A decade of Sakura Dormitory Pokhara

First of all, we’d like to announce that our 10^th Anniversary of Sakura Dormitory was officially verified by our Foreign Ministry of Japan as one of their important events held in this commemorative year of 2016 for the 60^th Anniversary of the Diplomatic Relation tied between Japan and Nepal. Taking this pleasant opportunity, we would refer to the brief history of ‘Sakura Dormitory’, which was established in Pokhara in August 2006 by Japan Nepal Female Education Association (JNFEA) in cooperation with Kanya Campus Pokhara (KCP). Since then, we have invited 10 SLC- qualified girls every year to Sakura Dormitory. We are much pleased as we have accomplished, in 2015, our final goal initially set of 100 Sakura boarders nurtured in 10-year period!!

Every year in these 10-year period, we have selected SLC qualified girls mostly from the poor girls education region in Remote Areas, say, Mid-Western and Far-Western Development Regions, where we have seen less- girls to go to the school. There has been existed a lot of primary school without female teachers working in these mountainous villages.

The invited girls will lead a boarding life in Sakura Dormitory for two years, during which they will study at the Education Course of KCP (in 10+2), during which they will challenge to take profound knowledge and method of education in order to teach the primary school kids back in their home villages.

We’d draw your further attention that we have exchanged with the boarders the 3-year contract after 2-year boarding life, under which the scholarship is authorized to them during 2-year studying at KCP, and not any expenses are burdened by them such as Campus fee, food supply, medical fee, transportation fee (for returning home during holiday) and even furnished with small pocket money for free use. We never ask their parents to send money to their daughters in the view point of fair and equal life.

Furthermore under the above contract, JNFEA will bear the teachers’ allowance for their first three years after graduation from the Dormitory. The reason why we guarantee their three year allowance is that the Government or the community in cases cann’t affords to hire them as official teachers, though they are very popular among themselves, but not immediately after graduation from Sakura Dormitory.

As you will see from the mention above, we have seen so far 90 female boarders graduated from Sakura Dormitory. They have eagerly engaged in teaching at primary schools in their home villages, with some working at other higher educational organizations, and some other studying educational administration or higher teaching skills at University.

We are encouraged buy the senor graduates with the fact that the schoolgirls are increased in number more than before, when there were almost not female teachers and therefore few girls came appeared to school.

Not only mentioned above, but occasionally we have a Home Visit Campaign for visiting all Sakura graduates at their works. We send our specialists from Japan to meet them mostly working in Nepal Remote Areas. We will never leave them alone. We’ll share the time with them, hearing of their hope or opinion under the severely monotonous circumstances in which they are working alone all day long, as if but in reality, an only single female teacher from Sakura Dormitory. JNFEA will give them proper advices and help them realize their wishes.

Furthermore, the Follow-up Seminar has been taken place at Sakura Dormitory once every year since it was opened in 2006, calling all the graduates scattered all over Nepal back to attend it. Happy but noisy encounter with the old or young graduates, some accompanied with babies, gathered at one place.

JNFEA will also bear the costs for this Follow-up Seminar, too. The money will cost us quite big as the participants are increased year by year, as we have to supply food and accommodation as well as their transportation by bus or even by the small aircraft flying beyond the high mountains. In this way, they can exchange their own experience each other for their interest at Sakura Dormitory, and bring back home to stock the new and specific education technology supplied by our specialists staff from Japan as well as KCP staff at sit, every time every year.

JNFEA has also sent the experts occasionally from Japan for aesthetic cultivation at school, such as music (incl. music instruments), painting or physical and/or expressiveness education, those of which are lack in Nepal. Our specialists have shown up for teacher-trainee or physical exercise, group or mass-play, and/or tool-using and easy enjoyable learning method, incl, Panel teacher which they are already used to handle. In addition, we feel school operation and/or administrative school-control is necessary here in Nepal. We appreciate the female teachers graduated from Sakura Dormitory have shown their great concern to acquire those senses as said above.

Finally, we would like to thank you for your valuable presence at Hotel Pokhara Grande on 19 Oct 2016. And we thank you for your continuous support to our future educational activities for the benefit of Nepal kids.