Back to Life sets up a student lab
Thakaltar School in Chitwan offers education from kindergarten to grade 10 and soon up to high school graduation. This is a rarity in a rural, poor area like this and therefore needs special support.
Back to Life is a long-time partner of Thakaltar School. We have been working there since 2015, working with the community to transform a poorly equipped village school destroyed by the 2015 earthquakes into one of the best rural schools in the district.
In March, it was time to move on to the next chapter for the school. Back to Life has established a student lab for science classes in grades 6 through 10.
The laboratory was equipped with many instruments, materials, liquids and, of course, protective clothing, which one still knows from chemistry or biology lessons: Microscopes, test tubes, tweezers, Bunsen burners, solutions, acids, bases, magnets, lenses, thermometers, spatulas, cylinders and much more.
Whereas in the past frontal teaching contributed to boredom and comprehension problems, the focus should now be on the students’ own age-appropriate experimentation. The teachers agree that the practical experiences that children and young people can gain in the school laboratory have a much greater impact than theory can.
The students are excited and looking forward to conducting their first experiments. The 10th grade made a start on the day of the official opening of the student laboratory. Under the guidance of the teacher, Suresh Mandal, they examined the cells of an onion with the microscopes. The young researchers were very excited – it was the first time they were allowed to conduct an experiment themselves.
“I’ve never seen the things that are here in the student lab. I had not heard of such a laboratory before.”
Schoolgirl Kumarimaya Ghalan
“This was our first experiment at this school. Until now, we’ve only taught science with the blackboard and illustrations in our books.”
Suresh Mandal, science teacher
“The experiments are a lot of fun! Now we don’t just have to memorize what’s in the books, we can try it out for ourselves and draw conclusions.”
Schoolgirl Shiba Rumba
“Previously, our school did not have a student lab because we lacked the space and budget for equipment. Back to Life helped us create the space for the student lab and is now setting it up. Without that help, this would never have been possible.”
Headmaster Sun Bahadur Muktan
