SDG 4: Help All Children Access Education in Nepal

Dear Supporters,

The GVI Trust in conjunction with the local municipality is funding the building of a new childcare centre at Male Patan!

The Government Child Care Centre currently operates from a Community Hall.  Although work has been done to make it feel like a childcare centre, the reality is that the hall is also used for meetings and community gatherings making it difficult to get that real childcare centre environment.

For a Childcare centre, sharing the space with the community can be limiting.

The plan had always been that the Childcare would begin in the hall and then a purpose built centre would be established.  Many years later, the two staff and up to 30 children are still in the hall. However now, thanks to the GVI Trust, building is well underway.  

There was a basic structure of pillars and a roof to work from and it’s now close to being a functioning Childcare centre. The staff and children are looking forward to moving in.  

SDG 4 Quality Education has indicators relating to positive learning environments and the importance of education and development for children under the age of five. This centre will be established specifically with the developmental needs of the children in mind and once it is established, further funding can support resources and structures such as outdoor play equipment .

SDG  3 is about promoting health and well being and SDG 6 Clean water and sanitation. The centre already has some positive structures around health and hygiene namely toothbrushing and handwashing routines. However, the bathrooms have always been a challenge.  Importantly the children and staff will now will have their own toilets. At the current centre the bathrooms are available to the public so it is a challenge to keep them clean and safe for children. Now the toilets will solely be for use for the centre making it healthier and safer.  They are almost complete!

As the new centre is being built , the programme continues at the current centre and the GVI Trust continues to fund a daily meal for the children.  We are looking for this to continue in the new centre as well.

A purpose built centre gives value to the importance of education in the early years.  The early years are when significant learning and stimulation happens and this can then be built upon in the future.  The next steps is to ensure this government run childcare centre offers the same opportunities as other centres and so the next steps are looking at how we can support the centre with resources and equipment as well as training for staff to get the most out of this centre.

We look forward to showing you pictures of the completed centre!

We thank you for you support with this project and one of the great things is, the benefits will not only be for the current group of staff and children at the centre but also the children in the future. A positive, healthy and stimulating learning environment goes a long way toward supporting children to reach their developmental and learning goals.

With Love, 

GVI Nepal