Students’ culture and lived experiences that influence how they understand and make sense of the world or themselves are an integral part of who they are as learners.

Overall Outcome and Impact

The overall impact of the Challenge is to foster gender equality in the Nepalese education system by providing female students from low-income families access to disciplines that are typically considered male-based, especially in traditional societies, giving them opportunities to make informed choices.

STEAM education is also seen in this context as an innovative tool to promote critical and creative thinking and problem solving, whatever pathway the students may choose.

An essential outcome of the Challenge is also providing CG school teachers with the knowledge and tools to be agents of change without the need to constantly rely on external institutions or local education authorities, promoting in this way a bottom-up approach to education and social change.

Scaling up the Challenge through bidding for external funding will increase the project’s impact by reaching a larger number of students including remote and rural areas.