Teacher management in a decentralised school context in Nepal: Fuelling tension and dissent?

Abstract

This article explores the issues and concerns of Nepalese teachers in relation to Gaynor’s (1998) three models of teacher management (administrative, grassroots and alternative), constructed in the context of decentralisation reform around the world. The article suggests that the existing teacher management policies in Nepal are problematic and controversial, embracing both the administrative and grassroots models of teacher management and maintaining both the centralised and decentralised policies of teacher selection, promotion and financing. With problems similar to those of many developing nations in Africa, decentralisation of teacher management results in growing division and hierarchy among teaching staff, and favouritism, cronyism and corruption at the local level. The lack of equitable distribution of qualified teachers across regions and schools is another concern. The article concludes that the decentralisation of teacher management is problematic particularly in the countries where a dual approach to teacher management has been adopted and where the political, economic, institutional, technical and educational systems need to respond to the specific characteristics and needs of schools and communities as a whole.

Keywords:

• decentralisation
• school governance
• teacher management
• Nepal

Acknowledgements

The author is grateful to Carl Parsons, visiting Professor at the University of Greenwich and two anonymous referees for insightful and helpful comments on an earlier draft of this article.

Notes

1. Although Nepal is a small country (147,181 square kilometres), it has tremendous geographical diversity. It rises from less than 100 metres elevation in the southern Terai, to some 90 peaks over 7,000 metres, including the earth’s highest point Mount Everest (8,848 metres). From south-to-north Nepal is divided into three belts Terai, Hill and Mountain that occupy 17%, 68%, and 15% of the country’s area respectively.

2. Nepal’s Census 2001 enumerated 103 caste/ethnic groups, which are largely categorised into three groups, Bahun/Chhetri (upper caste), Janajati and Madhesi (middle caste) and Daliti (lower caste or untouchable).

3. A ruling elite caste of Nepal, who ruled for more than a century (1846–1951).

4. The use of para-teachers is of growing concern among teachers’ unions across South Asia and it is estimated that almost 6% of those employed in the region are para-teachers (Carroue 2010).

5. Nepal is divided into five development regions – Eastern, Central, Western, Mid-western and Far-western, vertically divided from the north to south and spanning from the east to west.

6. In Nepal, school education is divided into primary level (grade 1-5), lower secondary level (6-8), secondary level (9-10) and higher secondary level (11-12). Teachers are appointed separately to these levels with minimum qualifications of secondary, higher secondary, first university degree and second university degree respectively.