Impact of Political Change on Nepal's Education Policy

Abstract

Nepal, a small landlocked Himalayan country economically, politically and geographically sandwiched between India and China. Around 40 per cent population is still illiterate. According to the recent data available with UNESCO Institute of Statistics (UIS), male and female literacy rate is 71.7 per cent and 46.7 per cent respectively. Nepal Living Standard Survey (NLSS 1995-96) indicated that around 50 per cent population lived in poverty. The situation most probably has not changed as the conflict that emerged in 1996 and lasted for about a decade. Furthermore, Nepal is a multi-religious, multi-lingual and multi-ethnic country with a population of approximately 27 million. Hinduism is the leading religion (85 per cent), followed by Buddhism (11 per cent), and Islam (4.2 per cent). Practitioners of indigenous animist religion and Christianity constitute about 3.6 per cent. National official language is Nepali which is spoken by 60 per cent of population. Such diversity, feudal system, political instability and unjust socio-political structure have been a stumbling block  in the development of Nepal. Here, the focus of discussion will be on the changes in political sphere in Nepal and how it impacts the education policy.