Educational governance in Nepal: weak government, donor partnership and standardised assessment

ABSTRACT

In the context of educational globalisation, the role of supranational organisations in shaping the educational policy decisions, especially of aid-dependent countries, has increased. Using global governance as a theoretical framework and Critical Policy Sociology (CPS) as a methodological framework, this paper analysed key educational policy documents produced by the World Bank (WB) and the Government of Nepal (GON), as well as interviews conducted with 13 key educational planners in Nepal. The analysis found that the nature and scope of educational management has changed because of the shift from traditional government to a new governance mechanism. In this new mechanism, educational governance is shared among international donors, the private sector and the GON. As Nepal’s educational policy decisions are increasingly shaped by international donors, educational strategies recommended by them have shaped Nepal’s educational policy and planning decisions.

KEYWORDS:

• Nepal
• World Bank
• education
• governance
• partnership
• assessment

Acknowledgment

The author would like to thank all interviewees and anonymous reviewers.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1. After the political change of 1990 the GON changed 28 times. Even though the Nepali Congress Party was able to form a majority government in 1991, it could not complete the full term. After that, Nepal was mostly ruled by coalition governments that remained weak and instable. Three major political changes – the election of the legislative assembly in 2017, the formation of the GON led by Mr Oli in February 2018 and the unification of the two largest Communist parties in May 2018 – might lead the country towards stronger government. However, there is no certainty as long as Nepal remains a donor-driven country.

2. The current Constitution of Nepal has made a significant move towards decentralisation by dividing the structure of the state into federal, provincial and local levels. The governance and management of the Basic and Secondary levels of education fall under the jurisdiction of the local level. This new structural arrangement might change donors’ involvement in Nepal’s education.