Thursday 13 August 2015

British Council Nepal awarded International Schools Award to twelve Nepalese schools at an event organised on 13 August 2015. This award is endorsed and supported by the Ministry of Education and this is the third year, Nepali Schools are being awarded through this award scheme.

The award was handed over by special guests –Khagaraj Baral, Executive Director- National Centre for Educational Development and Diwaker Dhungel, Executive Director- Curriculum Development Centre.

Twenty two schools from nine districts of Nepal had applied for the ISA award out of which Full Award is granted to Twelve Schools

  1.  Sirjana Community Secondary School                                                          Kaski
  2. St. Capitanio School                                                                                       Palpa
  3. Adarsha English Boarding Secondary School                                               Parbat
  4. Durga Lower Secondary School                                                                    Baglung
  5. Achane Higher Secondary School                                                                 Dhading
  6. Traibidya Shikchhya Sadan                                                                           Kathmandu
  7. Sakalya School (Eurokids Chauni)                                                                Kathmandu
  8. Reliance International Academy (RIA)                                                           Kathmandu
  9. Babylon National School                                                                                Kathmandu  
  10. Karnali Education Foundation                                                                        Jhapa
  11. Suryajyoti lower secondary English boarding School                                    Jhap
  12. Delhi Public School                                                                                         Dhara

The schools receiving the full award will be provided with a trophy and certificates for the School, Principal and ISA coordinator and will be allowed to use the coveted International School Award kite mark along with their school logo on all the official stationeries and promotional materials for a period of three years.

As said by Brenden McSharry OBE, Country Director British Council- “In an increasingly globalised economy, it is vital that our students are prepared for working and communicating with each other in their learning and skills development programmes across international borders in order to secure a prosperous and harmonious world.  For our students to thrive in a competitive world, they must develop digital literacy, critical thinking and problem solving skills, creativity and imagination, leadership skills, team building and working skills, ICT management expertise and a commitment to becoming responsible and caring global citizens. International School Award tries to embed these essential elements of the students’ growth in the curriculum through this award”.

 What is International School Award (ISA)?

ISA is a yearly award given to participating schools. Applications from interested schools are called in every year, August/September period and schools are selected on the basis of their application. The British Council offers the ISA as an accreditation framework for schools to record and evaluate their international work and embed it into the curriculum. ISA acts as a benchmark that ascertains schools as having an outstanding level of support for:

  •  Nurturing global citizenship in young people
  • Enriching teaching and learnin

The ISA approach to school development is holistic and mirrors the curriculum based project work approach to encourage the teachers to use with their students. It is rigorous and evidence based process. It encourages the leaders to foster teambuilding, innovation, and project management. ISA is content free and schools are encouraged to embed it within their own curriculum. ISA gives context to practice new skills in Information & Communications Technology (ICT) and pedagogy in a safe and structured manner. Participating in briefings and workshops, online community and the award ceremony brings together a large number of schools across the country fostering rich exchange of ideas and creating a vibrant community of education professionals.

 Evaluation process

A team of representatives from the British Council, Department of Education and Curriculum Development Centre is developed. The dossiers or the portfolio of evidence submitted by the participating schools are evaluated and school visits are organised to see the authenticity of the work and learning outcomes in the children. With the evidences submitted and the outcome of school visits, the schools are granted the award.

Notes to Editor

Note to Editors

Connecting Classrooms, a project implemented by British Council and funded by DFID, is designed to help young people develop the knowledge, skills and values to live and work in a globalized economy, and makes a positive contribution locally and globally. The programme, running from 2015-2018, will build the capacity of 45,000 teachers and 12,000 school leaders worldwide to support them to integrate a range of core skills into the curriculum.

Connecting Classrooms aims to improve teaching in both the UK and Nepal in the following key areas:

  • Professional development for teachers and school leaders
  • Sustainable partnerships between schools in the UK and Nepal
  • Professional dialogue opportunities for policy makers
  • Awards to schools which are successful in equipping young people with the knowledge and skills to live and work in a globalized economy;
  • Online access to high quality resources to support teachers in delivering improved learning outcomes for young people.

About the British Council

 The British Council works in over one hundred countries and territories worldwide to build intercultural understanding between the UK and other countries through the arts, education and training, science and technology, sport, good governance and human rights.