Ageing Nepal piloted the basic literacy class in an urban center of Kathmandu Metropolitan. Ageing Nepal partnered with a local social-organization to targets SDG4 (Quality education) for elderly with the aim of leaving no one behind.

Experiential approach to learning was adopted where methods such as lecture, demonstration, home-work, practice, role play, sharing and relating to learners experiences were emphasized that enabled to create suitable environment. Home work was highly emphasized to make up for the lost teaching hours. Weekly and monthly tests were taken to monitor progress and adjust the curricula accordingly. Ageing Nepal team prepared detailed course outline, teaching materials and work schedule with the involvement of selected teachers. Special reading and teaching materials were developed taking reference from (a) formal education to children in primary schools and (b) ongoing adult literacy programmes in Nepal.
Learners were occasionally taken out to nearby market and asked to read or identify letters on billboards, posters, street signs, and other market displays. This method was found effective for motivation and self-assessment. This practice also provided the opportunity to help them with simple rules of going around cities, crossing streets, and how they could go to places independently without fear of getting lost in cities and come back home reading market displays and signboards.
Learners were encouraged in the class to share their personal knowledge, skills and experience that they treasured. Opportunities provided for sharing of poems one created and/or memorized, stories of special events in one’s life, performing dance, singing songs or telling jokes made the teaching learning process not only interesting but also put the learners at ease, elevated their self-confidence and strengthened the bond of friendship among learners.
After the first few class-room lecture sessions on alphabets, one learner said to the teacher, “first teach us to write our names and then we will learn these alphabets later”. On this, the only person smiling in the class was the teacher while the rest looked eagerly at the teacher expecting positive response. Obviously, they were more eager to learn lessons that could be put to immediate use, either to solve the problem they were facing or to do the things they always wanted to do With this understanding, the earlier planned course objectives, contents and schedules were regularly adjusted to keep pace with class learning and to match the interest and need of learners. For example, they were more interested to be able to speak English than learning the English alphabets. They were given lessons on simple phrases and sentences of spoken English, which was not in the course designed earlier. Similarly, they expected to the course to enable them to move around cities independently without the fear of getting lost in city. That too was included in the course.
Time limitation, learners interest, pace of learning, daily fluctuation in the number of learners, frequently needed revision class were some of the constraint that were faced during the class. However, to overcome the limitation following changes were made: Time period was adjusted as required, short tour after class was done for better learning, learning objectives and schedule made more flexible especially for weeks with festival holiday.