One of the many consequences of low science literacy and high level of religiosity and the attendant belief in superstitions in the highly patriarchal Brahmanic society of Nepal is unabashed cruelty to females. One way the cruelty is meted out is in the way they are blamed for a newborn's sex as it that were determined by gestation and birthing. Science says otherwise, of course!
In part II of this two-part blog, I shred the contents of a grade 12 chemistry paper the students took last month. It's full of mistakes showing how little attention to details the examiners and board have paid in creating it. The contents also show how the syllabus has NOT been revised and updated at all to reflect newer practices and topics that have evolved over the last few decades etc., indicating how the whole point is just to put the students through a wringer.
A look at how the board managing the grade 12 examinations have failed the students. The examinations, originally slated for May, was cancelled and, finally, in October, rescheduled for November. The examination, supposed to consist of questions papers in the new format, did go ahead in spite of the student not having seen any sample papers prior to it.
What's more, analyzing the chemistry paper, it had some major issues. The whole exercise, as far as I am concerned, has amounted to putting the students through a wringer.
Another example of how and what a teacher uses as a teaching tool or resource is really limited only by the teacher's imagination! This is about a lesson I helped a science teacher conduct using what they had.
I conducted another demonstration to a science teacher at a small private school as part of the teacher education program to show them how they can make science teaching and learning interesting and engaging. In this one I used a very topical video -- that of hurricane Dorian that had made landfall in the Bahamas just a few days before the lesson.
Another lesson I conducted with a grade 7 group using cutouts from magazines. The topic? Natural Resources. How and what a teacher uses as a teaching tool or resource is really limited only by the teacher's imagination, really!