PONA-SEP (PONA School Empowerment Program)

PONA-Foundation er en familieejet fond med sæde i USA men ejet af en Dansk-Amerikansk familie, hvoraf de to danske medlemmer af Fonden, Ulla Laier og Nanna Marie Kristensen, begge blev valgt ind i Himalayan Projects Bestyrelse i 2015 og 2014.
PONA har støttet driften af Chhimbu Skole siden 2008, og i 2009 stod PONA for finansieringen af Chhirringkharka Community Clinic. Og fra sommeren 2014 åbnede PONA så for denne PONA-SEP.
Formålet med PONA-SEP er at højne undervisningsniveauet i Bhakanje VDC og at støtte de dygtigste, de mest ihærdige og mest håbefulde elever til en højere uddannelse, der så vidt muligt skal føre til varig beskæftigelse i Bhakanje VDC eller Upper Solu i det hele taget.
Dette søges opnået ved at påvirke alle fire involverede parter i skolen: Lærerne - Eleverne - Forældrene - Skolekomiteen. Nu skal du anbringe denne række i en cirkel, så er sammenhængen på plads.
Projektet gennemføres først og fremmest på overbygningsskolen i Sagar-Bakanje og fokuserer først og fremmest på 6.-10. klassetrin. Men fra 2. sæson inddrages også Chhimbu Primary Skole, og så må det overvejes om de øvrige underskoler skal med i programmet.
Programmet deles op i en række delprojekter som beskrevet herunder. Ikke alle delprojekter igangsættes samtidig, men de skulle alle gerne udvikles i løbet af programmets første fase, som varer 5 år, hvorefter den 2. fase igangsættes varende også 5 år, men koncentreret omkring studiestøtte projektet.
Programmet styres af Himalayan Project i samarbejde med PONA Foundation

PONA-Foundation is a family owned Fund with seat in United States but owned by a Danish-American family, of which the two Danish members of the Fund, Ulla Laier and Nanna Marie Kristensen, both were elected into the Himalayan Projects Board in 2015 and 2014.
PONA has supported the operation of Chhimbu School since 2008, and in 2009 PONA did the financing of Chhirringkharka Community Clinic. And from the summer of 2014 PONA opened this PONA-SEP.
The purpose of PONA-SEP is to raise the educational level of Bhakanje VDC and to support the brightest, the most tenacious and most aspiring students to higher education, and as far as possible, leading to permanent employment in Bhakanje VDC or Upper Solu in general.
This is sought by affecting all four parties involved in the school: Teachers-Pupils-Parents-School Committee. Now you need to put this line in a circle, then the links between the involved are in place.
The project is carried out mainly at the secondary school in Sagar-Bakanje and focuses first and foremost on 6.-10. grade students. But from 2. season Chhimbu Primary School will also be involved and then it must be considered whether the other primary schools should be included in the program.
The program is divided into a number of sub-projects as described below. Not all of the sub-projects initiated at the same time, but they should all be developed during the first phase of the programme, which lasts for 5 years, after which the 2. phase will be initiated lasting for 5 years, but then concentrated around the Scholarship support project.
The program is administered by Himalayan Project in cooperation with PONA Foundation.

PONA-SEP:
Project A: Student and Teacher Awareness:
1. Baseline Survey: This survey will be dublicated and performed twice. Here in the beginning of the program and again later to see the development. The first survey can be downloaded here: 141125_PONA Baseline Survey Report
2. Interaction with Students: This interaction shall be between the students and PONA/HP as debate programs or individual discussions
3. Interaction with Teachers: Same as above but with teachers
4. Interaction with Parents: Same as above but with parents
5. Creative expressions: is a program which can be conducted by anyone who have a good idea on how to activate students and make them express something in writing, drawing, photographing or action.
6. Educational Councelling for Students: shall be performed by a Nepali who have good knowledge about the educational system, giving the students a realistic idea about their possibilities and limitations.

Project B: Teacher Training:
1. Educational Methods: short term trainings for teachers at the school with few days of theoretical training but more focussed on practical. Ideally it should be held 3-4 times a year, and it shall be performed by trainers who have extensive knowledge and skills in the educational field, Nepali or Foreigner.

Project C: Strenghtening School Management Committee:
1. Supervision of SMC: Teachers trainer, HIPRON, HP and PONA shall supervise the activities of SMC and propose.
2. Common SMC-Teacher-Parents Interaction Program: shell be held as a debate program headed by an external authority like teacher trainer or HIPRON.

Project D: Reward Program:
1. SMC Teachers Reward: a reward is given to teachers by SMC, by criterias decided by SMC.
2. PONA Teacher Reward: a reward to teachers given by PONA on criterias decided by PONA.
3. Student Reward: a reward given to students by PONA on criterias decided by PONA.
4. Parents Reward: a reward given to parents by PONA on recommendations from teachers and SMC.

Project E: Scholarship Program:
1. HIPRON/HP Scholarship: This is actually the scholarship program as described in this homepage
2. PONA One-year Scholarship: is given by PONA on criterias decided by PONA, but mainly for promissing and laborious students, who are also ready to give tuition for their fellow students. This scholarhip is given for one year at the time, and deposited in the local cooperative bank.
3. PONA Basis Scholarship: is given for promissing students for further education locally, which is class 11-12 with focus on technical skils and education.
4. PONA Further Scholarship: is given to higher education locally or in Kathmndu, but mainly on subjects which is relevant in the locality og Upper Solu.

Project F: Local Educational Application:
1. Local project by application from Parents, Students and/or Teachers: there can be applied for any project related to school and to education, but the application has to be well formulated and follow a fixed format as described in Educational Application.

Project G: Project Expenses:
1. Local program Coordinator: for the time being teacher Lhakpa Sherpa is employed to update reports, writing and filing reports and keeping an eye with all the program activities.
2. Temporary employments: can be for interprete, coordinator, activist or anything else which is necessary or benificial for the program.
3. HIPRON Project Expenses: is taken by HIPRON with 15% of program income to cover adminisdtrative expenses of HIPRON in running the program.