Education.in.Nepal

Accordingly, he commanded his government to make "primary education free of cost and accessible for all, boys and girls" (ibid.). A second annual occasion addressing education is the festival Basanta Panchami (mid February), a day dedicated to Saraswati, the goddess of wisdom and learning. On that day, (Hindu) students all over the country visit temples, where they spend hours scribbling down their notes in chalk, as notes written down on this particular day will never be forgotten. While this latter day is usually celebrated and characterised by its festive mood, the National Education Day is simply being "observed" (Khadka 1997: 12), and it is a rather ambivalent affair, or even a gloomy one, and indicative for the (poor) state of education in Nepal. Some authors even find stronger expressions, as Khadka in his cynical article "Celebrating the pathetic state" (ibid.), or Shanta Dixit (2002), in her critical assessment "Education, deception, state, and society" (2002).

Further regular events when education "hits" the headlines are in March/April when class 10 students need to take the final examinations of their secondary education in order to obtain their school-leafing certificates (SLC), and again in June/July, when SLC-results are published. While the first one is an occasion of at least modest hope, the second is usually one of more or less great despair, as the number of failed students usually outnumber those who pass. While pass rates ranged between 30-36% during the last years (see SPOTLIGHT 2003), in 2004 an astonishingly "high" number of 46% students passed (see Amgai 2004a), and this rather dreadful result was celebrated as a major national achievement. Yet, this was partly due to re-introducing a "grace mark" system, when failures within a 5%-margin in a single subject were to be neglected (ibid.). Worse still, less than 10% of class 1 students reach class 10 (Dixit 2002: 193), and only less than 50% reach class 5 (HMG/UNCTN 2003: 15). These figures render the Millennium Development Goals, aiming at universal primary education for boys and girls and gender equity in secondary education by 2015 (HMG/UNCTN 2003: 19), meaningless paper declarations, ridiculing past policies and millions of dollars spent and wasted from donor agencies. Another crucial feature is that the private sector is playing an increasingly important role in the Nepalese educational "landscape". By now there are about 8,500 private schools, providing educational facilities to about 1.5 million students. These can be found all across the country, although there is a strong concentration particularly in the Kathmandu valley and in some urban centres of the Terai (HMG/MOES 2003). Private schools are usually associated with two characteristics: contributing decisively to increasing the quality of education and yet strongly criticised for charging high fees, sometimes even termed "exorbitant" (Pokharel 2003: 19).

This latter charge of turning education into a lucrative business was bound to lead to a confrontation with the Maoists, as regularly pointed out in their demands, as for instance in their early 40-point demands of 1996, stating that the "commercialisation of education should be stopped" (point 35; quoted from Thapa 2003: 394). This issue was rather forcefully addressed when the Maoist-affiliated "student organisation" (All Nepal National Free Student Union, Revolutionary, ANNFSU-R) imposed several strikes upon all types of educational institutions during December 2002 and January 2003, aiming at pressurising private schools to reduce their fees (see Dhakal 2002b, Amgai 2002d, Amgai 2004d). A settlement was reached in January 2003 with PABSON (Private and Boarding Schools Organization of Nepal), agreeing to reduce fees in its member schools by 10-30% (Amgal 2004b). Consistent with these ideas, private schools have been targeted, physically attacked, and even closed in many rural areas, and occasionally also in the Kathmandu valley.

On the other hand, Maoists have even more frequently targeted teachers and students from rural government schools by taking them hostage (Upadhyay 2004). In addition, many teachers have been approached for extortions, or have even been manslaughtered, as was the case with Mukti Nath Adhikari from Lamjung in 2002, who was stabbed and handed in front of his students, or Gyanendra Khadka who was hacked to death in Sindhupalchok in August 2003 (see Dhakal 2004a: 22). About 160 teachers from both sides have been killed, by Maoists as well as government forces, and about 3,000 have been displaced, seeking shelter either in district headquarters or in the capital (ibid.). These latter agitations have led to a petition from the side of five students submitted to the Supreme Court in February 2004, complaining that their "right to education was being violated by the string of strikes (bandh)" and appealing to the court to force political parties and student unions to stop these practices (ibid. 22). Similarly, the UN has demanded that educational institutions should be deemed "Zones of Peace" (Upadhyay 2004).

This brief introduction may suffice to show that education in Nepal has many facets. It is not only an affair between the state and its junior citizens and their parents, but it is also a highly (party) political issue, and also a business. This article addresses a number of critical issues pertaining to education. It will give a brief introduction to education policies during the last 50 years, highlighting the main objectives of these policies and critically assessing their achievements and failures. The article will identify a number of crucial features, such as low enrolment rates, high drop-out rates, and low performance in examinations, and assess their validity as indicators. In addition, it also provides a "mapping" of gender and regional disparities at a national level, based on data from the Ministry of Education (for the 1990s), supplemented by unpublished district-level data (for Jhapa district).

The article then addresses the lack of achievement, identifying the "culprits" and political battlefields. It also provides some suggestions for policies, by (re-) considering "stakeholders" and their potential roles. Educational Policies in Nepal: A Brief Outline Education lies at the core of human development. As such, it is also a fundamental human right and thus, providing education to its citizens needs to be a focus of government activities all across the world, irrespective of the state of development. In addition, many international agencies, particularly UNESCO and UNICEF have drafted global educational agendas, as for instance during the world conference on "Education For All" held in Jomtien (Thailand) in 1990. There, all member states--including Nepal--have agreed upon the need to translate these international agendas into national policies. A more recent framework is the "Millennium Declaration", signed in 2000 and now synthesised into the "Millennium Development Goals" (HMG/UNCTN 2003: 1).

This alms to "achieve universal primary education" and to "ensure that by 2015, children everywhere, boys and girls alike, will be able to complete a full course of primary education" (ibid: 15). At the same time, Nepal's country report states that "given the current rate of progress [.. ] it is unlikely that Nepal will achieve universal access to primary education by 2015" (ibid.). Thus, it is obvious that there still exist vast gaps between "paper declarations" and social realities in many fields, and education is certainly among the most blatant examples. In Nepal, educational policies have been designed for the past 50 years, and the need for providing universal education has been targeted in virtually each of these policies. Yet, the "deadlines" for...NOTE: All illustrations and photos have been removed from this article.More articles from Contributions to Nepalese StudiesFamily change in Nepal: evidence from Western Chitwan.(Report), July 01, 2006The Svanti festival: victory over death and the renewal of the ritual ..., July 01, 2006Escalating inequality in South Asia: a challenge to political managers..., July 01, 2006Women in armed conflict: lessons to be learnt from Telangana people's ..., July 01, 2006Joshi, Jibgar. 2006. Regional Strategies for Sustainable Development i..., July 01, 2006Looking for additional articles?Search our database of over 3 million articles.Looking for more in-depth information on this industry?Search our complete database of Industry & Market reports by text, subject, publication name or publication date.About GoliathWhether you're looking for sales prospects, competitive information, company analysis or best practices in managing your organization, Goliath can help you meet your business needs. Our extensive business information databases empower business professionals with both the breadth and depth of credible, authoritative information they need to support their business goals. Whether it be strategic planning, sales prospecting, company research or defining management best practices - Goliath is your leading source for accurate information.
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