Combining Education and Work; Experiences in Asia and Oceania: Nepal.

Overview & Synopsis

The 1971-76 National Education System Plan to modernize education in Nepal and the 1975-1980 Fifth Plan of His Majesty's Government, emphasizing vocational education to meet the country's technical manpower needs, are attempts to make education relevant to the needs and aspirations of Nepal by linking education with productive enterprise and egalitarian principles. Resulting reorganized school programs include: work programs integral to school curricula; character-building pre-vocational training (currently in fifteen subjects) integrated with general education; and an obligatory work period prior to higher levels of education. An "earning while learning" program and a plan to involve vocational education students in local development projects have been proposed. Little formal adult education exists but government agencies, cottage industries, private agencies, and national youth programs provide a small percentage of the out-of-school population with crafts, religion, agriculture, and literacy training. An equivalency program to give credit for prior learning and experience is planned for those reentering the educational system. Centering in the schools and youth organizations, several projects, including the Education for Rural Transformation Project and the Badikhel Drinking Water Project, have been successful in mobilizing communities towards rural development. (SB)