Karkhana is an educational company established in 2013 with the vision of promoting the culture of experimentation and empowering communities to build their own future. We have been working in collaboration with schools to design learning experiences for students by promoting hands-on activities and practical education. We currently work with 17 schools and over 2200 students every week, making sure that each student gets the opportunity to obtain a practical education under the diverse fields of STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics).

While keeping in mind the necessity and importance of STEAM, we also prioritize the 4Cs: Communication, Creativity, Collaboration and Critical Thinking. These are the 21^st Century skills quintessential for every individual heading out into the real world. We make sure that the activities and lessons that we design for students are hands-on and let students explore their curiosity.

Considering the issue of gender inequality in the country, Karkhana encourages the participation of girls in its classes and also conducts workshops targeting them.

Making sure that all students collaborate with each other to solve a challenge, run an experiment, or do an activity by making their thinking visibly creative and critical, we actively encourage them to go through the design thinking cycle: “TMPI” (Think, Make, Play, and Improve).

To ensure that this cycle never gets tedious and unproductive, we have been very selective with the content and kits we design and use in our classrooms like we do for the Karkhana Innovator’s Club (KIC). The Content Generation team at Karkhana works rigorously to come up with content and lesson plans to create an engaging learning experience for students through which we also promote the use of easily available materials. Additionally, Karkhana conducts sessions for teachers to enhance their pedagogy. Also, with the concept of the Maker Mentor program, Karkhana has been encouraging the youth to understand the concept of present day education and more.

The idea that learning is possible by making and building is a concept that Karkhana embraces. Encouraging schools to focus on learning by making has been a priority for Karkhana.

Karkhana has also advanced the idea of entrepreneurship in organisations like Junkiri, WLiT andMakerKT

In a country where teaching is taken as the last career choice, Karkhana has taken multiple steps to glorify this profession.

As Karkhana has been growing every day in terms of the work that we do and the team that we have, it has now become more crucial than ever before to sustain and maintain our values. It has been our priority to implant the concept of initiating change and catalysing innovation, evoking a sense of emotion through our work, be it within the team itself, the schools that we have collaborated with, or the students and teachers who we work with.

Mamina Shrestha Storyteller at Karkhana