Countries of the World/COUNTRYS.BIN/dp/0255/02558.txt

Text File | 1991-06-25 | 27KB | 454 lines

$Unique_ID{COW02558}
$Pretitle{235D}
$Title{Nepal
Chapter 7.    Education}
$Subtitle{}
$Author{George L. Harris}
$Affiliation{HQ, Department of the Army}
$Subject{education
schools
school
primary
students
secondary
high
instruction
children
training}
$Date{1973}
$Log{}
Country:     Nepal
Book:        Nepal, Bhutan, Sikkim, An Area Study: Nepal
Author:      George L. Harris
Affiliation: HQ, Department of the Army
Date:        1973

Chapter 7.    Education

     Lacking a uniform national education system, the country has six
different types of schools in operation: English schools, which offer primary
and secondary education along traditional British lines; national schools,
which offer 5 years of free primary education and use the Nepali language;
vernacular schools, which provide secular instruction of widely varying
caliber and content; Buddhist and Sanskrit schools, which are largely devoted
to religious training; and basic (Gandhian) schools, which stress training in
handicrafts. About one-third of these institutions are entirely supported and
controlled by the central government. Of the remainder some receive
grants-in-aid and are subject to nominal state control, but most are
independently financed and administered.

     The privileged access of members of the higher castes and wealthier
economic strata to education was for centuries a distinguishing feature of
Nepalese society. In the modern period the Ranas kept education the exclusive
prerogative of the ruling elite; the remainder of the population remained
largely illiterate. At the time of the overthrow of the Ranas in 1951, the
level of education among the people as a whole was extremely low. Literacy
among males was less than 10 percent; among women, less than 1 percent; and
only 1 child in 100 attended school.

     The next decade, however, was an era of rapid educational expansion.
School enrollments, facilities, teaching materials and budget allocations rose
to unprecedented levels as a result both of private initiative and an
intensive government education campaign, strongly supported by the United
States, India and various international agencies. By 1961 primary schooling
was being extended to 1 child in 7, secondary schooling to about 1 in 50.
Fourteen new colleges had been founded; the country's first university had
been organized; and 2,163 students were enrolled in higher education
institutions outside Nepal. Between 1953-54 and 1959-60 there was a 37-fold
increase in funds for education and a 43-fold increase in enrollments.

     Among villagers respect for education as an avenue to power and economic
success is growing, and demand for opportunity is becoming more insistent.
Many, however, continue to regard education not as a universal right but as
the privilege of a chosen few. Educational planners and policymakers
themselves have displayed some ambivalence, for although most have proclaimed
their eagerness to establish a system of universal primary instruction, many
have demonstrated in practice an inclination to sacrifice that goal in the
interest of higher education for the few.

     Debate among educational leaders has not been confined to the issue of
whether the education of a trained elite should take precedence over universal
primary schooling. There has also been lively discussion about the kind of
curriculum which should be offered. Western education in the British tradition
has dominated the field since it was introduced by the first Rana ruler who,
with many of his countrymen, saw in it the secret of Britain's power. The
English schools, which produced most of the national leaders of the twentieth
century, continue to outnumber others, especially at the secondary level. At
the same time traditional, religiously oriented instruction, such as is
offered in classes in Buddhist gompa (temples) and Sanskrit schools, continues
to have the support of some segments of Nepalese society, as does basic
education, a version of the Gandhian, craft-oriented system adopted in India.
Some local authorities, however, favor vernacular schools, in which pupils are
given rudimentary instruction in reading and writing in the local dialect.

     The establishment of a system of national schools in the mid-1950s
represented still another approach to the matter of educational content.
Arguing that the existing systems failed to reflect the cultural uniqueness
and the economic needs of the people, its supporters developed a new
curriculum, broader than that of the vernacular schools and stressing the
study of the Nepali language.

     Academic standards in the schools, while uneven, are generally low. The
large percentage of students who fail the examinations given at the end of
secondary school, after 2 years of college and after 4 years of college is
an indication that many are inadequately prepared. Not only are many teachers
without professional training, but there is a scarcity of textbooks in all
fields.

History

Buddhist and Brahmanic Scholarship (To 1846)

     Buddhism and Brahmanic Hinduism, with their emphasis on meditation and
metaphysical speculation, dominated education until the beginning of the Rana
period in 1846. Of the two traditions Buddhism was at first paramount, and
by the mid-seventh century its monasteries had produced a number of scholars
eminent in such fields as medicine, geography, astronomy and literature.
After the tenth century the number of Buddhist monasteries declined, except
in the northern region along the Tibetan border, and they were gradually
supplanted by Hindu temples as the principal centers of higher learning in
Nepal. Instruction was to a large extent tutorial, and, ideally, the system
brought teacher and student together as master and follower in a long-term
relationship (see ch. 8, Artistic and Intellectual Expression; ch. 9,
Religion).

     Apart from monastic education, which was never extended to the mass of
the people, little was available in the way of formal instruction. A few
schools were operated by Christian missionaries until their expulsion in
1768, and private tutors were sometimes employed. Later, guild training
provided some education for the children of particular occupation groups.

     The training of most Nepalese children consisted of an informal
apprenticeship in the work performed by adult members of the community. It
began in the family with simple tasks at the age of 4 or 5 and progressed to
adult tasks at 10 or 11.

Education for the Elite (1846-1950)

     During the 104 years of their rule, the Ranas remained opposed to any
form of public schooling for the people. Nevertheless, they and other members
of the ruling elite provided formal instruction for their own children to
prepare them to take their place in the governmental structure.

     Of primary importance to future development was the decision made by
the founder of the Rana regime, Sir Jang Bahadur Rana, to give his children
an English education rather than religiously oriented training in the
traditional manner. He was apparently motivated both by his admiration and
respect for Western technological achievements and by a desire to please the
British, who were increasingly strengthening their position in India. In 1854,
Jang Bahadur engaged an English tutor, who held classes for his children in
the Rana palace. His successor opened these classes to all Rana children and
formally organized them as Durbar High School. Other than a few Sanskrit
institutions in Katmandu and some village literacy classes, there were no
other schools in the country in the late nineteenth century.

     A brief shift in government educational policy came in 1901 when Prime
Minister Deva Shamsher Rana took office and called for sweeping educational
reforms. He proposed the establishment of a system of universal public primary
education, with Nepali as the language of instruction, and to open Durbar
High School to children who were not members of the Rana clan. Shamsher's
policies were so unpopular with those aroun