HED: KMC starts coding and drama classes in Bhanu Secondary School

DEK: The new programmes are part of a series of drives that KMC has launched towards reforming public education in Kathmandu.

KATHMANDU, AUG 26

The Kathmandu Metropolitan City on Friday launched a robotics and artificial intelligence programme at the Bhanu Secondary School in Durbar High School, Kathmandu. The local unit has also introduced drama classes in the same school. It has hired two teachers from Durshikshya Education Network for courses on coding and python programming language. For drama classes, the KMC has tied up with Mandala Theatre Nepal.

The new programmes are part of a series of drives that the KMC has launched towards reforming public education in Kathmandu. While KMC has received widespread backlash for its treatment of workers in the informal sector and its heavy-handed approach to developing the city's infrastructures, it has been praised for its work in public education.

Earlier this year, in the last week of April, the KMC launched the ‘textbook-free Fridays’ drive as a pilot project in 56 of the city’s 89 community schools. As part of which, students go to their schools on Fridays without books or bags to learn essential life skills and engage in other extracurricular activities. Meanwhile, in June, the City directed all the private schools running within the metropolis to pay their teachers and other staff as per the salary range set by the government. And last week, the KMC’s education department sent letters of selection for the scholarship programme to over 2,300 students to get admitted at grade 11 in various colleges within the metropolis. The selected students will not have to pay tuition, library, lab or any other education-related fees.

Indra Prasad Dahal, education officer at KMC’s education department, said the local unit wanted to launch the IT programme last year. “We had started also but now it comes into full-fledged implementation,” Dahal said.

Saradha Paudel, principal of the Bhanu School that has around 700 students, said the school welcomes the programme.

She said the school is also working to form a drama club within the school for students who show interest in the performing arts.

Officials said the KMC’s education department has allocated Rs500,000 for computer coding and python courses for a year where students from class three to six will be given block-based coding training and students from grade 7 and 8 Python course.

Block-based coding is a form of programming language where the developer issues instructions by dragging and dropping blocks. Meanwhile, the Python course is an advanced version of computer coding that uses object-oriented languages.

Currently, Bhanu School has 35 desktop computers, and students will be taught programming language in different shifts.

Paudel said grade nine students have already completed house electrical wiring and beautician courses.

“The good thing is that those who have taken electrical courses can now fix a range of electrical problems and they are really excited,” Paudel said.

She said the school will soon select students interested to take part in the given courses.

Some students who took the mobile repairing training at Durbar High school had earlier told the Post that it had given them immense confidence to ply their trade inside the country.

Meanwhile, Dahal, the education officer, said KMC is further expanding the IT and robotic course for students in the city’s schools. The KMC is holding a combined meeting with principals of community schools on September 8, according to Dahal. “We will also conduct workshops and assess our new programme,” he said.

Officials at the education department said the KMC has formed a coding club in 14 schools. “We are gradually going to inspire these schools to generate a manpower well-versed in the basics of information technology,” Dahal said.