TikAbhairab English SECONDARY school



About the school





Tikabhairab English Secondary School is located in Karyabinayak-14, Lalitpur district in Nepal. Currently, it has 360+ students with classes running from K through 10. Portions of the school's infrastructure was damaged by the destructive earthquake of April 2015. They are building a new infrastructure for the school next to the current building which they are leasing out. It has one full-time computer teacher and a dedicated team of staff for other subject areas. The principal is Prakash B. Khatri.



Project partner





Our project partner for this initiative is Environmental Camps for Conservation Awareness (ECCA). This organization has been a leader in social mobilization and community development through various programs. It has been instrumental in raising the quality of life through the effective use of local resources and renewable energy technologies. It has a large network of fully trained manpower throughout Nepal.



the implementation





The beneficiary school was surveyed and the key staff members were briefed on the project plan on July 8, 2016. The Principal took the eBlackboard team around the school showing the classrooms in session. At the end he showed the room where the computer lab was going to be established. The Principal and his finance staff agreed to put a new carpet, clean up the room and paint the room. ECCA and the school agreed to contribute towards the purchase of a power backup system which included a 75W solar panel for maximizing battery charging. This participatory approach is a key feature of this project.





A complete power backup system inclusive of a solar panel was installed in the building where the computer lab was going to be established prior to the computer network installation on July 10, 2016. This would ensure the computer terminals are operating 4-5 hours on average during school days. Ensuring maximum availability of electricity for the continuous operation of the computers during the school day is one of the key success factors of this project. As such the eBlackboard team, ECCA, and the school all agreed on this plan. Having a 'skin on the game' could make all parties more accountable and interested in the project.





Five sets of monitors, keyboards, mouse, and speakers, each powered by a Raspberry Pi 3 (latest model) were installed in a room designated as the school's computer lab. Each Raspberry Pi 3 had a micro SD card installed with interactive digital content, locally known as 'E-Paath', which is based on the national curriculum. A file-server containing hundreds of book titles, Khan Academy Lite, and tons of novels and magazines (locally known as E-Pustakalaya) was also installed in the lab along with a powerful router. This allowed students to access the huge digital library content using wi-fi along with the digital curriculum installed individually in the micro SD cards in each terminal.





A quick set of instructions were provided to the staff as well as the Principal's son on what types of applications reside in the CPU, how to use the applications and how to maintain the power backup system. A more detailed training was provided to the key staff members of the school at ECCA's office a week after the installation.



The implementation was a success.



Gallery



Solar system used for the project



Client terminals post installation



Menu seen in one of the terminal screens



performing a final check on all terminals



ECCA partners, schook principal and eBlackboard team members



Computer Lab in use



computer terminals showing startup screen



securing the CPU box behind the terminals




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