Finalist Archives - Earth Company

Organization

UWS Nepal

Active In

Nepal

Cause

Accessibility to Education

SDGs

• SDG 4
• SDG 5
• SDG 10

Support Starts

2024

Support Ongoing

2.5 years

THE MISSION

"Providing All Children in Nepal with Access to Quality Education"

75%

of children in Nepal cannot complete the 8-years of basic education

80%

of schools lack basic toilet facilities from Nepal's 5,026 total schools

200:1

student to teacher ratio in remote areas, vs. 25:1 in urban areas

25%

of 8-year old are unable to read two-digit numbers

WHAT THEY DO

Providing Every Children with Quality Education, Paving the Way to Escape Poverty and Lead Better Lives

A Holistic Approach to Solving Education

The barriers preventing children in Nepal from accessing education are complex, including a lack of schools in remote areas, untrained teachers, and the difficult economic and social circumstances faced by many families. Children who cannot attend school are more likely to be exposed to the child marriage, human trafficking, and child labor.

UWS Nepal’s education model is designed to transform rural education through a holistic approach, starting from the school building, managing operations, and enhancing the quality of teaching. They not only construct schools in remote areas but also ensure that students benefit from well-managed environments, supported by enthusiastic and well-trained teachers. This combination provides students with safe, engaging classrooms and a curriculum that meets national standards, while respecting local culture and traditions.

Their programs teach girls how to create reusable sanitary products, form mothers’ support groups, provide teacher training, and implement school meal programs. As a result of these efforts, 98% of children in their schools now complete the full eight-year basic education course.

Sustained School Programs Ensuring Children can Continue to Learn

UWS Nepal’s mission extends further than just providing immediate solutions. They aim to empower communities to manage their schools independently within five years. By empowering communities to take ownership of their schools, UWS Nepal ensures that projects are sustainable long after their initial involvement, while the organization continues to provide support and monitoring for an additional three years.

They work closely with both local communities and governments to create lasting partnerships, providing regular teacher training and designing schools tailored to local needs. Their efforts improve learning outcomes, reduce educational inequalities, and offer much-needed support to students, parents, and educators alike.

Additionally, UWS Nepal's schools have partnerships with approximately 60 schools worldwide. Partner schools engage in student-led fundraising activities to support the establishment and operational costs of UWS Nepal's schools, and UWS Nepal also supports these fundraising efforts. Through these partnerships, many schools have been established in Nepal, and there are also exchanges between teachers and students from partner schools.

Surya has set an ambitious goal of establishing 700 new schools and bringing education to 100,000 children by 2030.

OUR SUPPORT

Scaling the impact to reach more children in every corner of Nepal

Expanding Partner Schools

Opportunity Building

Networking

Kick-Off Meeting

In October 2024, we visited UWC ISAK Japan. The UWC (United World College) is an international private educational institution with 18 locations worldwide. It aims to foster internationally-minded leaders by accepting high school students selected from around the world. Surya himself is a graduate of a UWC high school. During this visit, we also met Lin Kobayashi, the Chair of the Board of ISAK Japan, marking the first step in establishing a partnership with UWS Nepal through an introduction to the UWC International Office.

In October 2024, we visited the British School in Tokyo (BST) and delivered presentations in four classes about the current state of education in Nepal. BST is an international school in Tokyo and a partner school of UWS Nepal. Before coming to Japan, support from BST for the construction and operation costs of two schools for UWS Nepal had already been decided. Following this visit, and to our great delight, an additional two schools are being considered for support.

In October 2024, Surya participated in the Earth Company’s 10th Anniversary event, where he shared his life story and introduced the activities to the 140 participants. During his visit to Japan, he conducted a total of 16 meetings with companies, foundations, and schools, and participated in two media interviews. This allowed him to expand networks that could potentially support school construction and operations.

Our immediate challenge is to raise approximately USD 72,000. By securing this amount, along with around USD 288,000 provided by the government, we will be able to introduce new support programs in ten schools. This will help support educational programs for 7,000 children, assist 4,000 mothers' groups, and enable 3,400 girls to continue attending school. We plan to consult with Surya and his team on ways we can collaborate, focusing on fundraising support to maximize the impact of their initiatives, as well as assistance in managing the rapid growth of the organization as we expand our support.