Purna Shrestha - Education Programme Manager - Nepal
Supporting Nepali teachers to improve the quality of education
Education advocacy in Nepal
Background of Nepal
Nepal is a landlocked country in South Asia, bordered by China to the north and by India to the south. The Himalayas run across Nepal's northern parts, and eight of the world's ten highest mountains, including Mount Everest, are within its territory. It has a population of around 30 million and is currently ranked 142 out of 177 countries in the Human Development Index. National per capital income is slightly under $1 a day, so poverty is widespread. From 1996 until 2006, Nepal suffered from a civil war between government forces and Maoist guerrillas.
Education in Nepal
VSO has worked in Nepal since1962 and much of the work has been supporting the basic education system. Since 1999 there has been a successful expansion of educational facilities in Nepal. The number of children out of school was reduced from over one million in 1999 to 700,000 in 2006. However the increase in numbers in school led to many problems and challenges in education particularly quality and relevance in educational management. These problems have made the goal of Education for All a challenge for the country.
Through 'Valuing Teachers' research, carried out by Purna Shrestha and VSO volunteers, they found that teacher representation in planning and implementation of education was very minimal. There was a lack of meaningful participation even when teacher representatives did actually sit in education meetings. Also teacher’s terms and conditions were poor and there was a great imbalance of male to female teachers. The lack of real participation meant that these issues were never discussed. This issue – the lack of a real ‘voice’ for teachers in education policymaking - became the basis of the VSO advocacy strategy in Nepal.
VSO interventions
- VSO staff developed a partnership with the teacher’s union and then arranged various volunteer placements. Over a number of years volunteers supported the union to develop their strategic planning and trained them on lobbying and advocacy techniques.
- The advocacy volunteer working with the Teacher’s union facilitated closer coordination with other NGOs and international NGOs such as Save The Children.
- VSO strongly advocated for improved teachers’ participation in meetings and workshops organised by the Department of Education.
- VSO and other local education NGOs joined actively with the local chapter of ‘Global Campaign for Education’. A volunteer helped GCE devise a Strategic Plan to improve education access and quality in the country.
- Since VSO in the UK and in other countries is also very involved with Global Campaign for Education, staff have been able to build good synergy of messages between issues in Nepal, and issues in international forums such as at UNESCO and the World Bank.
Teachers Conditions and Access to Insurance
One specific issue for teachers in Nepal was lack of Health Insurance. When VSO carried out focus group discussions they found that the low salary wasn’t the most important aspect of their conditions. Teachers wanted some sort of social security, especially during ten years of violence during the civil war. Since teachers, especially in rural areas, could be killed or forcibly recruited, they wanted health insurance or protection for their families. However since there were few opportunities for teachers to talk to policy makers this issue never got on the government agenda.
The support from VSO allowed the union to devise a clear plan to raise this issue in an appropriate way with government. The Valuing Teachers research provided solid evidence for the need for a scheme. And the improved links of union + GCE + local and international NGOs gave added strength to their demands.
As a result the government has now agreed to provide Life Insurance to teachers. The demands for health insurance has not been won yet and this campaign goes on. But buoyed up by the first initial success, and the improved opportunities for dialogue with government, teachers in Nepal now are much more optimistic.
Outcomes of the VSO collaboration
- As a result of VSO’s work the Nepal Government has committed to provide life insurance for all permanent teachers in Nepal.
- The teachers union now participates in round-table donor meetings, so are able to present their position in front of donors.
- A code of conduct has been developed for all education stakeholders to improve minimum standards. With this the union is able to lobby to reach these standards and thus improve teacher quality.
- For the first time the Teachers Union has taken gender equality on board. Now the union has an advocacy strategy to increase the number of female teachers as well as increase their participation in union affairs. We believe that having more female teachers will result in retaining more girl children in school.
- VSO had made new relationships with UNESCO and UNICEF, and also good relationships with other international NGOs through the VT advocacy.
- The profile of VSO has improved because of the Valuing Teacher’s research; - the Ministry of Education has acknowledged that VSO has played a key role in working on the issue of education and teachers.