ABSTRACT

This book presents a showcase of discussions and critical perspectives about Nepalese higher education. Its chapters cover topics such as the impacts of local sociopolitical changes and global forces on public and private education, emerging online and distance education, administrative and intellectual leadership, quality assessment, graduate employability, global mobility of students, and the contributions of global diaspora of Nepalese scholars.

The central questions of the book are: What are some of the local and global academic interactions in Nepalese higher education and what are the current challenges and pathways for advancements and improvements? How can Nepalese higher education absorb twenty-first century values of quality education as external forces, while adapting new developments to local needs? How can scholars interested in Nepalese, South Asian, and international higher education create opportunities for scholarship and professional collaboration around research on higher education in this region of South Asia? What issues and perspectives can research and scholarship about Nepal’s higher education offer to international discourse in higher education?

The book offers information and resources to international educators interested in the dynamics of Nepalese and, by implication, South Asian higher education by introducing key challenges in policy and programs, innovative changes in curricula, effective approaches in technology application, and strategies for future integration of global reforms in education.

section Section I|22 pages

Introduction

chapter 1|20 pages

Telling stories, generating perspectives

Local–global dynamics in Nepalese higher education

section Section II|62 pages

Socioeconomic contexts and issues

section Section III|47 pages

Globalization and global issues

section Section IV|51 pages

Important trends and changes

chapter 11|14 pages

Making the shifts to change the system

Implementing the semester system through pedagogical training in Tribhuvan University

chapter 12|18 pages

“Decentralized” and “autonomous” higher education in Nepal

How Nepalese higher education derived these names and legitimacy

chapter 13|17 pages

Open University of Nepal initiative

Lessons learned from designing an institution of higher learning

section Section V|45 pages

Disciplinary and social perspectives

chapter 16|16 pages

Assessing Nepal’s higher education

Current status and future directions for the federal democratic republic

section Section VI|50 pages

Paths forward

section Section VII|11 pages

Conclusion