How to cite in APA

Raby, R. L., Sharma, S., & Bista, K. (2019). Complexities of higher education in Nepal. In K.
Bista, S. Sharma, & R. L. Raby (eds.) Higher Education in Nepal (pp. 283-291). New York,
NY: Routledge

20 Complexities of higher
education in Nepal
Rosalind Latiner Raby, Shyam Sharma, and
Krishna Bista

Abstract
The chapters provide a compelling assessment of what exists, how it was devel-
oped, where there are needed areas for change, and where it should go in the
future. Broadly, two kinds of theoretical narratives, modernity narratives and
postcolonial narratives, help guide how the chapters in this book interpret edu-
cational change. These narratives show how different agencies view the nuances
within the complexities of Nepal’s higher educational reform.

Modernity narratives
Modernity narratives view progress as part of a linear progression in which countries
develop. Defined by Western European and Anglo perspectives, this progression
includes movement towards democracy and a global capitalist economy. There are
noted benefits that result from policies and practices that align with the modernity
narrative in which higher education is a central instrument of societal change. The
pathways to development are framed by Western knowledge systems and are inter-
preted and upheld by higher educational institutions that have their origins in West-
ern Europe (Altbach, 2016; Stein, 2017). While linked to positive change, policies
and programs that are based on modernity narratives can also produce unequal
hegemonic relationships stemming from select universities that maintain the stand-
ard and other universities striving for that standard (Pashby & Andreotti, 2016).
At the foundation of modernity narratives is an undisputed belief that links
economic growth to more stable communities and nations, raised standards of liv-
ing, and better quality of life (UNESCO, 2017; OECD, 2015a). In this process,
higher education is designed to address challenges of an ever-changing socio-
political and economic landscape and does this by fulfilling a mission to prepare
competent and job-ready graduates (United Nations Sustainable Development
Goals, 2015). Universities are seen to be critical in this process because they pro-
vide cutting-edge research (Goal 4 and 9), are an important part of civil society
(Goal 16) and are promoters of global and local partnerships (Goal 17). The
chapters in this book by A.Thapa and Maharjan (Chapter 2); Gautam, Bhattarai
and T. Sharma (Chapter 4), and S. Thapa (Chapter 3) all confirm the importance
of the link between economic growth, higher education, and prosperity for Nepal.

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 284 Rosalind Latiner Raby et al.
Societal benefits
There is an undisputed philosophical belief based in modernity narratives that
explains that higher education results in graduates obtaining better jobs, higher
income, social mobility, and societal developmental (OECD, 2015b). Chapters
in this book confirm this pattern and provide examples of reform that result from
external humanitarian aid, Diaspora support, increased access, and more jobs.

Results from external humanitarian aid

Much of donor-directed educational development uses a humanitarian focus,
which views aid as a means to create societal change with the intent to strengthen
democracy and to provide job opportunities for the disenfranchised (Raby,
2000). Western aid organizations such as the Canadian International Develop-
ment Agency, the Australian Agency for International Development, USAID,
and the World Bank play an active role in the development of higher education in
Nepal, as shown in the chapter by Timsina (Chapter 12). The rationale for such
aid is that neglecting tertiary education would jeopardize longer-term socioeco-
nomic growth and hinder the progress of the Millennium Development Goals
that require tertiary-level training to implement (Chen, 2009). For example, the
founding of the Open University of Nepal was developed in consort with local
academics, diaspora academics, and international aid agencies as shown in the
chapters by Dhakal, Rasali, Adhikari, and Adhikari (Chapter 13).

Results from diaspora support

Emigrated Nepalese are critical players that support the capacity-building and con-
sequent development of Nepal. Diaspora members send money to relatives, which
has the dual effect of enhancing spending opportunities of their families and spark-
ing entrepreneurial opportunities as a result of extra income, which, in turn, plays
a key role in economic growth as shown in the chapters by Mainali (Chapter 7)
and Gajurel and Sharma (Chapter 8). Diaspora academics also create higher edu-
cational partnerships based on transnational connections with the intent to share
Western curriculum, pedagogy, and assessment practices as well as to facilitate
faculty and student mobility with the intent on building economic development
between Nepal and Western universities as shown in chapters by Acharya, Khadka,
Bista and Gaulee (Chapters 14–16), and Gajurel and Sharma (Chapter 8).

Results from policies that focus on increased access

Since 1991, there has been a 4% rise in higher education access in low income
countries (UNESCO, 2017). A movement towards massification is also evident in
Nepal. Access for the masses is the impetus for open distance learning programs as
shown in the chapter by Carm (Chapter 19). Specific programs that promote access
are helping to close the gender gap and to provide more opportunities to rural poor
and marginalized groups, as shown in the chapters by Thapa (Chapter 2) and Carm

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 Complexities of higher education in Nepal 285
(Chapter 19). Maintaining positive results from access is dependent on (1) what
type of education is offered (technical or vocational, personal development, profes-
sional, or academic), (2) the kind of students targeted, and (3) what students actu-
ally do with this education, (i.e., transfer to a university, work or drop out) (Raby &
Valeau, 2009). Attention to these variations are explored throughout the book.

Results from the creation of more jobs

Research shows that those with higher education are better employed and earn
higher salaries, even for those who drop out of college (Carnevale, Jayasundera, &
Gulish, 2016; Raby, Friedel, & Valeau, 2016; Chen, 2009). Related is the belief
that higher education provides students with a rigorous scientific mindset, a spirit
of curiosity, skills of self-reliance and individual responsibility, appreciation for
hard work, and entrepreneurship skills, all of which become the cornerstones for
building economic reform and development. In essence is the belief that higher
skilled populations contribute more to a nation than less skilled populations, as
confirmed in the chapters by Gautam, Bhattarai and Sharma (Chapter 4).

Maintained inequities
There are several ways in which modernity narratives also perpetuate inequality.
Some educational policies rely on a sorting mechanism that directs poor and
non-traditional students to educational experiences that are not equal in pres-
tige (Marginson, 2016) and, consequently, into jobs that are of lower status and
low salary (Shavit, Arum, & Gamoran, 2007). Some policies build inequities
as a result of neoliberalism, a lack of resources, and weak infrastructure, lim-
ited higher educational access, under-employment, brain drain, and standards set
forth by world class universities.

Neoliberalism inequities
While free-trade and global capitalism results in positive competition that benefits
higher educational institutions and students (Wildavsky, 2010), it also has several
negatives ramifications that maintain and enhance inequities. Some educational
development aid projects include market-oriented policies that end up costing
the receiving institution, as shown in the chapters by Nikku (Chapter 18) and
by Timsina (Chapter 12). A repercussion of neoliberalism policies is the expan-
sion of the private-sector in higher education. Kathmandu University utilizes the
private-sector model and, as Nikku shows, despite incorporation of ethical com-
ponents that emphasize quality and access, the profit margin dominates the mis-
sion. Students and their parents prefer private education, which is contributing to
social stratification and is widening the gender and class gap as shown by Khanal
(Chapter 5). A situation now exists in Nepal where more rich students attend pri-
vate institutions while poorer ones attend public institutions. Neoliberal policies
also intensify brain drain as students choose to leave the country in order to make

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 286 Rosalind Latiner Raby et al.
more money. as shown by Gajurel and Sharma (Chapter 8). Related is the rise of
the Nepalese recruiting educational agents whose job is to facilitate preparation
of Nepal students to attend US universities, as shown by Bista (Chapter 9).

Lack of resources and infrastructure

Nepal has a lack of resources dedicated to building its societal infrastructure and
higher education. Societal infrastructure inequities include limited funds to sup-
port road maintenance, electricity, and internet access. Educational infrastructure
inequities include low faculty salary, high student–faculty ratio, limited student
support services, and poor facilities maintenance, which affect student achieve-
ment. Specific higher educational infrastructure inequities in Nepal include poor
maintenance for buildings, outdated libraries, and lack of digital mobile technol-
ogy as shown in the chapters by Thapa and Maharjan (Chapter 2) and Carm
(Chapter 19). Finally, there is a lack of funding for rigorous research, compliance
with ethical standards of academic research, internships, and student exchanges,
as shown in the chapter by Acharya (Chapter 14).

Limited access
Competition for limited spaces results in raising tuition and channeling some
students into differential educational programs or institutions (Raby & Valeau,
2018). Higher education is out of reach for the poorest students in Nepal as
shown in the chapter by Khanal (Chapter 5). Despite some gains, gender inequity
and social class inequality still exist and minority and migrant students still have
no education because girls are forced into early marriage as shown in the chapters
by Thapa (Chapter 3) and Khanal (Chapter 5). Similarly, many of the very poor
are forced to drop out of college to go to work as shown in the chapter by Thapa
(Chapter 3). A focus on one minority group in Nepal, Bhutanese refugees who
are living in Nepal, shows they also have limited access to higher education as
shown in the chapter by Lakhwani (Chapter 10).

Under-employment
There is no guarantee that higher education graduates will be employed, that jobs
will be commensurate with a level of study achieved, and that these jobs will result in
social mobility (Raby & Valeau, 2018). In Nepal, there is a skills mismatch between
what is taught in higher education and the economic development needs dictated by
the labor market as shown in the chapter by Khanal (Chapter 5). As a consequence,
new graduates are increasingly unable to find jobs that match their skills and, as
Mainali shows, underemployment is a key reason for brain drain (Chapter 7).

Brain drain
Due to neoliberal policies, there is underemployment of higher skill workers. As
a result, an increasing number of graduates leave the country for the promise

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 Complexities of higher education in Nepal 287
of better jobs and more money, as shown in the chapters by Thapa and Maha-
rjan (Chapter 2), Mainali (Chapter 7), and Timsina (Chapter 12). Brain drain in
Nepal is intensified as many developed countries increasingly have immigration-
friendly policies that are aimed at attracting highly skilled workers, as shown by
Mainali.

World-class university
Educational rankings are a foundation for higher education and “who” defines
knowledge is as important as ‘what” is defined (Wildavsky, 2010). Designated
world-class universities define global flows of knowledge, frame what is qual-
ity, and create a context where those that want to develop status need to adopt
world-class standards (Altbach, 2016). Nepal has had expansion of higher edu-
cation in both number of institutions, locations of institutions, and access to
students. Although economic progress should result from the increasing number
of college graduates, the authors in this book agree that economic development
has not occurred due to Nepal’s universities not adopting world-class univer-
sity standards. Chapters by Nikku (Chapter 18), Gautam, Bhattarai, and Sharma
(Chapter 4), and by Sharma (Chapter 17) show that the lack of common core
standards, lack of professionalism, and lack of quality all contribute to produc-
ing mediocre graduates, which in turn are stagnating economic development.
Chapters suggest the need to change from “old ways” to meet global standards,
as shown by Acharya (Chapter 14), to update pedagogy and assessment as shown
by Khadka (Chapter 15), to add digital resources as shown by Acharya (Chap-
ter 14), to adopt the semester system as shown by Tripathi, Sharma and Subedi
(Chapter 11), and to adopt the US community college model as shown by Bista
and Gaulee (Chapter 16). In this manner, world-class university standards are a
benchmark (Altbach, 2016; Widavsky, 2010) that other higher educational insti-
tutions, such as those in Nepal, strive to achieve.

Postcolonial narratives
While modernity narratives posit that higher education is a force for social good,
postcolonial narratives maintain that “long-standing patterns of power that
emerged as a result of colonialism” (Maldonado-Torres, 2007, p. 243) mostly
reproduce inequities, such as poverty, differential access to higher education, -un
and under- employment, and corruption. Global capitalism and neoliberalism
policies, seen as positives in modernity narratives, are seen by postcolonial narra-
tives as a way to reinforce a society based on those with and those without capital
(Takayama, Sriprakash, & Connell, 2017). Finally, while modernity narratives
see the world-class university model as one to strive for, postcolonial narratives
claim that emulation simply reinforces inequities by claiming Western and Anglo
knowledge production as the norm, which, in turn, disenfranchises other forms
of indigenous knowledge production (Wildavsky, 2010).
Postcolonial narratives seek to provide educators with strategies to challenge
modernity and colonial narratives with the purpose of designing reform to

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 288 Rosalind Latiner Raby et al.
mitigate the effects of inequities (Yosso, 2005; Stein, 2017). Central in this pro-
cess is a rejection of Western universals in which non-West countries are labeled as
underdeveloped (Said, 1978). In turn, a “contemporary challenge is to theorize
alternative methodologies to address the problems imperialism continues to cre-
ate” (Byrd, 2011, p. xxvi). The chapters in this book provide examples of post-
colonial narratives that ask how Nepal got here, how Nepal is defining justice,
why old patterns continue, and where to go in the future. Postcolonial narratives
guide Nepal higher education in confronting remnants of inequities and chal-
lenging the developmental view of human progress.

Confronting remnants of inequities

The World Bank predicted that the post-monarchy era in Nepal would usher in
an “open moment” in which development would occur. However, it has not as
there is still an unstable political environment that is embedded with corrup-
tion, nepotism, and favoritism as shown in the chapters by Thapa and Maharjan
(Chapters 2 and 3). In addition, there are still issues regarding who gets access
to higher education, how well higher education is supported, and if there are
highly-skilled jobs for those graduates as shown in the chapters by Thapa and
Maharjan (Chapters 2 and 3), and by Timsina (Chapter 12).

Challenging the developmental view of human progress

Postcolonial narratives suggest the need to begin dialogue to resist universal and
nonlinear notions of development that are imposed upon some countries. Tim-
sina (Chapter 12) provides an example of this by suggesting that there is no
rationale that autonomy and decentralization are preferred methods other than it
being an outsider’s view and one that opens the door for World Bank interven-
tion in Nepal. Another example of challenging the developmental view of human
progress are the outreach projects by diaspora scholars who foster grassroots
reform projects that first define what is needed and then put into practice what
works for that specific location and specific field of study as shown in the chapters
by Sharma and Subedi (Chapter 11), and by Khadka (Chapter 15).

Public good
Postcolonial narratives encourage dialogue that asks which populations are
imagined to constitute “good”, who has had the power/authority/resources to
decide what is good, and challenges educators to imagine reforms to redesign
the application of public good. Three chapters show how modernity narratives of
public good are being challenged in Nepal. First, Nikku (Chapter 18) chides stu-
dents and parents’ motivation to send their students abroad to make more money
instead of serving “good” in their own conflict-stricken communities. The sec-
ond is a celebration by Joshi and Fynewever (Chapter 6) of Nepal being a “col-
lectivist and polychronicity society” (which contradicts the modernity narratives

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 Complexities of higher education in Nepal 289
of being individualistic) as shown in the choice of universities to close down after
the 2015 earthquake so that students can be involved in post-earthquake disaster
relief in own communities. The final is a redefinition of public good through
the introduction of information communication technologies (ICT) and Open
Distance Learning (ODL) at two higher educational institutions as a way to meet
sustainable development goals, as shown in the chapter by Carm (Chapter 19).

Global economy
Postcolonial narratives claim that neoliberalism policies and the global economy
result in an uneven global distribution of wealth. Authors in this book agree.
Thapa and Maharjan (Chapter 2) criticize Western neoliberal emphasis on global
economy and the aid agencies that are using their power to shape educational
vision and the political motive behind foreign aid. Likewise, Mainlai (Chapter 7)
points to the global economy as the reason why so many graduates leave Nepal as
they seek for jobs and better paying jobs.

Flows of knowledge
Postcolonial narratives encourage dialogue to challenge modes of knowledge
production defined by Euro/Anglo standards. The book provides examples of
diaspora scholars who use Western philosophies in their attempts to initiate grass-
roots reform that works within the Nepalese design. For example, the Open Uni-
versity of Nepal was developed to produce and disseminate knowledge under
public domain, but later changed to offer distance education, which serves even
more students as shown in the chapter by Dhakal, Rasali, Adhikari and Adhikari
(Chapter 13). Likewise, with help from the diaspora scholars, the Centre for
Distance learning now uses technology to conduct video-conferences in which
shared knowledge production on an equal stance can occur as shown in the chap-
ter by Carm (Chapter 19).

Conclusion
This book shows the ways in which Nepal higher education is changing to bet-
ter serve its population. It is widely accepted that countries in development look
to higher educational access as the entry point to change. The chapters in this
book clearly illustrate that access does not exist in a vacuum in Nepal as it is con-
nected to historical, sociocultural, political, and economic changes within the
wider Nepalese society as well as with relations with countries around the world.
Modernity and neoliberal policies continue to define Nepal’s higher education
and to influence the mindsets of scholars. Yet, there is acknowledgment that these
policies are ones that also contribute to the perpetuation of gendered, religious,
rural, ethnic, and social class inequities.
The chapters in this book show that new policies, programs, and collaborations
that have a commitment to social justice are ones that also tend to challenge

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 290 Rosalind Latiner Raby et al.
modernity and neoliberalism narratives, which have dominated Nepal’s higher
educational policies, and that leads to inequities. The new policies, programs, and
educational designs are beginning to mitigate the effects of inequalities in higher
education. Unique to Nepal is the essential role of Diaspora scholars who are
helping to build reciprocal knowledge production by avoiding a giver v receiver
perspective that implies unequal footing. Key among future changes are the elim-
ination of obstacles to educational access for those who are still deprived of an
educational opportunity, the building achievements in terms of professionaliza-
tion, quality, and access, and the building of a knowledge industry with a mission
of equity that serves Nepalese society.

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