The 21st CS Nepal project introduced student-centred teaching methods and digital skills in every province of Nepal. As the project concludes, online courses and master’s programmes will continue to thrive.
Group photo.
Photo: 21st CS Nepal

Nepal’s land area is less than half that of Finland, but most of it is made up of difficult-to-navigate Himalayan mountains. This is also reflected in the ethnic diversity: over 120 languages are spoken in Nepal, 14 of which are official languages.

When a teacher wants to attend a course, they might have to travel for a couple of days just to get there.

For this reason, project manager Graham Burns from JAMK University of Applied Sciences sees it as a remarkable achievement that the 21st CS Nepal project, which developed teacher education, reached enthusiastic teachers from all over the country.

“In Finland, people complain if they have to come to work once a week,” he chuckles.

Burns says that the dedication of Nepali teachers to updating their skills during the four-year project was astonishing.

Popular Workshops

The HEI-ICI project updated the skills of Nepalese teachers for this century: more and more schools are now using modern technology and putting students at the centre instead of the “all-knowing” teacher.

Nepal’s new constitution states that the country’s education policy must be developed. Teachers should have at least a master’s degree and access to education must be more equitable.

The project aimed to address these changes by holding workshop-style training sessions, creating two new master’s programmes, many open online courses and improving access to education for women and marginalised groups.

Indra Raj Upadhyaya, the project coordinator at Tribhuvan University, says the project’s workshops were a great success. He works as the deputy director of the university’s Open and Distance Education Centre.

“Participants said these were the only workshops where they fully immersed themselves in doing and learning.”

Workshops were held in all seven provinces. Upadhyaya is currently reviewing course feedback, and everyone seems to say that the training was excellent.

Many Leave Nepal

One of the teachers who participated in the courses was Kabindra Khadka, who teaches science and technology to secondary school students in the high-altitude Dolakha municipality.

“I use many digital tools,” he says in a video interview on the project’s website. He holds online lectures and uses software like Phet.Colorado for simulations. The internet connection is reasonably good, so accessing the web is possible, Khadka says.

“Just like fresh air and food, digital technology is essential for everyone.”

Khadka teaches digital skills in his village and even runs his own YouTube channel, where you can catch a glimpse of mountain life. 

Graham Burns says that seeing dedicated teachers like Khadka, who believe that Nepal’s development requires skilled people, makes his work rewarding.

“There are also many young Nepalis who are disappointed with the slow pace of development in the country. They may pursue further studies abroad and stay there,” Burns says. “Luckily, there seems to be more who want to stay and work for the development of society.”

Other Areas Were Also Successful

The project also developed a massive open online course, or MOOC, and two master’s programmes in digital education. The second cohort started in the summer months in Finland and, according to Upadhyaya, the programmes have been fully booked. The MOOC online courses are just beginning.

“They were a big challenge because nothing like that had been done in Nepal before,” Burns says.

It took time for everyone to realise that an online course involves more than just coding lecture slides into HTML format. During the project, Nepali teachers and coordinators visited Finland to learn about MOOC environments, and eventually a person who had studied abroad was found in Nepal to handle the technical implementation of the courses.

In Finland, MOOC platforms have been widely used for about a decade and can be very cost-effective, since thousands of people can complete the same online courses.

“The challenge is keeping people interested,” Burns says. “Courses need to be interactive and engaging, otherwise people will drop out. It’s very common for a thousand people to start a course, but for only two hundred to finish it.”

According to Burns, the Nepali Ministry of Education is closely monitoring the development of the online platform.

“They would like to make it a national standard,” he says.

Participation of Women and Marginalised Groups

Burns is pleased that the project reached every province in Nepal, which helped engage different ethnic groups. Achieving full gender equality was too big a goal for a four-year project, but special attention was paid to women and girls.

“For example, participants received tools on how to guide teenage girls so that they remain in school,” he says.

Indra Raj Upadhyaya says that an equal number of male and female teachers were consciously invited to the courses, and schools were required to send at least one female teacher.

“However, some campuses didn’t have a single female teacher on their staff, so this didn’t fully materialise.”

In most provinces, however, the female quota was at least nearly met.

“Some female participants even told me that if women’s participation hadn’t been emphasised in the invitation letters, they might not have been able to join,” Upadhyaya says.

Will Finland Continue to Participate?

Upadhyaya stepped in as project coordinator mid-project and has learned a lot about project management. Now he dreams of a future project where digital learning and new skills can be expanded even more comprehensively across the country.

“We have 77 districts, and it would be beneficial to bring the lessons to them,” he says.

In the future, he would also like to make the workshops a bit longer, as he felt that in two days, not everyone could fully grasp everything.

“It would be important to ensure that everyone keeps up.”

On the technological side, he would like to introduce the opportunities offered by rapidly developing artificial intelligence in education.

Graham Burns is concerned about whether Finland will continue to be involved in such development processes, as it is cutting development cooperation funding. Long-standing partnerships are under threat.

“Other funders will come in, and it may be difficult for us to get back to the same tables.”

 

Text: Esa Salminen