A White Paper on Open University of Nepal Initiative "Through the Light of Knowledge©" First Draft: December 2009 Official Release 1.0: June 18, 2014 Open University Infrastructure Development Board Ministry of Education, Government of Nepal Keshar Mahal Kathmandu +977-98511-33440 | [email protected] | openu.cffn.ca Open University of Nepal: A White Paper 1 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This document is an attempt to make an organized presentation of ideas contributed formally or informally by hundreds of individual contributors, institutions, and published documents. It was first written in 2009 and has been revised time and again to address the evolving contexts and availability of new information. The following collaborating organizations are especially acknowledged: Non-Resident Nepali Association (NRNA), which made Open University of Nepal Initiative (OUNI) its Flagship Project and provided platforms for organizing workshops, popularizing the mission among Diaspora Nepalese, providing access to its network through its national coordination councils and its world conferences, Government of Nepal, which agreed to build Nepal's national open university through a broad collaborative front and helped provide space and a mandate to the Open University of Nepal Initiative Steering Committee (OUNISC) to reside and work in the Ministry premises between 2010-2012, University Grant Commission, which is the premier institution that advances the common interests of Nepalese universities and disburses the public funds to the universities, has provided suggestions and documents relevant to Open University, and has been supporting the initiative, Athabasca University, which injected much needed knowledge, experiences and insights on open university movement and institution building, helped take ideas of international practitioners to Nepal's stakeholders, and mobilized its staff for intellectual works, Canada Foundation for Nepal, which brought forward the first proposal for Diaspora Nepalese collaboration for the mission in NRNA forums, constantly advanced the proposal until it was accepted and owned by the larger NRNA community, and helped produce and disseminate intellectual property for the mission, Open University of Nepal Initiative Strategic Committee, which galvanized the work of the mission until the formation of the Open University of Nepal Initiative Steering Committee by the Cabinet of Ministers, Government of Nepal. Open University of Nepal Initiative Steering Committee, which galvanized the work of the mission until the formation of the Open University Infrastructure Board Nepal by the Cabinet of Ministers, Government of Nepal. Contributions of these entities, many NRNA national chapters, especially NRN- Canada, and many individual contributors have helped produce ideas presented in this document. Especially acknowledged are the self-inspired youth contributors who volunteered at the Steering Committee office but were unceremoniously removed from their role by the oncoming OUN Development Board executive. All credits belong to those very individuals whose ideas, work, time, and support made it possible to produce this document. -Author Open University of Nepal: A White Paper 2 What is White Paper? A white paper is a technical report or guide prepared to help the policy makers to understand an issue, solve a problem, or make a decision. It describes the what, why, where, when and how aspects of the proposition. Businesses and governments use white papers to decide whether to enter into a complex undertaking that requires significant resource commitment. White papers are used in participatory democracy as tools for providing reasonably detailed information for the members to be able to make informed comments and to ultimately decide on the merit of the proposition. As and when it needs a legislation to be passed by the parliament, it is a practice in many countries that the government presents the legislative Bill along with a white paper. Such white paper lays the policy and technical ground upon which the proposed bill should be passed. The parliament members study the white paper to understand the basis for support or opposition to the bill. Open University of Nepal: A White Paper 3 Executive Summary Part I: Context and Opportunity "If your plan is for one year, plant rice. If your plan is for ten years, plant trees. If your plan is for one hundred years, educate your children." – Confucius, Chinese Philosopher Democratization of education and massification of learning has been a cherished pursuit of nations in the 21st century, Nepal's aim being no different than every other nation in the world. We as an advancing society are deeply interested in making education accessible to each and every citizen. Such ambition often referred to as “education for all” requires that we dismantle all barriers in the access to education, including the barriers of wealth, race, caste, gender, geographic location, work circumstances, past preparedness, time of access, pace of learning, place of learning, and disability. We are seeking effective, efficient, affordable and sustainable ways and means for achieving this goal. Although substantial efforts have been made in providing mass access to primary education, higher education has not so far become a matter of national priority in Nepal. At individual level, however, excessive numbers of Nepalese youth are taking foreign employment with outflow of more than 1500 youth a day. They are facing disadvantage in not having technical, vocational, and language training before taking those jobs. More critically, the country has depleted youth resource in agriculture and industry, thereby subsequently raising the wages in these sectors to an extent that it is no more economical to farm or run business in Nepal in traditional ways. Their consequences will come in many fronts. The most immediate consequence will be that: (1) the agriculture and industry will be forced to concentrate on productivity, and (2) service economy and knowledge economy will occupy large part of the economy in the future. Besides this situation, tens of thousands of highly educated and talented youth have been going to other countries for studies every year and not returning back, a loss for Nepal’s development. Equipping people with necessary physical skills and mental tools for navigating through the technical complexities brought in by material and intellectual developments of the world has thus become increasingly important. Being able to live competently, ethically, and in an enriched way amidst a flux of worldly materials, things, information overload, and technology dependence has also been equally important for us as social humans. We can no longer prepare competent human resource in traditional ways where rote learning has become mainstream. The new paradigm in education and development is not about traditional nationalism which sought to change the shape, size and face of our country. The new paradigm is about transforming the lives and minds of people so that their potential and excellence are fully harnessed. The new paradigm is about how we align our skills, knowledge and innovation with the needs of our economy, culture, society, and natural endowments. The new paradigm is about making our society an intellectual, prosperous, sustainable, always-learning and always innovating one. The new paradigm is about personal renewal of each and every one of us in a way that we are progressing forward through a staircase of action, dedication and knowledge. The new paradigm is about a rediscovery and renewal of our unity as people and the unity of our nation with other nations of the world. The new paradigm is about how we Open University of Nepal: A White Paper 4 collaborate, co-develop, and co-own with the world in pursuit of excellence in skills, knowledge and innovation. Today mobile devices, Internet and technologies have emerged as pervasive means to spread an idea or information originating from one person to the entire world at an instance. They have opened a door to make a lecture delivered in a hall in Kirtipur to be watched by all interested learners of Nepal simultaneously. It has made it possible to transmit inconceivable amount of information in a fraction of time. Book collection equivalent to a library can be carried in a single mobile device, which also allows us to run hundreds of software applications in it. Technology has thus created a new purpose and possibilities for all. The excitement at the grassroots is such that the illiterate people want to become literate and the literate want literacy in English language so that they can make better use of technological devices. These devices and technologies have increased the contact and connectedness among distant people, institutions and businesses. They can also act as means to develop fellowship, affinity, and meaningful relations among distant people. Proper exploitation of this opportunity can bring transformative changes in how we spread education, how we deliver government services, how we do business, how we handle our economy, how we prosper intellectually, and how we relate to and collaborate with the world. On the contrary, to not have right arrangements for a worthy use of emerging technologies would amount to giving room for their use towards wrong ends. We, therefore, have collective social responsibility to exploit the technology for serving people and society in an ever better and productive way. Technology has enabled our human dialogues to transcend