Education in nepalSydney Price

Major: Psychology(Child & Youth Concentration)

Introduction to Nepalese Education and Reform

This presentation is intended to

provide information on the

rapidly-changing school system in

Nepal. A country known for its

struggle with poverty and the

availability of education and

health care, Nepal has drawn

much attention over the years of

non-profit organizations aimed to

improve these conditions for the

small country’s population.

General Background• Population: 29,890,686 (July 2012 est.)• Located between India and China• 19% of Nepal is an urban city setting

– The capital city being Kathmandu• Official language is Nepali

– English is also spoken by many of the higher-educated individuals in densely populated areas

• Religion: Most common are Hindu, Buddhist and Muslim• Nepal is one of the poorest and least-developed nations

– Avg. annual income is around $120-$300/person (around 7,000 rupees)

Educational Background

• School Life Expectancy: 9 years/avg (2003)– Male: 10 years– Female: 8 years

• Literacy: 60.3% of the population (2010)– Male: 73%– Female: 48.3%

• Education Expenditure: 4.6 % of GDP (Gross Domestic Product, 2009)– Lower than more developed countries

The Effect of Poverty on Education• Only 2% on average of a family’s annual income goes towards health and

education• Most Nepali children only attend school for a couple years before needing

to leave in order to work • Many families can’t afford transportation, and there are too few schools. The children must sometimes drop out because it is too difficult to get to school each day.

• 1950: 320 elementary schools and 11 secondary schools

• 1980: 10,130 elementary schools and 785 secondary schools

• Huge improvement, but still not enough for the dense population

Demographics of Education in Nepal

GENDER• Within families, sons are

allocated more money for their education– Higher likelihood of males being

successful in the workforce– Parents ensuring their sons are

financially stable enough to care for them later in life

• Women are also less educated because excessive intelligence is not valued in a wife– It is believed the husband should

always be smarter and better schooled

Demographics of Education in Nepal

CASTE & ETHNICITY• As expected, high-caste families are

much more likely to send their children to school– Majority of pop. Is low caste and rural

• Brahmins: priest-caste (prize literacy skills)– Believe schooling to be important but

deny their women education

• Newars: influential economically, socially and politically– They need to have a solid education,

and can afford it

• Low castes, occupational castes and untouchable castes value work skills above education

Access to Education in Nepal• 1950: Ministry of Education established

– A constitution is adopted that makes education a right for every Nepalese citizen

– Formulated laws about school attendance and assistance– Not well enforced today, but much better and continuing to improve

• Considering Nepal is primarily rural and most citizens work in agriculture, farming families must be targeted to increase enrollment rates– They put less value in education than they do in skills as a farmer– View women as most important in matters of marriage– More likely to send their children to school if they have a big family

and can keep some of their children home to work• Male siblings: often, younger male siblings are denied access to school

– Oldest son attends school and teaches what he learns to his siblings, that way the other can stay home and work

“Community-Managed Schooling”• Institutions run by nonprofit

organizations, teachers, communities and volunteers

• Receives lump sum budget support from the government

• Focused more on local needs and ambitions, and less on national goals and standards

• Known for addressing the diverse interests of different castes and communities

• Helps ease the financial burden that education has caused in rural areas

• This concept was born from a communist government but remains in use in today’s democracy

Attribution of Success and Failures• Study done with Nepalese men in

college• Asked them to what do they owe

an success of blame any failures• Report success as attributed to

hard work and effort• Attributed failure to financial

problems, lack of resources, and poor quality of teaching.

• Normally these results would confirm a self-serving bias, but unfortunately in Nepal these things are largely true.

Dhulikel Municipality Schools• Prime example of the most pressing problems in Nepalese

education:– shortages of financial resources for salaries, textbooks and school supplies– inadequate curriculum materials and teaching materials– high student attrition rates, low achievement levels of the students and

absenteeism from the classes– Low scores on SLC exam (School Leaving Certificate): for graduation– student-to-teacher ratio of 32 at the primary level and 35 at the lower

secondary level– teachers are untrained (58%)– teachers who had low motivation to do their jobs– lack of continuous assessment of students– school managers who were lax in supervising teachers and classrooms– overall apathy in the community toward academic issues.

The Quality Education Project• Dhulikel Municipality Schools prompted the creation• Addressed the issue of students dropping out before taking the SLC

– Royal Danish Embassy release funding to begin this three year project• International development agency Danida has educational priorities in Nepal

– Includes in-service training for school-related personnel, repairs and maintenance for school buildings and technical training for dropouts

– By the end of the first year primary school teachers already had acquired many new skills and a renewed interest in their occupation

– By the completion of the program, school teachers were;• more confident• much better at creating and implementing the curriculum• And better at classroom management

– Improvements were seen in the school itself as well• Better cleanliness• Better community-school relations• Higher attendance rate of both students and staff

– These were just a few of the accomplishments and the Quality Education Project continues to be successful today

School Sector Reform ProgramSeptember 22nd, 2009- December 15th, 2014

• Purpose: To improve the access and quality of Nepalese education– Focuses on basic education (1st-8th grade)– Aimed especially towards helping lower-class, rural families and their

children as well as women• Finances facilities such as classrooms and libraries• Helps build programs and separate schools for special-needs

children• Creates scholarships for the marginalized groups mentioned above• Improves the educational services and products used• Covers program management costs (except for government

salaries)

Save the Children: Nepal

• Primary focus is on education (mostly early childhood and basic school)

• Also deals with health issues, such as HIV and AIDS prevention and care

• Spends most of their resources on helping those from previously untouchable castes

• Makes programs available to children such as clubs, out of school classes, and Child-to-Child learning

• Over 5,000 Dalit (untouchable) children have received scholarships through the Nepal Children’s Scholarship Endowment Program (NCSEP)– Associated with “Save the Children”

• Largely a donation-based organizationhttp://www.savethechildren.org/site/c.8rKLIXMGIpI4E/b.6150545/

A Broader View

• One of many volunteer organizations• Encourages people to spend anywhere from a week to

months volunteering in less fortunate countries• Enables Nepal to charge less for schooling and health care

because they workers are non-profit• A Broader View has an orphanage program in Nepal that

provides shelter, food, clothing, and an education to children in Nepal who either do not have family or who’s families simply cannot support them

• Broader View also provides health care facilities run on volunteers from all over the world

The Growth & Future of Nepalese Education

• Last recorded number of schools in 1990:– 14,500 primary schools– 3,964 lower secondary level schools– 1,953 upper secondary level schools

• 1981: First five years of primary school became mandatory and free of charge

• Textbooks free of charge up until 3rd grade• To increase female enrollment, 5% of girls are awarded free

uniforms and monthly allowances• Literacy rates rose from 1% in 1950 to 23% in 1980• 1951: <5% of school aged children were enrolled; • 1991: 62% of all 15 year olds had been enrolled in school

The Growth & Future of Nepalese Education

• These changes and improvements are promising• Rapid rate of change suggests education will continue to

improve• Problems to address in the future:

– Delayed entry into the school system (enrollment rate continues to be low)

– Minimize repeated grades and problems with truancy• Boys retention stats: 45.5 % 1st grade, 20% 2nd grade, 18% 3rd grade

(1991)• Girls retention stats: 40% 1st grade, 19% 2nd grade, 14% 3rd grade

– Dropout rates remain extremely high• Poverty is the root of the problem!

Welcome Ceremony: Little Angels College

Students in Kathmandu

More Little Angels College Students

Teachers & The Goddess of Education

References• A Broader View Volunteers: retrieved from

https://www.abroaderview.org/volunteers/nepal/• Ashby, J. A. (1985). Equity and discrimination among children:

Schooling decisions in rural Nepal. Comparative Education Review, 29(1), 68-79

• Carney, S. & Bista, M. B. (2009). Community schooling in Nepal: A genealogy of education reform since 1990. Comparative Education Review, 53(2), 189-211

• Mumaw, C. R. (2001). Improving the quality of education in Nepal’s Dhulikel municipality schools. The Delta Kappa Gamma Bulletin, 67(2), 13-20

• Nepal School Sector Reform Program: retrieved from http://www.worldbank.org/projects/P113441/school-sector-reform-program?lang=en

References Continued

• Save the Children: retrieved from http://www.savethechildren.org/site/c.8rKLIXMGIpI4E/b.6150545/

• Shrestha, G. M., Lamichhane, S. R., Thapa, B. K., Chitrakar, R., Useem, M. & Comings, J. P. (1986). Determinants of educational participation in Nepal. Comparative Education Review, 30(4), 508-522

• Stash, S. & Hannum, E. (2001). Who goes to school? Educational stratification by gender, caste, and ethnicity in Nepal. Comparative Education Review, 45(3), 354-378

• Watkins, D. & Regmi, M. (2001). Attributing academic success and failure in Nepal. The Journal of Social Psychology, 134(2), 241-242