SAATHI TEACHERS PROGRAMME
“Primary must not be secondary”
The Saathi Teachers Programme is an educational initiative run by Helambu Education and Livelihood Partnership (HELP), a local NGO established in Nepal in early 2009. Prior to starting the Saathi Teachers Programme and in parallel to doing the school reconstruction, HELP was involved in helping selected schools in rural Sindhupalchowk district to provide teachers grants where there were inadequate teachers.
Towards the end of fulfilling HELP's commitment to the local communities by helping to reconstruct the schools destroyed by the 2015 earthquake, HELP asked itself what the next significant needs and gaps are. HELP realized that it would be unfair and incomplete to leave those beautiful classrooms built for children without thorough and dedicated support for quality education to sustain the achievement. Fixing the hardware was hard, but supporting the software would be even more complex. Hence, HELP brainstormed and envisioned a programme to support primary-level education where the gap was significant and the attention and resources needed to go into the primary level were negligible. It eventually gave birth to the "Saathi Teachers Programme” with sufficient evidence backed by national data and our own initial assessments.
The programme was founded on the belief that improving the quality of public schools requires a coordinated effort to change how teaching is delivered at the foundational level. This includes ensuring the availability of quality teachers and creating an environment where children can learn with care and support. To achieve this, Saathi teachers work closely with local school management committees and local teachers, combining their efforts to transform classrooms.
