Journal of Development Innovations Vol. 4, No. 1, 2020
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Journal of Development Innovations Vol. 4, No. 1, 2020, 151– 178 ©2020 KarmaQuest International, Canada www.karmaquest.org/journal (ISSN: 2371-9540) Higher Education Reforms in Nepal: Review, Reflection, and Requisition Raj Kumar Bhattarai1 ABSTRACT This paper prepares a centennial timeline of key milestones in the higher education reforms of Nepal. Reflection of the initiatives on structure of higher education institutions, standing of the universities, students’ enrollment and production, creation of intellectual property, addition of new businesses, and commercial value addition from high technology exports have been assessed. Critics on the standings and reflections of the reforms have been revealed in consideration of the status of impactful research, knowledge and skills transfer, employment generation, students’ perceptual judgement on their own future in their own country. In anticipation of development and innovation in the higher education system of Nepal, a requisition note for the addition of a few higher education institutions and operationalization of a Scholastic Authority has been furnished. An outline of the Authority establishment and implementation framework is suggested for further discussions. JEL Classification: I23, O34, R38, J61 Keywords: Higher Education, Education Reforms, Intellectual Property, Immigrant Workers, Scholastic Authority 1Associate Professor of Management, Tribhuvan University, Nepal Commerce Campus, Kathmandu. E-mail: [email protected] Journal of Development Innovations Vol. 4, No. 1, 2020 1. Introduction The quest for excellence is seemingly a captive of self-centered tendency of the leaders and policy makers. Such tendency reduces the chance of reciprocal interdependence among the actors. Congruence in decisions and actions of higher education providers, industrial actors and public policy makers is essential because adaptive reflection of knowledge and skills necessitates for their thought and value preference. The evidence of developments and destructions in the course of human civilization are evidence of the fusion of human thoughts, skills, and value preferences. The quest of the day is promotion of a common platform of higher education institutes and public policy makers, which provides an ample avenue for the practice of evidence-based decisions and actions. Diversified knowledge and skills as well as power preference of individuals, institutions, and regimes is shaping the pace of humanoid progression. The rise and fall of an institution or a nation is contingent upon changes of never-ending nature. Thoughts about ourselves are leading toward the knowledge and skills that are taken as power to realize our value preference. Our quest for excellence demands for empirical research, teaching and constructive collaborations. Educational odyssey in Nepal began from antiquity and passed through the ages of Rajarshi Janak and Gautam Buddha as well as Lichchhabi, Malla, and Shah Dynasties. The country flourished in arts and culture in the Lichchhavi dynasty. The Malla dynasty further added architectural advancements. The country used to transfer-out its knowledge and skills beyond its border as Arniko transferred Pagoda style to China. Unfortunately, the odyssey reversed its path in the Shah dynasty; transfer-in of knowledge and skills increased dramatically, which is continuous till today. Eventually, original knowledge and skills of the nation cornered to the path of its extinction. The roots of higher education are connecting values and power preferences of the then regimes. Frequent changes of regimes and public policies indicate ineffectiveness of higher education. This paper argues that effectiveness of higher education depends on the value preferences of the regimes. An effective education system ensures the sustainability of a regime. National higher education system needs to ensure predictive validity of its policies and programs. The frequency of education reform commissions in Nepal indicates a distinct mismatch of higher education reforms and the power of knowledge and skills for socio- economic development of the country. 1.1 Knowledge and state power The practice of integrating knowledge and state power is continuous from the mythological epochs of Ramayana and Mahabharata. Princes used to go to their Guru’s Ashram in search of knowledge, which would be useful for them in the days ahead. Kings used to seek advice from their Gurus as and when necessary. Knowledge without power is meaningless but power without knowledge is disastrous. A pragmatic fusion of knowledge and power in a nation is necessary for public policy practices. This paper considers higher education institution (HEI) as think tank (TT) that are instrumental in bridging the gap between knowledge and power by enhancing the knowledge base; informing, educating and advising the policy-makers and the public at large; encouraging public discourses; and providing evidence to legitimate decision-making (Srivastava, 2011). Abundantly created knowledge from the very beginning of human civilization cannot be confined in the mental custody of an individual, but it can be captured in the records of institutions. Mastery in one or two areas is not enough to give solutions to the complex 152 Journal of Development Innovations Vol. 4, No. 1, 2020 problems of modern days. Institutional knowledge custody, mainly the digital memory, can accommodate more knowledge, which is useful to answer complex problems. The government of today, also considered as state power in this study, needs to harness the evidence, knowledge and ideas of TTs to address the diverse issues and complex problems. 1.2 Problem statement Higher education seems dearer for parents but heavier for the students in the context of Nepal. One of the reasons could be missing links between the HEIs, industrial actors, and public policy practitioners leading the society in multiple parallels. The paths are too traditional of ad hoc kinds. For instance, the HEIs are not offering appropriate programs and curriculums for the enhancement of national interests, and the government is not seeking the ways of maximizing national interests from the HEIs. Effective links between HEIs and government is essential for their reciprocal interdependence. Such dependency promotes understanding, coordination, and collaboration for national interests. The fundamental question is—how to bring the HEIs and the governments together for national interests? This paper argues for a common “Scholastic Authority” of the HEIs, industrial actors, and the government as an answer to the question. There is a long-standing concern of intellectual and professional exercises for public policy interventions. This concern is continuous from before the country’s unification to present time. Before 1990, use of HEIs, if any, were directed to support the regimes of different times. After the 1990 and federal setting of 2015 onward, it seems that mobilization of HEIs has gone far from the control of state power. In either case, policy interventions did not serve the national interests and priorities at their best. HEIs roles could not be seen in the public policy process as it could be. One of the main reasons was the absence of institutional space between HEIs and public policy-makers. Missing chain of targets: Evidence-based policy interventions are very rare in the history of Nepal. Rana rulers consulted British India neglecting the significance of policy dialogues within the country. Tendency of making ‘change of change’ pushed the country far from its prosperous potentiality. For example, when the people and political parties came against the Rana rulers, the first target was ‘the end of Rana regime’ but nothing as such for the second target—what’s next to the regime? The first target achieved, and state power came to the court of the King and political leaders, and a new regime started. Only the next regime started as ‘change of change’, i.e., we changed one regime and got another regime. In absence of a second target (firm commitment to the expectations of the post Rana regime), the country experienced a transition of about a decade. The then inexperienced King and leaders had no option than waiting for miracles or seeking and following the advicece of outsiders. Similar scenario also emerged after the major movements of 1990 and 2006. During the movement of 1990, the first target was ‘the end of Panchayat System’ and during the movement of 2006, first target was ‘the end of the monarchy’. All of the three costly movements could not incorporate a well-crafted second target. The practice of paying total efforts to the first target was unable to bring the opportunity of reaping the fruits of the second target for which the first target was set. In fact, the country is continuously suffering from the notion of ‘change of change’, i.e., change of one regime for the next regime, or a change from one government to the next. Missing links to agendas and concentration areas: Nepali HEIs are not well- connected with their peer institutions for knowledge creation and skills building agendas. They pursue the agendas of their own, which is usually constrained by resources. Such agendas are also not in balance—either missing or scattered or bulged. For instance, one can 153 Journal of Development Innovations Vol. 4, No. 1, 2020 find more institutions working on environment protection but few on technology development; similarly, one can find more in banking and finance but less in entrepreneurship or working