PROJECT DESCRIPTION:

In 1995 community members and local teachers from four villages (Khasauli, Kusum, Bhairabstan, and Deurali) came together and formed the Bhawaani Bhairab Aadarsha Higher Secondary School Management Committee. Its main goal was to open a Higher Secondary School in this rural area of Palpa District, which would primarily give poor and female students a chance to continue their studies in inexpensive, high quality higher education (grades 11 and 12) and would keep the villages' money and higher educated members in the local area.

The 400,000 Nepali Rupees (NPR) deposit necessary to receive government permission to register the school was contributed in May 1995 by Khasauli, Kusum Khola, and Deurali. Bhairabstan Village Development Committee (VDC - a town government) gave some money for teachers' salaries in other years. Having contemplated the area's rural development, they registered this Education Higher Sec. Sch. to meet their goal of producing local teachers and making an integrated, enlightened community. Receiving permission, class 11's teaching began on August 22, 1995 in a borrowed field and in borrowed rooms of a local mud-timber house and school.

The qualified teachers from the neighboring Secondary Schools came to Khasauli's centrally-located Saraswoti Lower Secondary School and volunteered to begin teaching though they received just a little pay from locally contributed funds. At first there were 22 students. While the school operated in the mornings for three years, some students who had to come from far away (two hours walking each way) could not make it to school. Also, the teachers had a heavy load teaching classes and taking care of all of the administrative concerns in the mornings then walking to other schools and teaching a full day in the afternoons. Realizing this hardship, the Management Committee asked Khasauli Village Development Committee (VDC) to temporarily donate its recently built village building to the school in order to move the classes to a daytime schedule and thereby help the students and teachers. By agreement, the Management Committee delegated responsibility for school facilities to the VDC, and the VDC prepared temporary classrooms, renting another building for village management. From 1998, the teachers are fulltime at the Higher Sec. Sch. teaching daytime classes.

As of 1999 the teachers salaries were being paid by a mix of Khasauli VDC funds, student fees, and interest from the initial registration deposit, but this mix was not quite enough. (Khasauli VDC sold an old iron rice silo to pay teachers' back pay.) The school's students' high pass rate on examinations has led to more parents believing that the school has good teaching, to students saying that it's better to study here than in the city, and to not only financially poor students but students from well-off families deciding to enroll at this school. In Khasauli VDC alone a recent survey by the school's students shows that more than 100 qualified students have stopped going to school after class 10 without continuing on to grade 11. Likewise, Kusum Khola, Bhairabstan, and Deurali have similar situations, and students also come from Timure, Palung Mainadi, and Khyaha villages. For those students that come from far away, the need for a dormitory can be seen. In the future this addition too will be planned, but to address the current absence of a good classroom facilities to accommodate the increasing numbers of students a new classroom large enough for 50 students was been built with funding and support from Khasauli VDC's annual budget, community contributions, volunteer labor, and Peace Corps Partnership Program cooperation. This is the project you are viewing.

When the planning of this new classroom was started in April 99, Khasauli VDC and the School Management Committee estimated that a room that could be sectioned into two 25 -student rooms would be adequate. However, this year grade 11 alone enrolled 40 students. Fitting half the students in old temporary classrooms is very difficult. There's not enough light, no place for a blackboard, etc. Due to this on-going situation fewer students were able to enroll. This loss of student numbers (real and potential) in turn led to fewer poor and female students continuing in school, the fees collected decreased, and the weight on the VDC increased. The villages' money once again went to the cities, local students were discouraged, and the community incurred a large loss.

To prevent this situation Khasauli VDC allocated NPR 75,000 from its 2000 annual budget to build two additional rooms. (Construction began January 3rd.) The local residents prepared to donate necessary materials (bamboo, wood) and volunteer labor, as they have also did to complete the one classroom just finished (the bottom classroom [first phase of the project]). Since there was also no room for an office/library/optional subjects classroom, one small utility room was also planned and built. If they could get the addition completed in 2000, the VDC would be able to apply to FINNIDA's (the Finnish government's aid organization) current program to have a drinking water and toilet water use tank built on the roof, including the feed pipe for which residents have committed to volunteering to dig the trench (You see the water tank on the far end of the building in the picture. It was indeed built and connected - the first running water in the area and first sink).

To build the two classrooms and encourage the increasing participation in local higher education Khasauli's NPR 75,000, community donations, and volunteer labor did not suffice in time for the next year's admissions. Khasauli VDC requested and received NPR 196,251 from USAID's SPA Grant Program to purchase needed materials to complete the rooms.

The text below comes from the SPA grant application and provides further background on the project.

B. STATEMENT OF NEED

• Background Information Education Reforms & ‘10+2s’

To understand how Bhawaani Bhairab Aadarsha Higher Secondary School has developed, some background on recent educational reforms is necessary. Education reforms followed the return of democratic government to Nepal in 1990, but like the change in government, the reforms faced many transitional problems and setbacks. Particularly, one reform encourages and allows local communities to set up their own Higher Secondary Schools, called ‘colleges’ by villagers. These ‘colleges’ occupy the 11th and 12th years of public education, thus another nickname ‘10+2’. They focus on training students for specific fields, such as education, management, science, humanities, etc. A student graduated from an Education 10+2 may then go and teach primary school. Thus, the shortage of trained teachers may be met with local teachers interested in their communities.

One other key to the 10+2s is their location. Whereas the only former 11th and 12th year schools were in the cities, 10+2s may be located wherever there is a supportive community. As a result, fees are generally very low. For example, Bhawaani Bhairab Aadarsha charges 11th graders only 150 Nepali Rupees (NPR)/ month ($2.20). Thus, lower-caste and poor students who previously could not attend school due to lack of means, may now attend. Also, females who were academically gifted but kept close to home for cultural reasons may now walk the round trip to school daily, allowing them to pursue higher education. Bhawaani Bhairab Aadarsha's student population is more than 70% female.

Bhawaani Bhairab Aadarsha Education 10+2 Established

In this climate of reform, four villages of central Nepal took a risk and raised 400,000 NPR ($5,882) as a security deposit to establish Bhawaani Bhairab Aadarsha Higher Secondary School in 1994. Those villages, Khasauli, Kusum Khola, Bhairabstan, and Deurali, set a precedent. In a land of caste, political, and ethnic divisions, they put together a multi-caste, multi-ethnic, multi-party Management Committee to create and improve the school. They decided to found an education 10+2 in order to meet the local need for trained teachers. Khasauli was chosen as a central location for the school, and the three names came one each from the other villages, respectively. (see attached map) Browsing a list of Higher Secondary Schools around Nepal shows that none other is based on such a coalition. The success of Bhawaani Bhairab Aadarsha relies on and celebrates this inherent cooperation. Realizing this asset, the Management Committee has, from the start, provided full scholarships to gifted lower-caste and poor students, funded from Khasauli Village Development Committee's (VDC) annual budget.

The school’s student body began small and varied. Of the initial 22 students, 17 were female, some came from each village, and five castes were represented. Classes were taught in the mornings from 6am to 10am at Khasauli's centrally located Saraswoti Lower Secondary School before its classes began. Some teachers and students who walk for up to two hours to get to school would get up at 3:30am to be there every day. Unlike other schools with poor attendance rates, Bhawaani Bhairab Aadarsha’s students showed up consistently, even under such conditions. As attendance and teacher commitment facilitated students’ passing of the yearly examinations, the reputation of the school grew. In 1998, it moved to donated, temporary rooms in the Khasauli Village Hall (town hall) in order to operate classes from 10am-4pm. (PHOTO 1, map) Meanwhile, Khasauli VDC rented rooms in another building. At the same time, the Managing Committee appointed Khasauli VDC in-charge of the school facilities.

Growth, Success, and Community Benefits

While the variety has maintained the same, the number of students has more than doubled, and according to a recent survey by the school's students, more than 100 qualified but currently out of school students could potentially be motivated to enroll in Bhawaani Bhairab Aadarsha. (see addendum) Considering that Deurali, Bhairabstan, and Kusum Khola have similar situations, more than 400 local students are dropping out of school without proceeding to class 11. Further, Bhawaani Bhairab Aadarsha also enrolls students from Timure, Palung Mainadi, and Khyaha villages. Currently, there are 70 students registered for the 1999-00 school year in grades 11 and 12. The borrowed rooms in town hall that were stretched for classes of 28 and 9 students last year are more cramped. Students have less than two square feet of bench and desk space each. (PHOTO 1) This month a new classroom will be opened for class 12 students after winter break. Originally, this room was to be divided into two sections to fit the whole school's needs, but with the increased numbers, sectioning will not be possible. The government continues to suggest that it might help fund the 10+2 schools, but funds are nowhere to be seen. The community makes do with villager contributions, credit for back salary to teachers, and allocations from each village’s development budget.

Nevertheless, the students have had tremendous success even compared to schools with much better facilities in the district center Tansen. This past year 42% of the students passed the examinations, the highest rate for any school in the district. Further, they are becoming trained primary school teachers who return to the community a wealth of benefits as local teachers. It is hard to judge how many people the school has directly benefited. During teacher training, students go into their villages in programs such as ‘Each One Teach One’ and tutor illiterate men and women. Graduated teachers have already taught more than 1,000 students in the four villages. The feeling that there is hope for further studies must also motivate many of the 2,300 secondary school students in the area. All of this combines into a feeling of community pride in creating and running a successful school. As a result, even parents with very little income have increasingly been deciding to support their children and pay their fees to attend Bhawaani Bhairab Aadarsha.

A New School Building in the Midst of Financial Struggles

The Management Committee is now looking to the future. Primarily with funds from its budget and a group of relatively wealthy villagers, Khasauli VDC donated land for a school building in 1997. It is hard to imagine that a town would give up to a third of its annual budget to a school over a period of five years, but such is the commitment of Khasauli VDC. Certainly, they have other projects to fund, but their priority is education. Even so, the joint funds of the four villages fail to meet the total on-going financial needs of the school. Teachers still work for a mix of cash and credit. There is a shortage of furniture and books and no place to put them even if money existed to acquire them. Thus, the Management Committee and Khasauli VDC are focusing on the most basic problem, adequate school space.

With 87,000 rupees ($1279) raised from the community for construction last year, a community questionnaire was conducted to gather opinions about how large and what type of building should be made. (see attached) A meeting was held inviting all of the participants, and the results guided the original classroom school’s design as a model for teaching. (PHOTO 4-5) The committee decided to try for a plan including a cement roof and glass, elements absent from any other local school. Their idea was to make an exemplary school for teacher training. (see article) The design also includes two doors and blackboards, allowing plenty of writing space and the ability to section the room if necessary. The final touches were being put on the new building as of January 5, 2000.

Khasauli VDC has the Capacity to Handle this Project

The budget included herein reflects the immediate NPR 75,000 ($1,103) allocated by Khasauli VDC and the NPR 22,444 ($330) in pledged donations from villagers. It also shows substantial contributions of volunteer labor and donated materials. Given the successfully received donations, volunteer labor, and donated materials used in constructing the original building this past fall, it is certain that the community will again willingly contribute to the current project.

What does not appear in the budget is the fact that Khasauli VDC has learned how to develop and manage the school construction plan itself, without relying on the District Development Committee or any other outside organization. One key action that Khasauli VDC and the School Managing Committee took was forming a volunteer committee of teachers, the headmaster, village leaders, and people living in the construction area to oversee the construction of the original building. (PHOTOs 7-8, 10) This committee was informed about the blueprint, specifications, timeline, etc. Throughout the construction process, the Volunteer Oversight Committee came and worked with the builders to ensure precision and efficiency. On various occasions, they spent time working with the builders to explain different techniques being used in the design and how they were necessary for a public building. The builders would then give feedback on local techniques and work out how to best proceed, meeting both needs.) Perhaps this understanding and teamwork led to the builders’ success in meeting the specifications with very little waste of either time or materials. For the proposed additions, the Oversight Committee is prepared to continue its vigilance.

Community volunteer efforts are also integral. Students and teachers aided in the leveling of the land and the unloading of materials, and during the roof construction, more than 70 volunteers came and worked from dawn to dusk hand mixing and carrying vats of concrete. (PHOTOs 2-3, 13-15) Additionally, local freight carriers provided timely transit for acquiring materials. In Photo 8, you can see a local truck bringing sand during the original building's construction. The availability of such local transit has been reliable and quick, especially helping to ensure that shortfalls of sand or gravel did not lead to delays.

Long Term Goals

Ultimately, Khasauli VDC and the School Management Committee want to collect community funds and build more furniture and install electricity in the new building. Any funds raised for construction but not used during the construction phase would be put toward these goals. The members of the Khasauli VDC and the Bhawaani Bhairab Aadarsha Higher Secondary School Management Committee now request $2848 in SPA assistance to complete construction of the addition to the school building. This construction requires the purchase of materials for the walls and roof, including iron rod, bricks, paint, and windows. The coming years will probably see the further room additions. There is already talk of a dormitory for students from distant towns, classrooms for additional grade 11 and 12 sections, and optional subject classrooms. These additions will be planned and implemented as local funds become available and needs become more acute.

When asked, the Management Committee Chairman and Khasauli VDC Chairman, a trained health worker, speaks of his deep motivation. Khasauli is his birthplace. He explains that long ago Khasauli was the home of Muri Mukunda Sen, the strongest of Nepali kings. He points out that it and the surrounding villages have a history of community spirit and supporting education shown through the proliferation of temples. He also notes that education leads to personal empowerment and happiness. Considering his, the students and teachers’, and the community’s dedication, it is certain that the whole community will use and take pride in this addition to the new school building. It will encourage the students, teachers, and villagers for years to come, and it will serve as the base for future growth and cooperation between the villages.

• Background Timeline

1995, June

Leaders and teachers from Khasauli, Kusum Khola, Bhairabstan, and Deurali villages meet and form the Bhawaani Bhairab Aadarsha Higher Secondary School Management Committee with members from each village. They collect and deposit the 400,000 Nepali rupees (NPR) ($5882) necessary to receive permission to run the school, and they decide to open an education stream school to train local teachers and further local development. Classes are held in the morning from 6am to 10am at Khasauli's Saraswoti Lower Secondary School, the central point amongst the villages (see map). Each town lends qualified teachers, who receive only partial salaries to commute to and from the school before their normal teaching duties each day.

1996, January

The Khasauli Village Development Committee (VDC) allocates its first NPR 150,000 ($2206) toward land for the school.

1998, August-September

In order to deal with increased numbers of students and a heavy burden on teachers of administrative duties and teaching at other schools in the afternoons, it is agreed that the School Management Committee will focus on administrative and academic issues while Khasauli VDC will be charged with overseeing the school facilities and maintenance. New Peace Corps Volunteer, Mr. Thomas, arrives. Land is already purchased. Mr. Thomas teaches in an open field. (field shown in PHOTOs 6, 8) Mr. Thomas talks with Mr. Khanal, Khasauli VDC Chairman and School Management Committee Chairman, and Mr. Acharya, School Principal, about their on-going school building project. The school moves into rooms at the Khasauli VDC office. (PHOTO 1)

1998, October-November

Students and teachers volunteer every Friday for four hours to improve their temporary school: bamboo toilet built, paths cleared, stairs and a volleyball court made. Mr. Thomas provides the plan and trains a student leader for each effort. (PHOTO 2-3)

1999, February

An engineer in the district center delivers a blueprint costing NPR 5,887,411 ($85,294) for four classrooms. His plan does not even fit on the school’s land.

1999, March

Mr. Khanal and Mr. Acharya agree that the plan is impossible, and with Mr. Thomas and students’ help a questionnaire of village leaders, teachers, students, and villagers is conducted. (see attached)

1999, May

A meeting is held to review the questionnaire responses. (PHOTO 4-5) There is unanimous agreement about the need for a building. During the meeting, Mr. Thomas summarizes advice on a poster paper at the front and sketches a design for the school, and participants go outside and measure the land. Later, Mr. Khanal, Mr. Prem B. K., a local builder, and Mr. Thomas make an estimate using local prices and a blueprint based on the sketch.

1999, June

Mr. Thomas prepares a computerized blueprint for the school with the help of a Peace Corps Engineering Volunteer and local engineers and builders. Mr. Khanal sends the blueprint to the District Development Committee (DDC) for an official estimate.

1999, August

The DDC returns an estimate for a different building. Mr. Thomas carries the blueprint back to the DDC and gets another estimate. The estimate has many mathematical errors and fails to separate either labor/materials or stage 1/stage 2 per the School Management Committee’s request. The DDC estimation base prices are two years old including material transit only to the district center.

1999, September

Bhawaani Bhairab Aadarsha celebrates its fifth anniversary. Local leaders from all four villages and the DDC Chairman attend and speak. At the meeting, the school’s success with the best district pass rate on the yearly examinations is celebrated. (PHOTO 6) 70 students enroll, straining the facilities and teachers. Mr. Thomas and Mr. Khanal make a new estimate using the DDC estimate as a base and current village prices for a total of NPR 268,509 ($3948). Construction of the new room begins using local builders.

1999, October-December

Students volunteer again on Fridays to improve the school grounds, excavating paths, a badminton court, a volleyball court, and leveling and clearing the grounds of the construction site. (PHOTOs 13-15) Girl students doing community service work for a scholarship conduct a survey in Khasauli VDC showing a large dropout rate between the Secondary and Higher Secondary education levels in the town. (see addenda) The School Management Committee seeks improved facilities to aid the teachers and students from Khasauli VDC. Khasauli VDC allocates NPR 75,000 ($1103) from its annual budget to construct a school addition in the coming year. At the same meeting, the VDC affirms its resolution to support the school and provide local materials and volunteer materials to assist in the construction. (PHOTO 11-12) Using the previous questionnaire results and Management Committee input Mr. Thomas prepares a computerized blueprint for an addition to the school with the help of a Peace Corps Engineering Volunteer and local engineers and builders. Mr. Khanal sends the blueprint to the District Development Committee (DDC) for an official estimate.

2000, January

Construction completed on the first room. Opening ceremony is held. Classes move into the new building. As was the case in August, the DDC again returns an estimate with several calculation errors and that fails to separate either labor/materials or stage 1/stage 2 per Khasauli VDC’s request. (see addenda) Further, the DDC estimation base prices are still two years old not including all transit. Mr. Thomas and Mr. Khanal make a new estimate using the DDC estimate as a base and current village prices for a total of NPR 331,530 ($4,875). Construction of the Office/Library/Optional Subjects classroom begins with the foundation excavation on January 3rd .

• Description of the Need

Bhawaani Bhairab Aadarsha Higher Secondary School had been running for five years without a building. It could find a way to continue operating now in its one room and borrowed space, but a look at the changing conditions the school faces exposes a critical need for an additional classroom and small, utility room. According to a Khasauli village survey conducted by the school's students this past October, more than 700 qualified students in the seven-village (Khasauli, Kusum Khola, Bhairabstan, Deurali, Timure, Palung Mainadi, Khyaha) community served by this school have dropped out of school without continuing on to 11th grade. (see addendum) Now even the poor students are increasingly gathering the funds and coming to attend school. The potential is tremendous. Further, the school posted the best test results in the district this past year.

The teachers have built a certain amount of educational momentum, but its beginning to choke them. As the student numbers have increased, so has the burden of management work. With an adequate office and library room designated for the school's permanent use, this burden would be made negligible. The one new classroom will help, but teachers will still be in rooms without space for blackboards, very little light, a noisy tin roof, occasional displacement when the VDC has a program there, not enough width for two rows of benches, a low roof on which teachers hit their heads while teaching, etc.

Also, Khasauli VDC, having taken on the responsibility for developing the school's facilities, has temporarily given its building to the school, but this has led to them renting another building. That rent money is funding that the VDC would use to reduce the amount of credit that the teachers receive if a complete school building existed. Additionally, students currently not admitted due to space considerations could be adequately accommodated and the school would become more self-sustaining with the increase in fees paid. Further, the additional admitted students would gain the opportunity to study.

The potential and the momentum toward increased quality higher education are in place here now. The community has once again committed funding, materials and volunteer labor to build the school's facilities. The digging of the office/library/optional classroom foundation began on January 3rd. They will build the addition, piece by piece over several years, but with matching funds amounting to $2,886 from SPA, the community can complete this addition in time for student admissions this coming academic year and before a progression of rainy seasons corrupts the on-going work. With this building complete, they will be able to capitalize on the potential and momentum.

C. GOALS AND OBJECTIVES

Overall Goals

1. To improve overall living conditions in the seven-village community.
2. To encourage families to continue supporting education and sending their children to school.
3. To support the teachers in their effort to bring quality higher secondary education to this community.

This activity originates in the community's deep desire and willingness to act to improve its overall living conditions. Building this addition to Bhawaani Bhairab Aadarsha Higher Secondary School not only creates a stable, physical community asset adequate for current needs, but it also provides encouragement and motivation to students who would otherwise study in the cities or not be supported by their parents in studying at all. The students, coming from seven villages, learn to be teachers at this school. Whether they end up teaching or not, at this school they learn how to interact with and organize groups of people to work toward personal and communal goals. When they finish their studies, most go back to their villages to settle down. They return to their villages with their network of community friends met at the school and their knowledge, capable to help improve their own villages' living conditions. The Khasauli VDC and the School Management Committee have long-term plans, including adding a water tank, dormitory, and stores/offices that could be rented out to raise funds for teacher salaries. Given their past and present monetary and volunteer work to improve the school, it is certain that they will achieve these goals. With the completion of this addition to the current one room, 11th and 12th grades will each have a well-designed classroom and the teachers will have a place to manage the school, organize the library, and teach optional subject classes. The basic teaching needs will be fulfilled, easing the current load on the teachers and letting them focus more on teaching.

Objectives

1) Add an upstairs classroom, designed in accordance with community-identified needs to facilitate teaching, to the current building by late April '00.

2) Use volunteer community labor and local builders in the construction mentioned in objective one.

3) Have classes move into the room mentioned in objective one by late April '00.

4) Add an office/library/optional subjects classroom, designed in accordance with community-identified needs to facilitate management and teaching, to the current building by late April '00.

5) Use volunteer community labor and local builders in the construction mentioned in objective four.

6) Have teachers, the library, and optional classes move into the room mentioned in objective four by late April '00.

Beneficiaries and how they will benefit

Students adequate place to study, ideas on how to improve schools in their own villages Teachers space for organization and library use, adequate space to teach (light, quiet, ventilated, big blackboard, etc.), pride in having a successful school, ability to admit more students Parents nearby, inexpensive, quality higher secondary school to send children Villagers educated community members, school programs like "each one, teach one" (literacy training), etc. , spirit (optimism that investment in education pays off), keeps village educational money and 10+2 educated people in the village, pride in having a successful school

D. ACTION PLAN

Tasks and Persons Responsible

• Materials Purchasing - Mr. Bishnu Khanal will be responsible for purchasing and quality and quantity oversight.
• Materials Storage- Mr. Prem B. K., Chief Builder, will be responsible for storing materials and locking the storage room
• Labor - Mr. Bishnu Khanal will be responsible for keeping a log of labor performed and rates of payment with the help of the Volunteer Oversight Committee members. Mr. Prem B. K. will be responsible for daily attendance by laborers and attaining work goals.
• In-Kind Wood & Bamboo - Mr. Gyaneshwor Nepal, Khasauli Ward 6 Chairman, will be responsible for acquiring one tree from his ward's community forest committee. Mr. Bishnu Aryal, Khasauli Ward 8 Chairman, will be responsible for acquiring one tree from his ward's community forest committee. Both will be responsible for bamboo as it is needed.
• In-Kind Labor - The Volunteer Oversight Committee, headed by Mr. Khanal and Mr. Hira Dhar Acharya will be responsible for informing villagers about needs and motivating them to come to the site and volunteer.
• Monitoring and Evaluation- see section F.

Materials and Timing

On the following page, please find the Construction Timetable Showing Necessary Materials. It specifies when materials will be required. In the case of certain materials, such as sand and gravel, the quantity ordered at any given time is quite large. Thus, such materials will be purchased in complete units (i.e. trucks, etc.) and additional units will be purchased as the prior unit is exhausted. Large loads of materials, such as sand, rock, gravel, etc. will be stored on the VDC land directly adjacent to the construction site. More expensive materials, such as iron, wood, tools, etc. will be stored in a locked room in the VDC building directly adjacent to the construction site.

Local freight carriers, Mr. Arjun Khadka, Mr. Junga Bahadur Khadka, and Mr. Mahendra Dhangal (four trucks total) will be engaged to carry the materials. Their timely work and constant availability during the construction of the original building ensures that materials will be brought when needed. As for the iron work in the windows, the supplier has been changed to a local iron factory in Harthok bazaar, and the rate should be a bit cheaper than that of the original building.

The construction has already begun as of January 3rd , using the Khasauli VDC funds. Pending approval, SPA funding should arrive by late January or early February. This will allow the work to continue without any halt. In case the SPA funding does not materialize, by the time local funding is exhausted the construction is scheduled such that it will be at a point where it can safely be paused for a year until further local funding becomes available.

• Construction Timetable Showing Necessary Materials Date Office/Library 2nd Floor Classroom Rock (truck) Cement (truck) Sand (truck) Gravel (truck) Iron (kg) Brick (truck) Window (piece) Door (piece) Cement Paint (kg) BB Paint (liter) Wood (tree) Bamboo (piece) Jan. 12 Excavate foundation 82 Pillar soling iron work

Jan. 24 Pour pillar solings Pillar iron work & form 2 0.1 0.1 240 1 4 df3 !) lkn/ ;f]ln¨ l;d]G6 lkn/ 58 / ûf]d{

Jan. 31 Foundation stone masonry Pour pillar cement 4 10 0.2 0.4

Feb. 12 Ground level beam (DPC) iron work

Feb. 14 Pour DPC cement & Floor soling 1 8 0.1 0.3

Feb. 15 Brickwork (Order windows & doors) 14 2.0 1.4 6 2

Feb. 22 Pillar iron work 8

Feb. 24 Pour pillars (Order windows & doors) 4 2

Mar. 1 Brickwork 3 0.4 0.6 12

Mar. 8 Finish walls Finish walls

Mar. 9 Iron work for roof beams Iron work for roof beams 185 5

Mar. 12 Form roof beams Form roof beams 1 10

Mar. 15 Pour roof beams 8.5 0.2 0.3

Mar. 17 Pour roof beams 8 0.1 0.3

Mar. 18 Cut iron for roof slab 276

Mar. 20 Cut iron for roof slab 386

Mar. 23 Form iron for roof slab

Mar. 25 Pour roof slab cement 29 0.5 1.0

Mar. 28 Form iron for roof slab 10

Mar. 30 Pour roof slab cement 58 1.0 2.1

Apr. 3 Dig and cement drainage ditch 1 6.5 0.1 0.2

Apr. 5 Railing iron & form & Plaster & Floor cement 15 0.9 0.4

Apr. 7 Pour railing cement & Blackboard 8 0.1 0.3 29

Apr. 8 Plastering & Teaching platform 1 17 2.0 0.1

Apr. 10 Paint & Blackboard Paint 22.5 2.5

Apr. 14 Paint & Blackboard Paint 45 5

Apr. 15 Opening Ceremony Opening Ceremony

TOTAL Materials 7 187 7.8 5.5 1275 1.9 10 4 67.5 7.5 2 49

E. BUDGET

The quantities above have been estimated using the District Development Committee's estimate as a base and modifying where errors or variances were discovered. (see addenda) The prices herein are the same as or below the retail costs of materials purchased in Khasauli VDC's Harthok bazaar. These savings have been ensured by bulk ordering from the Terai. The prices are certainly current as each has just been verified through purchases to build the original building. No recurring costs are expected to be initiated due to this addition's construction.

F. MONITORING AND EVALUATION

Monitoring

Monitoring will mirror that of the original building's construction. The same Volunteer Oversight Committee will be informed about the current plan: schedule, blueprint, specifications, etc. and will be present most days at the construction site overseeing the physical progress and attendance of the builders. The builders will also have (have already had) a one-day briefing on the schedule, blueprint, specifications, etc. of the two addition rooms. They also have copies of the blueprints translated into Nepali. The chief builder, Mr. Prem B. K. will be responsible for primary oversight of the paid laborers and the meeting of specific work goals and specifications on a daily basis at the site. He will also monitor the consumption and storage of materials and tools in addition to the Volunteer Oversight Committee. In case of a lack of materials at the site, he will communicate with Mr. Khanal for ordering.

All financial transactions will go directly through Mr. Bishnu Khanal, and Mr. Khanal will require specific receipts for each detailing items, quantities, rates, etc. Mr. Khanal and Mr. Thomas will meet when needed, at least four times each month, to update the expenditures ledger and compare it to the original budget and estimate. The Khasauli VDC will be updated on the construction's progress at its meeting on the 15th of every Nepali month. They will provide additional monitoring of the use of the town funds and receipt of donations and volunteer labor from villagers.

On behalf of the Khasauli VDC, Mr. Bishnu Khanal, Chairman, will be responsible for monitoring the construction's overall financial adherence to the budget and timely progress. Mr. Dominic Thomas, PCV, will aid Mr. Khanal in monitoring, particularly with the expenditures and accounting.

Evaluation: Indicators to gauge impact

The three indicators below are designed to gauge not only whether the lack of facilities is filled (Indicator 1) but also whether the new facilities are both adequate and in accordance with the community's needs (Indicator 2). Indicator 3 goes on to gauge whether the potential and momentum mentioned in the Statement of Need have been fostered, unaffected, or damaged.

Indicators

1) Presence or absence of classes and an arranged library in the new rooms by late April 2000.

2) Student, Teacher, and Villager Questionnaire similar to one conducted in March 1999 (see addenda) but focusing on whether the new facilities meet the needs identified in the aforementioned questionnaire. This questionnaire will be completed by early May 2000.

3) Presence or absence of an increase in the number of students applying for admission in July 2000.

On behalf of the School Management Committee, Mr. Hira Dhar Acharya, School Principal, will be responsible for using the indicators to evaluate and report on the construction's impact. Mr. Thomas will aid him, particularly in the implementation of the questionnaire.

On-Going Impact Beyond the Implementation Period

Though the school will be complete in late April, its life should extend to more than 20 years. In the foreseeable future, 10+2 education will keep expanding. The Nepali government wants its education system to mirror 12-year systems around the planet. That said, it is certain that the building will continue to be used. It will also provide a base for any necessary future expansions since up to four more classrooms can be joined onto the building from the north wall. Having completed the upper classroom now, the villagers will know how to successfully plan and implement further work, and students going back to their villages to be teachers will take with them the experience of learning in a well-designed facility. With that experience, they might further improve their local schools.

G. ADDENDA

The addenda an the process of being digitized and uploaded. Using my low-quality, old digital camera, such work is proving quite difficult, especially for hand-written documents. -Dominic

TABLE OF CONTENTS FOR ADDENDA:

1. Map of involved villages
2. Photos
3. Land registration certificates
4. Student, Teacher, and Villager Questionnaire samples
5. Construction estimate from DDC
6. Construction estimate from Khasauli VDC
7. 'exemplary school' news clipping
8. Construction blueprint
9. Khasauli VDC Survey samples
10. Letter of support from Khasauli Village Development Committee
11. Letter of support from the School Management Committee
12. Letter of support concerning money management
13. Work agreement with builders concerning timeline
14. List of Volunteer Oversight Committee members
15. List of community members who have pledged funds for the school construction
16. Student, Teacher, and Villager Questionnaire samples The following questionnaires were designed by the students and teachers and given to village leaders teachers students, and villagers in March 1999. A translation of the questions and four sample questionnaires follow. QUESTIONS: 1) Do you feel it necessary to build a Higher Secondary School building? If so, why? 2) How can this thought of building a school become a reality? 3) Is the current school adequately organized? 4) How is the current school being operated? 5) What is needed in a classroom in order to teach? 6) What sort of classroom would be good? Why? 7) What is available already for building a new building? What is needed? 8) Would you help with a plan to build a new building? 9) When could the construction be started and completed? 10) Would the building be safe from damage once built? The results of the questionnaire yielded a full picture for building the original one room. Students and teachers wanted windows, good blackboards, and a cement roof for light, easy writing, insulation, and a decrease in rainy season noise. Considering the situation at that time, villagers wanted at least 50 seats and a low cost. Some people wanted to start construction during the rainy season, but others pointed out that rainy season would be impossible. By the conclusion of the meeting to review the results a plan was made and a consensus reached. (PHOTOs 4-5) For the Addition, this questionnaire once again sheds light on the community's needs. The decision to accommodate 50 relied on the number of students then enrolled. The cost estimate then worked with the available funding from Khasauli VDC, the Higher Secondary Education Board, and community donations. Several participants with an eye to the future also insisted that any construction planned be arranged on the land and designed such that additions could be added, piece by piece. Considering these responses, the Addition builds on the original construction, works with the available funding from Khasauli VDC and local donations, and will accommodate both 11th and 12th grades in the coming year. The Utility room Addition for administration, library use, and optional subjects teaching will help the problem noted by more than 90% of the respondents that the school has trouble remaining organized. ix. Construction Blueprint I have included only one of the blueprints, as it occupies more than 100k, and uploading from Nepal is difficult and expensive.
17. Khasauli VDC Survey samples In October 1999 three girl students receiving scholarships to study at Bhawaani Bhairab Aadarsha conducted a village survey as their required community service project. They walked from house to house asking questions and filling out a chart for each ward of Khasauli village. A summary of the collected data appears below and sample survey charts follow. Allowing for the 18 students currently in 11th and 12th grades in Bhawaani Bhairab Aadarsha from Khasauli and another 9 at other Higher Secondary schools in the cities, roughly 100 students who have passed the SLC are not currently in programs. It may also be true that these figures have been over estimated. Even if a 50% over estimation had taken place 50 additional students would be left out of continuing their studies. Considering the situation is probably similar in the other six villages served by Bhawaani Bhairab Aadarsha, conservatively allowing for older students and those who pursued nursing or other options, 350 potential 11th graders' studies could eventually be facilitated by the school addition along. Note on the data: Though the girls were from other villages, there is reason to believe that the reported data on income is very inaccurate due to various factors (e.g. not wanting the government to be able to tax all income, not knowing how to calculate income, etc.). Nevertheless, data on persons per house and discrete levels of educational certification received are likely to be fairly accurate as these things are generally common knowledge in the community and educational levels achieved are points of pride. Thus the margin of error in reporting these figures was probably quite low.