What is the name of your organization?
BlinkNow Foundation
What is the name of your solution?
Kopila Valley School
Provide a one-line summary or tagline for your solution.
A model full-service school in Nepal blending tech and tradition to transform education, build climate resilience in communities, and change lives.
In what city, town, or region is your solution team headquartered?
Birendranagar, Surkhet
In what country is your solution team headquartered?
NPL
What type of organization is your solution team?
Nonprofit
Film your elevator pitch.
What specific problem are you solving?
Our passionate team at Kopila Valley School addresses the intersecting crises of educational inequity, poverty, and environmental vulnerability in rural Nepal—one of the world’s most climate-impacted and under-resourced regions.
In Nepal poverty is a major barrier to education, and 20% of the population lives below the poverty line. In Karnali Province, where we operate, that figure rises to over 26%, and 36% of children under five suffer from severe malnutrition. In our district of Surkhet, we meet many children who are are forced to work or scavenge to survive, and some live without stable homes or family support. Parents often lack access to jobs or training and struggle to provide food, healthcare, or education.
Children cannot learn if their basic needs aren’t met. Yet most schools in our region lack the capacity to provide nutrition, safety, or child-centered learning. Just 11% meet earthquake safety standards, and outdated rote learning remains the norm.
Globally, educational access remains a major challenge. According to UNESCO, 9% of all children of primary school age are still denied their right to education. The stakes are high: nearly 60 million people could escape poverty if all adults had just two more years of schooling.
What is your solution?
We are reimagining education by building a holistic, child-friendly learning ecosystem rooted in equity, sustainability, and real-world problem-solving.
At Kopila Valley School, we blend traditional wisdom with applied science, digital literacy, and computer technology to meet children’s needs and build long-term resilience. Coding, media creation, online research, and data skills are part of core education—equipping students to thrive in a changing world.
To remove barriers to learning, we provide healthy meals, clean water, and basic medical care. Our education model integrates academic learning with practical, tech-based solutions to reduce poverty and support community well-being.
Designed together with the community as a “living classroom,” our solar-powered campus features rammed earth buildings, rainwater harvesting, organic gardens, composting, and zero-waste systems—examples of accessible, low-cost technologies for climate-vulnerable regions. Many systems are maintained by students, blending theory with hands-on learning.
Our sustainability-focused curriculum is rooted in local context, combining environmental science with experiential learning. Students explore regenerative agriculture, water management, clean energy, digital tools, and waste innovation—building skills to solve challenges in their own communities.
We define technology as both digital and natural tools that work. Students graduate as changemakers ready to innovate for social/environmental good.
Who does your solution serve, and in what ways will the solution impact their lives?
We serve children, youth, and women from marginalized, low-income communities in Karnali—Nepal’s most resource-limited province. Many of our students are the first in their families to attend school. Without our support, they would face child labor, early marriage, and intergenerational poverty.
Kopila Valley School provides free, high-quality education to children who would otherwise be excluded. Our holistic model includes nutrition, basic healthcare, and mental health services so students can learn and thrive. Our Futures Program helps youth gain access to higher education, job readiness, and green career pathways. Graduates have a sustainability mindset and real-world leadership and problem-solving skills.
Our Family Development Program supports families facing barriers to stability—connecting them to counseling, housing, emergency relief, and long-term planning. Outreach staff build trusting relationships that strengthen student success.
Kopila Valley Women’s Center supports women—many of whom have faced poverty, discrimination, or gender-based violence—to build confidence, skills, and financial independence through literacy, entrepreneurship, and green livelihood training.
We engage elders, Indigenous peoples, and families through listening sessions and local governance, ensuring community-driven, culturally grounded solutions.
By centering those who’ve been excluded, we’re transforming mindsets about what impoverished people deserve—and what they can offer.