NARIT News
ITCA Teacher Training Workshop Nepal 19-20 July 2025
The ITCA Teacher Training Workshop in Nepal has concluded. This workshop occurred between the period of 19-20 July 2025 and is a result of collaboration between the International training Centre in Astronomy under the auspices of UNESCO (ITCA), the National Astronomical Research Institute of Thailand (NARIT) and the local host institution, the Nepal Astronomical Society (NASO). The workshop received a warm welcome as over 60 participants from Nepal and India join to share their passion and enthusiasm towards Astronomy Education.
ITCA Teacher Training Workshop is an ongoing workshop series initiated by ITCA in collaboration with various local host institutions. This recurring workshop series intends to be conducted across multiple countries in each calendar year. Between 19-20 July 2025 the workshop rotation had brought ITCA to Kathmandu, Nepal in collaboration with our partner the Nepal Astronomical Society (NASO) led by Suresh Bhattarai and Manisha Dwa, who also operates the IAU’s Office of Astronomy for Education Nepal Node (N-OAE).
This vigorous two-day workshop was met with enthusiasm from the participants, which range from students in secondary schools, university students, outreach personnels, and educators from both Nepal and India. The passion in astronomy brought by the participants culminated in a lively exchange over the 2 days period.
The workshop focuses on relevant, tangible, affordable, and hands-on activities easily adaptable to the classroom. Sessions range from learning about lights beyond what our eyes can see using everyday objects, making a comet with their hands, using their body to understand the phases of the Moon and how it relates to the time which the Moon rises, to learning about the scale model of the Solar System and a card game that they get to learn the true scale of the Universe.
This hands-on approach to astronomy education in the classroom has previously seen success in Thailand at transitioning from largely traditional lecture-only style classrooms into more active learning strategies that involve more participants' interactions. As was the case in Thailand, where being active in a classroom can be a foreign concept, it is often first met with skepticism and reluctance from the participants. This similar reaction is also observed in Nepal during the first few sessions. However, once participants have warmed up to the concept the overall atmosphere becomes much more lively. By the second day all the tensions had evaporated away. Once the initial reluctance is gone, what remains is the sheer enthusiasm and eagerness to learn from the participants.
Apart from the sessions, participants also learn how to operate a telescope and how to do astronomy in a low cost environment: both of which were provided by our NASO partner. In addition, participants to the workshop also get to experience stargazing on the rooftop in the venue in Kathmandu. The workshop also brings together the general audience in a public lecture given by Dr. Matipon Tangmatitham, the director of ITCA, followed by stargazing events.
Overall, the workshop has been a smashing success with overwhelmingly positive acclaim from all the participants. This is only made more evident by the commentaries and reflections from the participants towards the conclusion of the two-day workshop:
“Teachers and Educators are professions that command high respect in our society. We, too, must keep applying ourselves to be worthy of such respect. We are extremely grateful for the opportunities provided by this workshop and are confident we can apply the lessons and activities we have learned in the past few days to our classrooms,” said one of the participants. “These past few days have been one of the best days of my life,” exclaimed another.
The ITCA Teacher Training Workshop is still ongoing as we continue to explore new areas and regions. In the upcoming 2-3 August 2025 the ITCA Teacher Training Workshop is going to Buôn Ma Thuột, Vietnam in collaboration with Vietnam National Space Center (VNSC) and Tay Nguyen University, where we will be training 150 more Vietnamese educators and students.
