Journal of Education and Research

Journal of Education and Research, March 2014, Vol. 4, No.
1
Goals of Education 1
JER
KUSOED
ISSN: 2091-0118(Print)/2091-2560(Online)
2014 JER
Journal of Education and Research
March 2014, Vol. 4, No. 1, pp. 1-5
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/jer.v4i1.10709
Editorial
Goals of Education: Protecting and Promoting Divergence and Sustainability
Since the beginning of this century and even before that we have constantly been
discussing what the goals of education for the new century should be (King & Palmer,
2013; World Education Blog, 2014). This debate of new goals is still going on as we
have almost approached the year 2015 the !nal year of the Millennium Development
Goals (MDG) and also of the goals of Education for All (EFA). These two groups of
goals dominated the international development scenario in such a way that development
in almost all developing countries revolved around these goals. As the present pattern of
development games are going to continue and as there still are development givers and
development receivers in the world, naturally then, we will have new goals and new targets
for the period beyond 2015. Organizations like UN and the World Bank one day will
declare new targets for adult literacy, for child mortality, for poverty reduction and so on
and all developing countries will follow those goals and targets and all donors donations
revolve around those same goals and targets.
In this process of setting developmental goals and targets we have been ignoring many
other important aspects that are vital to development. More importantly, we are ignoring to
realize that we need to reengineer our development practices and this should begin with re-
understanding the meanings of development. The present practice of seeing development
in the sense of modernization is not going to contribute to enhancing the life quality
of millions of people around the world. This modernization based approach has been
contributing towards homogenizing the world which is against the fundamental nature of
the world. As we know the world is diverse, naturally as well as socio-culturally, obviously
then, this homogenizing approach based on universal values is not going to work.
It is not that universal values are not important. They are of course important for
understanding patterns and trends at a larger or macro scale but when it comes to the
question of peoples at their locales in many parts of the world, local values are more
meaningful. Universal values lack speci!city and are less related to people and their
worldviews in their everyday context and have made the whole process alien to them.
Moreover, as we have been experiencing around the world such developmental values
are based on the principle of maximization of consumption and exploitation which is not
sustainable (Tilbury, 2003).
Journal of Education and Research, March 2014, Vol. 4, No. 1
2 M. N. Parajuli
There is thus an urgent need to change the ways we have been following so far. This
change demands not just some simple discrete moves but major shift in our approaches and
practices. Therefore, there is a need for rede!ning the whole meaning of our education,
development, and our values behind these processes. The paradigm shift is to be taken in
moving from universal to localized values and needs as well as in realizing that there are
multiple understandings regarding well-being and learning. The shift is now to be taken
in moving from growth and material achievement to seeing these with the eyes of wisdom
and values of protection and the shift is to be taken in going towards learning for wisdom,
learning for humane thinking, and learning for humane living.
There are many other things that need some kinds of shift. In most developing
countries developmental and educational activities began by rejecting local wisdom,
knowledges and practices. This is because these local knowledges were perceived to be
irrational and thus incapable for development; requiring external Western knowledge
for support (Liz, 2014). More critically, along with the rejection of local knowledge base,
the modernized development began by inculcating the minds of local people that they know
nothing and are thus incapable of carrying out any developmental activities. This is why
schooling and development practices carried out in developing countries are often centrally
planned and implemented and thus hierarchic and structured. This is why in some parts
of rural Nepal people say If you send your son to school he would be lost forever. This
is a very clear example of the fact how our present schooling has failed to contribute to
rural transformation. Similarly, an excerpt from an old woman from a remote rural area in
Nepal shows how locals are being rejected in the local development practices. What an
illiterate, low caste, poor, woman like me can do for the development of this village? In
her understanding, development is to be carried out by thulo manchhe (big people) and
she can have no role in this process. Besides, we can see how she was devaluing herself.
This is the outcome of the past 60 plus years developmental and educational practices.
This showed that we need to rede!ne what we mean by education. That is, we need to
question: should we be continuing with the universal and modernized values of education
that promoted "a mechanistic view of the natural environment as detached and wholly
different from human nature; and a totalizing pedagogy that controls every moment and
movement of students" (Arenas, 2007, p. 166)? As Arenas (2007) claims, these were all
features that emerged during the seventeenth and eighteenth century and became an integral
part of the ethos and organization of modern schooling.
This is where we need to change ourselves and look at our own local values and
practices and humanize our science, our development and our education. Education should
now mean promoting local knowledge and wisdom and promoting divergence. As noted
above, diversity is the fundamental characteristics of the world. Locales of the world and
the people living in those locales are privileged with natural and socio-cultural diversity
they are diverse in themselves and are diverse in comparison to others. This diversity
gives them their own unique identity, knowledge and wisdom, values and worldviews,
and heritage and opportunities. Hence, promoting divergence and honoring all cultures
will be a pathway towards designing and practicing that education that will be promoting
equity and social justice and development with sustainability. This in turn will eventually
contribute to social transformation.
In order to go for such changes we need to de-formalize and reengineer our schooling.
This means not only to promote non-formal education or making #exible arrangements
in formal schools but to deconstruct the whole notion of formal schooling and moving
towards promoting more localized systems of communities of learning and practices. With
such an approach we take education to everyday life context and make it based upon local
knowledge base, worldviews and practices and needs. The local knowledge systems are
vital to maintain and promote uniqueness and diversities as well as cohesion and oneness of
the given locale. Furthermore, the local knowledge systems can provide better strategies to
address challenges and problems the local areas have been facing. The education that we
practice should be able to respond to all external and internal challenges and opportunities
present in a given time and context and this is possible only by practicing that system of
knowing and educating that is open and #exible, goes on as a life-time process, and where
there are no de!nite teachers and learners but all play active roles. That is, such practice
recognizes skills, knowledge and wisdom people have and accepts that all, irrespective of
their social positions children, youths, and adults; women and men, poor and rich have
something to know and something to educate.
Such modes of knowing and educating derive from nature and nurture the nature
because conservation and sustainability are behind the design philosophy of such
practices. Such a practice not only teaches us for utilizing and preserving the available
resources but also motivates to add on from our side (Parajuli, 2014). What is important
is that such education derives from ecological thinking as against the economistic
thinking of modernized education. Ecological thinking is making ourselves aware of
our responsibilities towards the place and people we live in and with. This motivates us
towards dialoguing and interacting with other peoples, cultures and nations and sharing
the knowledge and heritage and thus prepares ourselves to be able to contribute toward
social transformations in broader perspectives in the communities and nations where we
live. All these are not possible from the present school systems that are largely globalized,
marketized and standardized and are not much concerned with aspects like care, affection,
and justice.
How can we then realize this need of de-formalizing schooling and adopt more open
and #exible modes of knowing and educating? Is it possible to make a complete paradigm
shift in our practices? Can we transform the present highly structured and centralized
school or education system into #exible, plural and open systems? At the beginning
this would look like simply not possible and even leading towards a chaotic situation.
4 M. N. Parajuli
Modernized schooling and its set curriculum and textbooks, well de!ned learning
outcomes and assessment system to measure the learning, periodized timing, disciplined
relations, hierarchic management, etc. have already become directly and indirectly part of
everyday life of not only of those who were/are schooled but also of those who were/are
not schooled. In such a context, it is really dif!cult to think and envisage a completely
different practice of knowing and educating going beyond the modern schooling of which
most of us are so much habituated.
There is of course no de!nite answer to how de-formalizing the existing schooling
is to be accomplished but it is clear that such change should lead to recognition of local
modes of knowing and educating and develop these modes into loosely organized and well
coordinated learning and sharing practices with enough open and #exible pathways and
ladders and bridges. It is also important that such change process also borrow from the
knowledge developed elsewhere because this would greatly facilitate the transformation
process. Further, the change needs to be discussed, debated and deliberated so that the needs
of all actors and communities could be addressed. It is important that all actors realize this
need and be actively involved in this process. Such realization would lead to begin the
process of knowing and educating as per the everyday needs of the people and communities
eventually contributing to the process of social transformation (Sterling, 2008).
De-formalizing the schooling and its reengineering is essential to take it out from the
control of the few. Schooling these days has remained a bureaucracy based structured
system and thus it is essential that we de-bureaucratize it. If we really want to realize
the goal of education as a right for all, we need to bring it to the civil space or to
communities and people. To achieve this purpose, we need to reformulate the meaning,
purpose, strategies, and approaches of education making it pluralistic, inclusive, just, and
transformative. At the same time it is also necessary to rede!ne its linkages with other
social processes and phenomena so that the process of knowing and educating could be
directly linked to life quality and its sustainability of the people.
Inability to reengineer the schooling or the whole education practice would simply
contribute to strengthening of hierarchies of privileges and continuation of reproduction of
exclusion, inequality and injustice. Forces like marketization and globalization will be in
full swing leading to gradual homogenization of human society in an unobstructed manner
and disappearance of local cultures and values and knowledge base from the world. With
such disappearance of diversities the world would lose all its meaning of being a vibrant
world. Because it is only the local knowledge base a synergetic product of socio-cultural
world people have developed and the natural world where they live and prosper for a
sustainable and resilient lifestyle that can provide ways to cope with the challenges and
utilize available opportunities. In absence of such synergetic knowledge, communities
would not be able to cope with natural and socio-cultural hazards that have been growing
and intensifying lately. All these could even cause risk to human survival and well being.
In conclusion, it can be said that the discussion about the goals of education needs to be
directed not only towards setting targets on providing access to schooling to all, improving
their retention and increasing their learning achievements but also to assess whether the
education today is capable of contributing to transform the lives of people. The discourse also
needs to be directed towards what education is (Sterling, 2001) or to the question of whose
education. Such discourse would provide a strong base for expanding the idea of education
for sustainability, diversity, and resilience and eventually for social transformation.
References
Arenas, A. (2007). The intellectual development of modern schooling: An epistemological
analysis. Universitas Humanistic, 64, 165-192. Retrieved from http://revistas.javeriana.
edu.co/index.php/univhumanistica/article/view/2199/1448
King, K., & Palmer, R. (2013). Post-2015 agendas: Northern tsunami, southern ripples?
The case of education and skills. International Journal of Educational Development,
33(5), 409-425. doi:10.1016/j.ijedudev.2013.06.001
Liz, M. (2014). Inclusive education in Nepal: Assumptions and reality. Childhood: A
Journal of Global Child Research. Advance online publication.
doi:10.1177/0907568213514778
Parajuli, P. (in press). Searching for Annapurna: Cultivating earthbound resilient abundance
in the anthropocene epoch. In T. LeVasseur, P. Parajuli, & N. Wirzba (Eds.), Sustainable
agriculture and the worlds religious traditions. Lexington, Kentucky: The University
Press of Kentucky.
Sterling, S. (2008). Sustainable education: Towards a deep learning response to
unsustainability. Policy & Practice: A Development Education Review, 6, 63-68.
Sterling, S. (2001). Sustainable education Re-visioning learning and change (Schumacher
Society Brie!ng No. 6). Dartington, UK: Green Books.
Tilbury, D. (2003). Emerging issues in education for sustainable development. In B.
Bhandari & O. Abe (Eds.), Education for sustainable development in Nepal: Views and
visions (pp. 29-40). Hayama, Japan: International Institute for Global Environmental
Strategies (IGES).
World Education Blog. (2014, June 4). The Muscat agreement: New proposed post 2015
global education goal and targets announced today. Retrieved from http://efareport.
wordpress.com/2014/06/04/the-muscat-agreement-new-proposed-post-2015-global-
education-goal-and-targets-announced-today/
Mahesh Nath Parajuli
School of Education, Kathmandu University
mahesh@kusoed.edu.np
6 L. Kuusilehto-Awale and T. Lahtero
JER
KUSOED
* Corresponding author.
Email: lea.kuusilehto-awale@jyu.!
2014 JER
March 2014, Vol. 4, No. 1, pp. 6-23
Finnish Case of Basic Education for All With Quality Learning Outcomes
Lea Kuusilehto-Awale* and Tapio Lahtero
University of Jyvskyl, Jyvskyl, Finland
Abstract
This article views behind the success of the Finnish basic education in the PISA
assessments in the years 2000, 2003, 2006 and 2009. Success is here de!ned not
only as excellent learning outcomes in reading literacy, mathematics and science,
but also as a high level of educational equity and equality. The achieved outcomes
are attributable to several factors, of which this article addresses especially the
basic education reform of 1972-1977 and the university based teacher education
leading to a masters degree. Additional attention is paid to the autonomy of the
municipalities (counties), schools and teachers in building and implementing the
curricula, on the respect for learning and teachers in the Finnish society, and on
the role of the Finnish evaluation system in supporting the students learning.
Developing education is a long range effort continuing across election terms, as
education is understood to be a cornerstone for the development of the society. This
fact justi!es our describing some of the Finnish national background bases for the
comprehensive basic education system, where all students study in the same group.
Keywords: Education reform, teacher education, municipal autonomy, respect for
learning, diagnostic and self-evaluation, classroom management
Introduction
Before World War II and after it, having lost the war, small Finland in the faraway North
was one of the poorest countries in Europe well into the 1950s and the 1960s. The then
basic education comprised the dual system of dividing children at about age 11 after primary
school years 1-4 into either general secondary or vocational education avenues. Access to
secondary education was primarily possible for children in urban areas and dependent on
the socioeconomic background of the family. Access to tertiary education was even more
limited. Hence, the education level of the nation was rather low (Sarjala, 1981; 2008).
Since the year 2000, Finland has been in the limelight of international educators
interest, when the !rst PISA(Programme for International Student Assessment) results
were published. Finland was a top achiever in reading literacy, mathematics and science
Finnish Case of Basic Education 7
skills of ninth grade school leavers. The success was high in 2003 and 2006 (Organisation
for Economic Co-operation and Development [OECD], 2001; 2004; 2007). It continued
also in 2009 (OECD, 2010), as shown in Table 1.
Table 1
Finlands PISA Results in 2009 (OECD, 2010)
Finland's results Score points OECD countries All participants
Reading literacy 536 2nd 3rd
Mathematics literacy 541 2nd 6th
Science literacy 554 1st 2nd
The Finns were taken by surprise in 2000, and have been so ever since, because in
Finland teaching is not done for national or international testing. Finnish teaching has the
objective of getting every student to learn as well as possible and to ignite a love for life-
long learning. Education is a constitutional right for all regardless of their socio-economic
status, gender, religion, ethnicity, political orientation or age. Recently, Finland has also
participated successfully in the TIMMS and PIRLS evaluations.
The continuing top placements in the PISAassessments are one side of the coin.
However, Finland differs from the other participants in that both the inner school variance
in achievement and the variance between the schools throughout the country are very
small, below the OECD average. The conclusion is that the Finnish comprehensive basic
education school produces both quality learning outcomes and a high level of equity
and equality (Kupiainen, Hautamki, & Karjalainen, 2009; Kuusilehto-Awale, 2011;
Kuusilehto-Awale & Lahtero, 2012; Simola, 2005). This paper will look not only into
speci!c factors of mainly the post 1970s education system, but also into the wider societal
context behind the success of reforms and the societal support for education and learning.
Education and Teaching Policy for Learning, Not for Evaluation
In developing the Finnish education system and implementing the Finnish education
reforms, the objective has not been in outscoring the rest of the worlds nations in
international assessments, or scoring high on ranking lists. The Finnish pedagogical ethos is
very different, focusing on equal access to education for all since the 1970s, and developing
teacher capacity.
International comparative evaluations have, on one hand, emerged from the
globalization and interconnectedness of the world. However, on the other hand, they are
a product of neoliberal politics that has pervaded also education policy, reforms and their
implementation since the late 1970s. In Finland, as well as in the other Nordic welfare
countries, the adoption of neoliberal education policy has been in alignment with the
global mainstream, and it has surprisingly been advanced since the 1980s regardless of
the political coalition in power, whether headed by a Conservative, a Social Democratic or
a Centre Party Prime Minister. This is clearly stated in the government programs though
the word neoliberalism does not exist in the Finnish governance documents (Aho, 1999;
Simola, Rinne, Varjo, Pitknen, & Kauko, 2009). Yet, the Nordic welfare countries have
adopted the neoliberal education policies to a much lesser and a softer degree than the
mainstream countries, and still strongly value the egalitarian provision of education.
Interestingly, despite the fairly similar societal welfare environment of the Nordic
countries and their comprehensive school systems, only Finland has exhibited excellent
PISAassessment outcomes (Andersen, 2010; Wiborg, 2012). The difference was discovered
as early as the 1990s when inter-Nordic education research showed the Finnish students
having e.g. better reading skills (Andersen, 2010). Reasons for this difference have been
estimated to come from the higher teacher quali!cation level, the participatory classroom
management in Finland, and the fact that Finlands lowest scoring 25% of the students
achieve better than their peers in the other participating countries. It is a fact that in Finnish
basic education, the early intervention methods are well developed and used as soon as a
need is diagnosed, to prevent the students from losing track (e.g. Andersen, 2010; Sahlberg,
2006; Vlijrvi, 2011).
Today the globally dominant discourse in education policy and implementation is the
neoliberal one, which !rst took root in global economy. Harveys (2005) de!nition of
neoliberalism as a theory of political economic practices that proposes that human well-
being can best be advanced by liberating individual entrepreneurial freedoms within an
institutional framework characterized by strong private property rights, free markets, and
free trade (p. 2) renders the major points of reference of the doctrine created by Hayek,
Polanyi, and Friedman and pushed to the mainstream by PM Thatcher, President Reagan
and PM Deng Xiaoping since the late 1970s, advocated and advanced strongly to date by
the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the OECD (Harvey, 2005; Stiglitz,
2012).
Education policy aligned to the neoliberal doctrine is implemented through
decentralization, outsourcing, standardized curricula, standardized national testing,
management styles applicable in the private sector, marketization and privatization.
Standardized testing leads to ranking lists of schools and teachers without the socio-
economic and other infrastructure factors affecting the outcomes being considered. This
leads to victimizing the teachers and the school principals, closing down underachieving
schools, and the schools tampering the evaluation results in order to pass the ranking
successfully. These vicious institutional side effects exist now on record from all corners of
the globe. From the viewpoint of equal access to education for all and improving learning
outcomes for all, which we believe is vital for socially and economically sustainable nation
building, the neoliberal policies worldwide are widening the gap between the haves and
the have-nots and the reputed outcomes are attributable to a select sample of students.
Moreover, that price is very high both socially and economically (Harvey, 2005; Simola,
Rinne, & Kivirauma, 2002; Stiglitz, 2012). Among others, Ami Volansky, an Israeli
professor, describes this duality or polarization as the result of these education policies as
follows:
There are two opposite strategies in the world for promoting education. One dictates a
uniform curriculum, considers competition among students and educational institutions
as a means of improving achievements, uses comparative exams to rank students and
institutions and, therefore, labels them as well.
Asecond, opposite strategy can be found in Finland. Finland abolished the supervision
of educational institutions and transferred state and local budgets to schools' authority.
The school is responsibility for developing, improving and renewing a compulsory
curriculum. Every student has their own personal program for progress, and teachers
use exams as a tool for planning students' path to success. Thirty percent of students
receive additional help and support. (Volansky, 2011)
Volanskys point is expressed in other words by Hargreaves, Halasz, and Pont (2007),
who state that high performing Finland might be regarded as an example of positive
deviance from which other nations can learn as they rethink their own reform strategies.
The Finnish teaching mindset is committed to teaching the curriculum requirements,
and beyond, for the students to learn without upper limits. A standardized curriculum
with standardized testing leads to the pedagogical ethos where teaching is done for the
tests to be passed, i.e. mediocrity (Kuusilehto-Awale, 2011). The Finnish way must
not be misunderstood as assessment and evaluation not being used. To begin with, a
recent comparative survey studying classroom management differences between two
differently achieving Nordic countries, Denmark and Finland, also describes how in
Finland the classroom work takes place in an inclusive learning environment with a feel
of togetherness, and learning aiming not only at cognitive outcomes, but also at problem
solving, critical thinking, collaboration, innovation and imagination skills. The teacher is
often assisted by a teaching assistant, and is a classroom manager or leader giving frequent
feedback on students work, monitoring that the work per lesson keeps aligned towards
the objectives. This approach can be de!ned as classroom work assessment. This kind of
classroom management ensures that every student may be able to have #ow experiences in
learning, i.e. total immersion in the joy of understanding, making !ndings, building new
solutions and boosting self-esteem (Andersen, 2010). Further, the Finnish school pupils are
tested regularly on average every three or four weeks with a diagnostic purpose: to track if
suf!cient learning is taking place, and whether early intervention support measures such as
extra attention to the child, remedial teaching, special education methods or psychological
support are needed. Early intervention has the objective of bringing the students learning
to the expected level in a timely manner. This approach has resulted in very few pupils
repeating the school year.
In addition to the above, there are also national sample tests carried out by the National
Board of Education (NBE) on the higher grades of basic education to gain evidence on the
equity of education provision and accomplishment corresponding to the criteria of learning
outcomes for each subject issued by the NBE. The sample testing takes place in a rotating
order of subjects per year. To add to this, the Finnish schools have been required to engage
in mandatory self-evaluation of the yearly school work since 1994 with the introduction
of the new National Curriculum Guidelines. The schools focus it on topics of their own
judgment about their relevance, or on the requirements of the education provider, which
most often is the autonomous municipality. The purpose of self-evaluation is to be able to
engage in the continuous improvement of the school work process and performance.
Respect for Learning and Teachers
The teaching profession, learning and education have always held a high social status in
Finland. Simola even posits that teachers in comprehensive schools enjoy a higher status
in Finland than in most other advanced liberal countries. What is even more rare, people at
both the lower and higher ends of the social spectrum seem to appreciate and respect the
teachers work (2005, p. 458). The roots of this respect go far back to the 1600s, when the
church was in charge of schooling and enhanced literacy also by demanding that to marry
before the eyes of God was subject to literacy, and the practice continued well unto the
1800s (Sarjala, 2008).
Politically, after being a part of the Swedish Empire for centuries, Finland became a
Grand Duchy of Russia in 1809, enjoying a fairly liberal administration. Several reforms
solidi!ed education provision in the Finnish language. In the 1860s, primary education
was made the responsibility of the local administration, the municipalities, hence
diminishing the role of the church in education. The farsighted, educated Swedish speaking
intelligentsia was dedicated to enhancing the provision of education for the majority of
the population in their native Finnish language. Not only was the !rst teacher training
seminary founded in Jyvskyl in 1863, but the !rst secondary school for boys teaching in
the Finnish language was established likewise in Jyvskyl in 1863, to be followed with
other similar schools in the then major towns. The objective was to educate civil servants
able to perform in Finnish, one effort in the area of national awakening leading to political
independence in 1917.
Other decisions taken in those days led to social innovations, which have continued
being backbones of Finnish education, learning, and respect for them till today. One of
them is the public library. The !rst ones were established in 1848. Today they are available
to every citizen at no or at a minimal charge in every municipality, being multifunctional
knowledge and recreation provision centers equipped with ICT facilities for any citizen
to use. Further, Finland developing into a multiparty democracy, both the left and the
right wing parties established associations that formed informal educational institutions
educating their members into active and capable membership in the civil society and
administration. From these late 19th century institutions developed the informal adult
education colleges that are in full operation still today, offering a wide variety of liberal
arts, handicrafts, arts, music, sports, ICT, etc. studies for anyone interested. Besides these
institutions, there are today open universities and folk high schools. Altogether these
draw yearly over 2, 2 million registrations, meaning that half of the population engages in
informal studies. Hence, frequent use of libraries for reading, information and knowledge
retrieval and recreation, and registering in studies of personal interest is a mental mindset in
every home, and pervades all generations.
Modern Long Term Educational Policy
Contrary to the innumerable foreign visitors to Finland looking for the quick !x to
improve their education systems, the Finns do not believe in a quick !x. Neither can any
education system, policies or practices be transferred as such to a new context unless the
question is of neo-colonialism via education. Educational reform initiatives implemented
as ad hoc silver bullet enterprises have in general been doomed to failure, affecting little
permanent improvement in learners achievement (e.g. Vlijrvi et al., 2007).
To achieve sustainable improvement in learning, education must be understood as a
basic force behind any infrastructure of a nation, not only as an objective for a nations
economic competitiveness, as in neoliberal policy making and todays mainstream
education policies. The alternative is to see the fundamental status of education as an
infrastructure basis, and as a fundamental human right that shall transcend the political
passions abandoning the efforts of the previous regime once power coalition changes take
place. A society accepting the alternative develops to acknowledge that all political powers
are the necessary stakeholders in building suf!cient sustainable political consensus to
implement education policies which are viable beyond power shifts in the election periods.
Finland has excelled in political and social consensus building after World War II, having
learnt a dire lesson also from the devastating Civil War of 1918 dividing the nation. Also,
Finland has a multi-party political system, where the government can rarely be built among
just a few major parties, and economic and social stability has long been ensured by the
triple agreements of the government, the employers and the employee unions.
Consequently, in Finland the ministry and central of!ce civil servants are not changed
after each election, nor is a new reform implemented. This results in the education reforms
extending across a period of time that guarantees the feasibility of outcomes, i.e. an interest
to the investment made. This is to say that sustainably improved learning outcomes are not
achievable in short time spans, as learning is a slow process due to the human nature, the
teacher, the school organization, the education provider organization, and the education
policy organization needing time to learn (Kuusilehto-Awale, 2012). Examples of this
in practice are the policy reforms regardless of changing governments, such as the basic
education reform of the 1970s still in force today and the curriculum reforms of 1994 and
2004 (e.g. Aho, 1999).
Development Plans
Another policy reform since the 1990s has been for the Ministry of Education to issue
the !ve-year development plans for Education and Science, founded on the objectives set in
the government programs. Also the focus in allocating state subsidies to teacher in-service
training follows the guidelines issued in this development plan. To give an example of the
major objectives, in the 1990s the focus was on developing the ICT infrastructure and the
teachers capacities, in the plan for 2007-2012 (Ministry of Education, 2007), the change
of the environment steered the objectives from structural changes in education provision to
internationalization, immigrant and multicultural education, and to connecting education to
working life and enhancing entrepreneurship education.
The 1970s and 1980s Education Reforms
Finland changed from a country with agriculture and forestry dependency into
an industrial one with huge rapidity in the 1950s and 1960s, and thereafter towards a
knowledge based economy. The educational policy objectives for improving the nations
education level to enable the citizens to adapt to and gain employment in the rapidly
changing livelihoods environment comprised the 1970s and 1980s basic education
(comprehensive) school reform and raising the teacher quali!cation into a masters degree.
Comprehensive school reform. The PISAsuccess of good learning outcomes
combined with equity and equality in education is !rmly attributed to the Comprehensive
School Reform (19721977) of the basic education, which abolished the dual system of
dividing children at about age 11 into either general secondary or vocational education
tracks. Comprehensive basic education school has since been for grades 1-9, all children
studying in the same mixed-ability groups with equity of access to education (Simola, 2005,
p. 461). The values of the reform were equity and equal opportunity: every child regardless
of the familys socio-economic background, health, ethnicity, religion or gender is entitled
to having access to basic education and studying together (Sarjala, 1981).
In the !rst years after the reform, a streaming or tracking system was applied in foreign
language and mathematics, dividing the children into three ability based levels. This led
to the outcome where boys in their puberty and children from lower socio-economic
backgrounds tended to remain in the lower streams, and subsequently missed access to
secondary education matching their learning potential. In the 1980s, the streaming system
was abolished, which means that all children face the same requirements in the same study
groups. Teaching diverse learners is a challenge not only to the teachers pedagogical skills
but it also requires versatile timely measures to support the learners varying needs. This
has been realized through the provision of remedial teaching, special education and multi-
professional groups consisting of educators, social workers, guidance counselors, school
nurses and psychologists, the exact set up depending on the local resources (Kuusilehto-
Awale, 2011; Kuusilehto-Awale & Lahtero, 2012).
The implementation of the comprehensive school was regulated in a tight and detailed
manner till the mid-1990s, indicating precisely the educational services and their production
modes to be allocated to the citizens. Moreover, the school work was guided by detailed
curricula, exact job descriptions and guidelines as well as extensive in-service training for
teachers (Sarjala, 1981; Mustonen, 2003, p. 81).
From centralization to decentralization. The 1970s were a period of strong
administrative centralization, when the School Board of Education governed by sending
orders and the inspectors inspected the schools (Tukiainen, 1999, p. 3). Finnish societal
policy began transforming at the turn of the 1970s and the 1980s towards loosening
the guidance system of the central administration and increasing of the local decision
making power (Lahtero, 2011, p. 21). Since the 1980s, the tendency has been to reduce
the centralized guidance and to increase pedagogical guidance by objectives (Tukiainen,
1999, p. 3). As mentioned above, it is noteworthy that in the Finnish context this neoliberal
alignment was advanced regardless of the power coalition in the government. The result of
the Comprehensive School reform has been that 99.9% of students complete comprehensive
school, the quality of outcomes is good both in terms of learning and low inner-school and
inter-school variance, the expenditure is at an OECD average and the hours taught in school
are below the OECD average. The children begin school at age seven, and almost all of
them go to pre-school at age six. One must note that pre-school as well as early childhood
education prioritize education and care through play, not through cognitive instruction (See
e.g. Aho, Pitknen, & Sahlberg, 2006, p. 133). Play and to learn by playing are a childs
work in Finland.
Decentralization and management by objectives and outcomes. Though governance
reforms had been undertaken in the 1980s, the transformation was rather slow till the
pressure at increasing the ef!ciency of the public economy grew in the 1990s as Finlands
economy plunged into a deep depression. The depression hit Finland very hard, causing
an 18 % unemployment rate to last several years, remaining at circa 10% at the end
of the decade. The realization in policy making was that there was no return to the old
industry and working force based economy. Finland quickly decided to invest in educating
the nation to a level that would enhance its adaptation to and innovation ability in the
upcoming knowledge-based society. Decentralization of administration was also in Finland
implemented as a means to increase the ef!ciency of education at a lower cost in the
depression era circumstances. Decentralization and the simultaneous deregulation changed
into management by objectives and outcomes (cf. Rinne, 2001).
School based management. Hence, decision making was decentralized to the
autonomous municipalities and into the schools in them (Rinne, 2001), and instead of
the former guidance by regulations and orders, the new guidance was by objectives and
outcomes, as a result of which the responsibility of an individual school for dividing the
resources changed considerably wider than it had been. Now also individual schools had
to be able to solve how to maintain and even improve the quality of school work with
the diminishing resources (Lahtero, 2011, pp. 24-25). The original objective of the basic
education had been to transform the world into a better place, but in the 1990s this was
replaced by the call for effectiveness and competitiveness. The ef!ciency of the education
system seemed to be growing more important than its coverage and its quantitative service
capacity (Varjo, 2007, p. 89).
University based teacher education leading to Masters degree quali!cation. The
discussion concerning the PISAsuccess both in the public and amongst the educators has
attributed it to the committed Finnish teachers with their Masters degree quali!cation, and
university based Finnish teacher education. The teacher education launched in the teacher
training seminaries 150 years ago in 1863 was changed into universities, leading to a
Masters degree (Simola, 2005).
The Teacher Education Reform was implemented during 19731979, and it
radically changed the training of primary school teachers (teaching at the lower level of
comprehensive school, from grades one to six). The responsibility for their training was
removed from the teacher training colleges and small town teacher preparation seminaries
to the brand-new university faculties of education established as part of the reform. The
training of primary school teachers was raised to the Masters degree level in 1979, which
dramatically up-graded the role of educational studies in teacher training and led to the
rapid adoption of education as an academic discipline (Simola, 2005, p. 461). The teaching
profession is very popular in Finland. In the 2000s, among the upper secondary school
graduates, teaching was the number one career choice (Simola, 2005, p. 459).
There are eleven teacher training departments in the university faculties of education in
Finland, spreading throughout the country as regional access to also tertiary education has
been prioritized in the national policy. The university teacher education and research work
in tight collaboration with state owned teacher training schools, which educate basic and
upper secondary school children, and provide practice teaching, experimenting, researching
and tutoring environments to teacher students.
The account below illustrates the primary and subject teacher (grade six to grade 12)
education guidelines at the University of Jyvskyl (Lindell, 2011; University of Jyvskyl,
2011). To add to these, the faculty educates early childhood, special education and sign
language teachers.
Primary teacher education. The Masters degree quali!cation in primary teacher
education comprises 300 ECTS credit points. One ECTS credit equals 27 hours of full time
work. The core contents of the curriculum comprise teachers pedagogical studies including
practice teaching, education as the major subject with research methods, school subject
studies for primary school teachers, and minor subject studies including languages and
ICT studies. As minor subjects, the option is from school subject studies and pedagogical
studies. The allocation of ECTS per each content area is illustrated in Table 2.
Table 2
Allocation of ECTS per Content Area in Primary Teacher Education
Primary Teacher Education (300 ECTS)
1 ECTS = 27 hrs full time work
Bachelors Degree
(180)
Masters Degree
(120)
300
ECTS
Teachers pedagogical studies
including teaching practice
25
12
35
16
60
28
Studies in education including
research methods
35
(including BAthesis)
45
(including MAthesis)
80
School subject studies for primary
school teachers
60
60
Minor subject studies and
language studies incl. ICT
25
35
0-35
5-40
max.60
max.75
Primary teacher practice teaching. Practice teaching is conducted through four
successive modules and realized both in the teacher training schools, and in the !eld
schools. The practice begins with observing class dynamics and the work of the
experienced training school lecturers, continues to !rst planning parts of lessons, then
whole lessons, and teaching them, and !nishes with focusing on teachers responsibilities
and professional ethics. The practice teaching is monitored by the peer teacher students,
the lecturer of the teacher training school, and to a smaller scale the university didactics
lecturer. After the teaching, the work is re#ected by the observers present, focusing on the
interaction, cognitive skills, versatility of methods, empowering the pupils, enhancing an
investigative approach and re#ection, communicating and evaluating different points of
view, time management, and alternative choices to those made now.
There are four practice teaching modules in practice, which are as follows. Module
1 is about observation and giving six brief teaching sessions. The objective is to gain a
view into the teachers work, interaction in classroom and pupils as learners. Module
2 practices planning and implementing teaching and the assessment of outcomes. The
teacher student teaches 26 lessons. In module 3, the teacher student plans, implements
and assesses extensive study modules, makes appropriate pedagogical choices, decides
how to guide and support the different learning processes of diverse learners, and chooses
the appropriate assessment methods. Module 4 immerses the teacher student into the
regulations, responsibilities and legislation of the teaching profession, parent-school and
school-community cooperation, multi- and inter-professional interaction and professional
ethics. The practice teaching covers 26 ECTS.
Subject teacher education. Like primary teacher education, the subject teacher
education comprises 300 ECTS of studies. The allocation of ECTS credits per different
content areas is illustrated in Table 3 below.
Table 3
Allocation of ECTS per Content Area in Subject Teacher Education
Subject Education (300 ECTS)
1 ECTS = 27 hrs full time work
Bachelors Degree
(180)
Masters Degree
(120)
300
ECTS
Major subject studies
Research methods
60
(including BA
thesis)
60-90
(including MAthesis)
120-
150
Teachers pedagogical studies
including practice teaching
25-30
5
30-35
15
60
Co-subjects
academic studies
25-60
0-30 25-90
Language and communication
studies, incl. ICT
35-40 0-30 35-70
The content areas consist of the major subject (to be taught in school) studies including
research methods, teachers pedagogical studies with teaching practice, co-subjects (minor
subjects to be taught in school) academic studies, language and communication studies
including ICT studies. The precondition for the teachers pedagogical studies is the
Masters degree in the teaching subject(s), major and minor(s). The teacher student does 25
ECTS of basic studies and 35 ECTS of advanced studies in education, including 20 ECTS
of practice teaching.
Subject teacher practice teaching. As in the primary teacher education, the practice
comprises four modules. Module 1 contains mentored orientating practice to school,
teachers work and classroom interaction, re#ecting on the teacher students own learning
experiences on teaching. Each student does three teaching sessions. Module 2 is mentored
basic practice. The students observe the pupils as individual learners and group members,
the learning environments and working methods, and study the aims and contents of the
curriculum, and teach fourteen sessions. Module 3 is mentored advanced practice of the
investigative approach: the students plan a teaching experiment based on theoretical starting
points and teach it during the course. They plan, implement and assess in the 12 sessions
they teach. Module 4 is adapted mentored practice. The students study the culture of a !eld
school, and the school as a learning organization. They plan activities, allocate resources
and share the responsibilities in a work community, with a view to lifelong professional
development, and teach six sessions.
The feedback from the practice teaching is parallel to that of the primary teacher
training practice: through joint sessions with peers, teacher training or !eld school
lecturer(s) and to a smaller extent, the university didactics lecturer. In sum, Finnish teacher
education focuses on studies in education and the pedagogical studies, and combining
theory with practice. Subject teachers major is the subject to be taught in school, and
pedagogical studies are their minor subjects of 60 ECTS credits.
Both the class teachers and the subject teachers are responsible for developing
pedagogy and methodology in their schools, and the employer provides the minimum
of three mandatory further education days per school year. The Finnish teachers are
autonomous in the classroom, having the freedom to experiment innovations and to choose
the methods they !nd the most appropriate for any group of students they work with.
Reforms of the 1990s and the 2000s
Decentralization brought the responsibility for the curriculum reform to the local
level. The new National Board of Education (NBE) created through the merger of the
Central Agency for the General Education and that for the Vocational Education, has since
been responsible for publishing the National Curriculum Guidelines, the !rst of which
was given in 1994. Based on this framework, with its core of mandatory studies for all
students combined with local optional studies, the municipalities and individual schools
received the right and the responsibility to create their own curricula. The objective was
to guarantee them as wide a freedom as possible to produce curricula and through school
based management also the structures to implement the curricula to meet the local needs,
resources and conditions. The curriculum can be said to have expressed the local decision
makers will in education policy as part of national education policy (Opetushallitus,
1994, p. 15). Basically, a school is fairly self-governing, having wide decision making
power on the implementation of the curriculum and the operational practices, and also full
responsibility.
After a few years, however, it was found out that the school-based curricula did not
quite deliver in the expected manner. Inter-school differences began to emerge both in
regards to teaching contents and achievement of objectives. Neither was the mandatory
self-evaluation system yet implemented systematically throughout the country (Rajanen,
2000). In the late 1990s, the renewal of the concept of learning, the rapid increase of access
to technology, the development of knowledge society with the polarization following it
increased the challenges faced by curricula and their implementation (Juusenaho 2004, p.
56). Consequently, a new National Curriculum Framework was launched in 2004. Despite
an increase in guidance by norms from the NBE, the responsibility for preparing the
curriculum and developing its quality remains with the municipalities responsible for the
provision of education. The next curriculum reform is to be implemented in 2016.
Basically, the curriculum model is the so called encyclopaedic one, relying on a wide
range of subjects comprising not only mother tongue and foreign language(s), humanities
and natural sciences, and mathematics, but also physical education, arts, handicrafts and
home economics, aiming at providing the student with a broad basis of general knowledge,
a variety of skills and enhancing the students holistic development. The Finnish basic
education curriculum since its inception in the 1860s has not emphasized only cognitive
skills, but arts and crafts, as well as moral education, and combining theory with practice
in teaching. To mention a curiosity, Finland was the !rst country in the world to make
handicrafts a compulsory school subject. This ethos belongs to the legacy of the founder
of Finnish teacher education and primary school curriculum, Mr Uno Cygnaeus, a !rm
believer also in an egalitarian education to strengthen the morals and work ethic, the spirit
of enterprise and the national consciousness (Sarjala, 1981; Tervoja, 2011).
Trust
Finland is a country with good governance and low corruption (Transparency
International, 2011). Its entire population is highly educated, and the education level of
women is today higher than that of men. The majority of the teachers hold a masters
degree quali!cation (Statistics Finland, 2012). The conclusion is that in any local entity,
whether a school or a municipal civil servant body, the sum total of human, social and
intellectual capital is high, a precondition for successful decision making and curriculum
implementation in a decentralized administrative system. It must be noted that at the local
political decision making level, the availability of the aforementioned capital is a far more
diversi!ed phenomenon with municipalities of citizens having a very low education level,
especially in the rural areas. For basic education outcomes to be excellent in the latter
circumstances, the responsibility lies with the committed, highly quali!ed teachers, who
indeed deliver (Sandholm, 2008).
The Finnish decentralized education system functions on the basis of trust. The role of
the autonomous municipalities is to implement the educational services to their citizens,
with the resources provided by the state and the municipality itself. The municipal level
directors trust their principals and teachers, and the Ministry of Education and Culture
and the NBE trust the local implementation of education policy to know the needs and
capacities of the learners and how to care for them #exibly in a timely manner. The
principal together with the teachers and parents is trusted to know how to provide the best
possible education to the learners, and the parents trust the school. These societal factors are
among the core features of the Finnish society (Aho, Pitknen, & Sahlberg, 2006, pp. 132-
133). However, there are sounds of concern in regard to the uneven availability of human,
intellectual and social resource in many an autonomous municipality for the democratic
political decision making to provide educational (and other) services on an even,
comparable quality basis (Kuusilehto-Awale, 2008). It was as early as in the mid 1990s that
the former Director General of the NBE asked whether an entire service provision can keep
functioning with equal quality, based only on trust (Hirvi, 1996).
To analyze the factors attributing to a society and an education system functioning
on trust to this degree is challenging. At least they comprise a tradition of political
democracy since 1917 and strong civil rights guaranteed in the constitution. Finland is a
welfare society, where governance decisions are made in consensus, and a civil society,
whose citizens are educated, empowered and used to in#uencing their decision makers
and demanding transparent quality delivery of services. The underlying shared values are
respect for hard work, honesty and perseverance, and the equal dignity and worth of every
human being, which characterize the Finnish major religious heritage, the Lutheranism.
Hence, the basic assumption is that everyone delivers and one can trust it till proved
otherwise. In the context of school, the teachers are the backbone of dependable delivery:
since the beginning of times they have been trusted to do so, and today especially due
to their masters degree quali!cation. The abolition of the inspectorate system in the
late 1980s added to the trust in the schools, education providers and the teachers, and
was an important factor towards diminishing the atmosphere of fear and intimidation in
the education system. The concept of internal motivation is likely to be a key factor in
explaining the phenomenon of trust.
Conclusion
In conclusion, Finland has not adopted heavy neoliberal policies such as marketization
and standardization of education: competition, studying only core subjects, standardized
curricula and testing, control and test-based accountability as methods of education reform.
Instead, the Finns have relied on collaboration, studying an encyclopaedic curriculum,
early intervention support systems, individualization, school autonomy, and trust and
responsibility. (Kuusilehto-Awale & Lahtero, 2012; Sahlberg, 2011)
We Finns trust that our teachers know what is good for our children. They teach in an
atmosphere devoid of fear in regard to external testing or inspections. The same goes for
the children: They study in a learning environment free of fear thanks to their teachers
autonomy in building a conducive learning environment free of fear but rich in support.
The teachers have the capacity to realize this due to their education combining theory
and practice and involving versatile pedagogical skills training, as well as their genuine
commitment to teaching for the students to learn, not for tests. The teachers are respected
by both the parents and the society at large, and young high school graduates aspire to be
teachers. The !nancial expenditure on national testing is low, as there is no research based
evidence on the evaluation business improving learning in the classroom (e.g. Elmore,
2005; Ravitch, 2010). Instead, we allocate the resources to the teaching in the classroom
and to the teachers.
The Finnish society is characterized by good governance and little corruption, and our
economic and political development has maintained a stable environment for education
to thrive. Our political decision makers have long refrained from implementing ad hoc
education reforms at power shifts from one coalition to the other in times of democratic
elections. Education is understood to require permanence to work in peace, so that the focus
stays on developing teaching and learning.
The basic education reform was implemented geographically stage by stage to cover
the whole of Finland by 1977. Simultaneously as the result of the teacher education
reform of the 1970s, the quali!cation for basic education teachers in years 1-9 was raised
to a masters degree. The objective of basic education was to offer all children equal
opportunities to nine-year basic education. It is the Finnish teachers who have committed
themselves to the responsibility for accomplishing this objective. The skills acquired from
the extensive pedagogical studies of the teacher education curriculum certainly play an
important role in achieving the quality outcomes.
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24 S. B. Qutoshi and T. Poudel
JER
KUSOED
2014 JER
March 2014, Vol. 4, No. 1, pp. 24-38
Student Centered Approach to Teaching: What Does It Mean for the
Stakeholders of a Community School in Karachi, Pakistan?
Sadruddin Bahadur Qutoshi
a,
* and Tikaram Poudel
b
a
Karakorum International University, Gilgit, Pakistan
b
School of Education, Kathmandu University, Lalitpur, Nepal
Abstract
Assuming the effectiveness of student-centered approach to teaching, this study
explores the perceptions of purposefully selected seven students and teachers from
a community school in Karachi about this pedagogical approach. Using interviews
and observations of classroom practices as methodological tools, we concentrate on
!nding answers to the questions: How does student-centered approach to teaching
used in community schools in Pakistan contribute to achieving quality education?
How does this approach affect teaching and learning activities? How does this
approach facilitate teachers to overcome the problems of teaching and learning? The
!ndings of this study identify that student-centered approach to teaching encourages
students engagement in teaching-learning activities focusing on individual
interaction to achieve common objectives. However, inadequate resources, small
sized classrooms, and lack of expertise on the part of teachers were the challenges
to the teaching learning activities in the community schools. These !ndings would
be valuable to teaching and learning communities and educational policy makers as
well.
Keywords: Student centered approach, community school, quality education,
teaching and learning
Introduction
This paper evaluates the perceptions and practices of student centered approach to
teaching as a means to providing quality education in the context of the Ismaili Community
Schools in Karachi, Pakistan, by using Weimer (2002) Model of Learner Centered Teaching
as a conceptual framework. Many studies on learner centered teaching show that it is a
process that engages learners and creates an environment of cooperation among peers to
behave in a socially conscious manner to focus on group performance rather than individual
performance (UNICEF, 2000). To achieve this group performance, learners can seek
help of peers in group and teachers on the site for guidance, wise counsel, critique and
* Corresponding author.
Email: sadruddin.qutoshi@kiu.edu.pk
Student Centered Approach to Teaching 25
encouragement (Weimer, 2002, p. 20) and collaboration. Therefore, the role of a learner
becomes more responsible to be a partner in learning that is a paradigm shift, which is
missing in teacher centered approach where students remain passive learners (Cheong,
2010; ONeill & McMahon, 2005).
Helping learners during the activities in cooperative and active learning situations
(Tsay & Barady, 2010), teachers use different tools of assessment for learning by providing
constructive feedback to improve learning. That is why, Student Centered Approach to
Teaching (SCAT) is considered to be one of the best ways to achieve the objective of
providing quality education to community children in community school system where
children are mostly socially conscious about the importance of social interactions and
team work in their daily life activities, out of their classroom, in their community life.
In this way, they get constructive feedback to improve their skills of social interactions
(McCombs, 1997). However, most of the teachers lag behind in using these strategies to
achieve this objective for many reasons in the context of community schools in Pakistan.
Therefore, teachers mostly prefer conventional methods to complete their syllabi in the
given period of time and provide just guidelines to the whole class to do things accordingly
(Peterson, 2009). This teacher centered instruction again compels students to go for rote
memorization to pass the high stake testing rather than getting enough chances to work in
smaller groups, focusing on their learning dif!culties and discussing with their peers and
teachers for their powerful learning (Hopkins, 2001; 2007; Kumandas & Kutlo, 2010). In
such a critical situation, the slogan of providing quality education through SCAT remains
super!cial and thus students become puppets, not intellectual and socially conscious
citizens as depicted in the vision of Community Schools (CS).
The notion of developing CS was to provide quality education to the children of low
income families at affordable fees within the community structure by mobilizing and
utilizing required resources, increasing community participation, and adding institutional
facilitation at different levels. As the concept of community schools was to develop,
organize and manage within the community effectively to achieve the objective of
providing quality education, School Managing Committees (SMCs) under the Community
Based Education Societies were formed and registered under the Societys Act of Pakistan
(Rugh & Bossert, 1998). The structure of SMCs consists of chairman, member !nance,
honorary secretary (head-teacher), and 10 to 12 other members including two to three
parent representatives whose children are studying in these community schools. The key
stakeholders of the CS are students, parents, teachers, SMC members and community
at large who altogether are responsible for improving the teaching learning conditions
at schools. The concept of quality education as de!ned by the community, linked with
Weimer Model as framework of the study, was used to look into the practices and
perceptions of teachers to what extent this concept is re#ected in their practices in the
school system.
Student Centered Approach to Teaching
Student centered approach to teaching is conceived as an instructional philosophy
and modern pedagogical approach, which is opposite to teacher centered approach, i.e.
the conventional teaching methodology in which the teacher remains at the centre of
instruction (Burnard, 1999; ONeill & McMahon, 2005) in the teaching learning process.
Dewey (1938) asserts that traditional way of teaching has the limitation to focus on
active learning and explains that "...there is no defect in traditional education greater than
its failure to secure the active co-operation of the pupil in construction of the purposes
involved in his studying" (p. 67). However, teaching focused theories like Blooms
Taxonomy (1954), experiential learning of Kolb (1984) based on John Dewey's, Kurt
Lewin's and Jean Piaget's concepts of learning and #exible approach to teaching revealed
that student centered approach to teaching is a paradigm shift from teacher to learner-
centered, a deliberative effort to facilitate learner to achieve learning objectives by creating
conducive learning environment using a variety of activities like activity based teaching
with effective interactive relations between learners and teachers (Gredler, 2009; Johnson
& Johnson, 1998). In light of the perceptions of quality education, it is like one size does
not !t all paradigm because of its transition and dynamic nature. Its de!nition changes
from person to person, community to community and country to country from time to time
and who de!nes it under speci!c circumstances depending upon the in#uence of cultural,
historical, local, national, international and global perspectives (Motala, 2000; UNICEF,
2000). However, the concepts of quality education to the community are: 1) children are
given access to modern facilities like computer education according to their grade level;
2) individual attention is given to overcome learning dif!culties through learner focused
teaching; 3) teachers are given opportunities to learn through training, workshops, seminars,
co-teaching with expert teachers to improve teaching learning practices; 4) providing
students with opportunities to participate in local, regional and national level competitions
to show their talents; 5) monitoring and evaluation of every teaching and learning activity
is ensured through internal and external institutional support; 6) learning achievements
are shared with parents, community and supporting institutions to encourage children to
excel in curricular and co-curricular activities; 7) high achievers, competition winners and
runners-up are appreciated in the community programs to boost their morale; 8) every event
or activity is organized around learners' development and is well justi!ed (Blumberg, n.d.).
These perceptions of the school stakeholders are considered as quality standards.
Theoretical Basis
In the light of Weimer's Model of learner centered teaching, the quality standards in
the community schools system discussed in the above section are evaluated through the
exploration of perceptions, beliefs and practices of the teachers and students. According
to this model, the !ve key premises are: 1) power shifts from teacher to a more egalitarian
classroom from teacher centered to student centered; 2) the use of content is just for
students to think critically; 3) a shift in authoritarian role of teacher to facilitator; 4) return
the responsibility for learning to the students; and 5) utilize assessment measures not just to
assign grades, but to promote learning (Bilimoria & Wheeler, 1995; Weimer, 2002).
The !rst key component of Weimers Model, a paradigm shift from teacher centered to
student centered, is the main indicator that teachers are using SCAT(ONeill & McMahon,
2005). In this approach, the role of teacher remains a helper, facilitator, mentor, formator
(Ang, Gonzalez, liwag, Santos, & Vistro-Yu, 2001) and a guide whereas students role
remains central in the whole process as active participants in learning and co-constructors
of knowledge (Meece, 2003, p. 111). This active participation of students creates
enjoyment in their learning through exploration and construction of knowledge where the
teacher encourages, mentors and engages them in critical thinking process to achieve the
desired objectives of learning (Law, 2007). As a result of this relationship, an egalitarian
classroom environment is created in such kind of practices. In this whole process of
teaching and learning, if a child does not come up to the mark or to the set standard
the child is not dismissed as a failure; rather the teacher considers what can be done to
enable this child to learn" (Law, 2007, p. 226) and this concept is somehow linked to the
perceptions of providing quality education at the community schools. However, Simon
(1999) argues that focusing every individual in such a way is not possible in practice. For
example, in a limited time period if teachers will give more focus on slow learners that
may result in ignoring fast learners. However, it is very dif!cult to experience such kind
of power shift in cases of more experienced and senior teachers and it is also very dif!cult
to say such practices necessarily re#ect the essence of quality education if individuals are
treated in such a way (Ang et al., 2001). So, it may be quality education for children with
learning dif!culties but it may only be the loss of time for others in the same class.
It is widely agreed that teaching is not something depositing into the minds of learners
through teachers control rather it is creating opportunities to individual learners to
overcome learning dif!culties by involving in learning situations with mainstream learners
where they can come with their own creativity through exploration and interaction (Freire,
1970; Gredler, 2009). In this connection, SCAT is an interactive way to facilitate learners
who have different ideas and views to share with each other in smaller group settings
(Pantiz, 1996) to get insights of a topic under discussion. However, involving children with
empowerment in their preferred activities can reinforce their participation in all activities
because students are not motivated to learning every time. On the contrary, it is the teacher
who creates conducive learning environment by selecting such preferred learning activities
which can reinforce children to show their interests in the class.
In doing so, teachers have to interact friendly focusing on task to facilitate learning
with appreciation for active participation to boost students' interest towards learning; and
such kind of friendly interactive facilitation is considered as a way to provide quality
education in community schools. According to Guthrie (2004), to create interest in learning,
teachers use multiple ways to engage learners through a variety of activities like activity
based teaching. Thus, the concept of SCAT is to focus on activity based teaching with a
clear focus on improving the learning conditions of students who can take responsibility
for their learning by working together in a group (Peklaj, 2006). Creating conditions
for students to take part in activities with self responsibility develops con!dence and
improves achievement in their life chances (Piert, 2013). However, there does not exist
a clear evidence to support the direct relationship between activity based teaching and
development of self responsibility in learners. Moreover, SCAT is a paradigm shift
in teaching methodologies in order to create a cooperative and collaborative learning
environment in their classroom. One of the aims of paradigm shift was to minimize
negative competition focusing more on getting high grades rather than on active learning
(Johnson & Johnson, 1998; Kumandas & Kutlo, 2010).
Theoretically, the rationale for paradigm shift was to make students realize the value
of success in group work by achieving common objectives rather than being in a race of
competition among their classmates. Contrary to this, the concept of quality education in
the community schools focuses on competitions and race among children to be the !rst
among others. Therefore, it might be quality education for this school system but not
for others. Moreover, SCAT in light of this model is a cooperative learning environment
where teachers use the content as a source to help learners build on their prior knowledge
to connect their ideas and discuss things in group, providing equal chances to express,
apply to their context, analyze the situation, and create conceptual understanding of a topic
under discussion (Cheong, 2010; Kagan, 1997; Piert, 2013). It helps students to learn by
communicating their understanding, experiences and helping their peers to convince their
views where teachers become co-learners in these interactive discussions with different
talents, abilities, and background of learners to achieve their common objectives on task,
rather than being !rst among others (Pantiz, 1996). However, it is not so simple for every
novice teacher or even for some experienced teachers who have the fear of loss of power
of authority or may not have the motivation to change their classroom as a platform for
socialization for purposeful learning.
All the !ve key premises of Weimers model in light of quality education as de!ned by
the community schools can be re#ected in the forms of "self regulated learning practices
where students motivation, con!dence and interest for learning are all adversely affected
when teacher controls the process through and by which they learn" (Weimer, 2002, p. 23).
In such a situation where the teacher controls the whole process of teaching and learning,
almost all decisions are taken by the teacher for learners. In addition to that, the content
focused practice for any justi!cation, i.e. to complete the syllabus, is also another indicator
to teacher centered approach. Whereas in SCAT, a conducive learning climate is created
and students are given multiple opportunities to take most of the decisions related to their
learning and interest. An environment of trust and respect for each other, collegiality and
cooperation for team learning and demonstration of high con!dence and freedom for
learning with autonomy and responsibility is practiced in SCAT classes (Weimer, 2002,
p. 102). In such a situation, students can seek support, guidance and feedback whenever
required and the role of the teacher remains a friendly facilitator, not a decision maker.
This key concept of the model is used to evaluate the student centered approach to teaching
through an exploration of teaching learning practices in the context of this study.
Methodology
In this empirical research, we are interested in a holistic in-depth investigation (Zainal,
2007, p. 1) to explore stakeholders views and practices on student-centered approach to
teaching including factors affecting this approach to teaching, challenges and alternative
strategies to cope with these challenges within the context of a community school in
Karachi, Pakistan.
As Saunders, Lewis, and Thornhill (2000, p. 92) talk about the importance and use of
appropriate research strategy for data collection and analysis "what matters is not the
label that is attached to a particular strategy, but whether it is appropriate for your particular
research" that links with the research questions to explore, we used case study. Case
study research methodology is an empirical inquiry that investigates a contemporary
phenomenon within its real-life context in which multiple sources of evidence are used
(Yin, 1994, p. 23) and this characteristic of the case study research enhances data credibility
(Patton, 1990; Yin, 2009). In this particular context, among many other strategies, case
study is the most appropriate strategy for an in-depth study of a phenomenon, to make
meaning of what people say and do in a real situation. In order to collect the required and
reliable data, we used semi-structured interviews and classroom observation. Then we went
through the process of triangulation (Denzin & Lincoln, 1994) that provided a reliable basis
for data analysis and interpretation.
We believe that the processes of data collection and analysis need to be carried out at
the same time. According to Yin (2009), "pattern matching, linking data to propositions,
explanation building, time-series analysis, logic models, and cross-case synthesis" (p. 26)
are !ve techniques of data analysis depending upon the type of case study. On the other
hand, categorical aggregation and direct interpretation are classi!ed as types of analysis
as per Stake (1995). However, to reach the interpretation through thematic analysis, the
following three important principles of analysis: use of all of the relevant evidence;
exploration of major rival interpretations; and addressing signi!cant aspects of case study
(Rowley, 2002, p. 9) were used in a systematic manner.
Moreover, in the context of this study, as the literature review identi!es some of the
existing gaps in the practices and barriers to achieve the objectives of SCAT, the primary
focus remained on group interviews of purposefully selected seven students (2 from
grade III, and one each from grade IV-VIII) and seven teachers of the same classes to
explore their perceptions and beliefs about this approach to teaching. To collect the data
by using group interviews through probing technique, we encouraged the participants to
provide information in whatever form they would like to share like facts, opinions, ideas,
understanding, attitudes and intentions regarding SCAT in their classes.
To conduct Semi-structured Interviews (SSI), we developed an interview guideline
that consisted of a list of open ended questions in a sequential order based on our
subsidiary research questions. The purpose of this SSI guideline was to obtain reliable
and comparable qualitative data within a single phase of interview from the research
participants (Bernard, 1988). To ensure that the main points were recorded in a proper way,
a note-taker was used who noted the points shared by the participants during the interviews.
The required data were collected until we reached a saturation point during these
interviews whereas data analysis, as a process of drawing meanings, and making sense of
the meanings from the data was conducted in six different steps. This process of analysis
involved: 1) reading the data for clari!cations and corrections; 2) transforming all relevant
data into meaningful discourse; 3) !nding key themes that emerged out of the data; 4)
arranging the themes in a proper order; 5) putting data pieces on index cards for sorting out;
and 6) developing a list of !nal themes based on a processing matrix with reference to the
key themes for every research question.
To obtain the pure meaning of a phenomenon or to get more accurate picture of
a situation within a social world, we also used classroom observation as another tool
since multiple sources of data collection tools ensure triangulation (Saukko, 2003).
The classroom observation checklist was prepared based on the data collected from
the interview with the students and the teachers in order to check the similarities and
differences out of the two sets of data for the purpose of analysis.
As the speci!c purpose of this paper was to address the key issues related to SCAT
in a CS system in Karachi, Pakistan, this study was delimited to one school, as a unit
of analysis. Thus, generalizability of !ndings will not be possible to a wider context.
However, the !ndings can help schools in the developing world, especially those which
have similar contexts to the community school system in Pakistan, to learn some interesting
lessons to improve SCAT practices.
Results and Discussion
The results obtained from the analysis of the data are discussed as perceptions / beliefs
of teachers about SCAT; challenges to use SCAT; alternative strategies to overcome the
challenges; assessment of SCAT; and factors affecting SCAT in the community school
followed by our commentary/conclusion.
Perceptions / Beliefs of Teachers About Student Centered Approach to Teaching
The classroom observations and views of teachers and students revealed that SCAT
is an interactive technique to teaching which focuses on group work, cooperative and
collaborative work, #exible learning, and activity based teaching to achieve learning
objectives (Cheong, 2010; Peklaj, 2006). By using these strategies, teachers provide the
learners with a variety of learning opportunities like service based learning, problem based
learning and team-based learning. It was not identi!ed from the data that teachers are
using team-based learning and problem based learning. However, students are exposed to
a variety of learning situations such as smaller group works, cooperating and collaborating
with each other inside the classroom and sometimes outside the classroom in the form
of service based learning (Cheong, 2010). Moreover, "teachers observe learners in the
classroom activities to see how they interact with each other and try to identify the level of
their participation and understanding. They put questions to check their understanding and
provide immediate feedback accordingly" (Interview, October 9, 2012). This is exactly what
the concept of quality education is that community schools de!ne for teaching and learning
conditions in these school systems. However, the changing roles of teacher as supporter,
formator, facilitator, co-learner and observer need to be re#ected in terms of the quality of
support provided to individuals that is required during small group discussions (UNICEF,
2000). On the other hand, it is equally important to see the level of discussions, interactions
and equal participation among the group members and their understanding to ensure
individual focused learning.
Some other views identi!ed during the focused group interviews with students included
that some teachers are strict and they tell us to !nish the work soon. Teachers sometimes
go out of class or sit on a chair. We try to !nish work quickly but some colleagues do not
help in group (Interview, October 9, 2012). Furthermore, students expressed their views
about the teachers who remain on task with students and provide their assistance while
students are doing their group work. Some teachers come to us and ask like a friend. We
enjoy working together and share ideas with teachers. A teacher in particular sometimes
laughs at the things we do wrong. But still she does not punish but guides us how to do
the task. This shows that teachers friendly behavior drives learners to enjoy learning but
harsh behavior, lack of interest to see how children learn, and absence of support to learners
on task are more serious matters for the schools as a system. Such kind of practices,
although a few cases, do not support the claims of providing quality education at these
institutions rather hamper the efforts to provide quality education to community children.
Identifying the behavioral issues related to teachers will help the school administration to
bring positive changes in practices in future alongside encouraging teachers to work on
problem based learning and team based learning in their classes.
Challenges to Use Student Centered Approach to Teaching
Views of students, teachers and our observations show that there are numerous
challenges on the way to implementing SCAT in community schools. These are lack of
time on tasks, 40 minutes periods for all subjects, smaller rooms with !xed furniture, fully
packed classes with students, less access to computer lab and misuse of classroom resources
due to sharing of school building, less experienced and new teachers, and lack of support
from school administration to take initiatives, etc. In such a complex situation, only a few
teachers who are highly skillful and have expertise can handle SCAT in their classes but
majority of teachers blame poor resources and insuf!cient support as challenges. This kind
of situation offers teachers a chance and justi!cation to switch to teacher centered teaching
mode. Ultimately, the learners have to suffer badly and cannot get the education that has
been claimed by the school stakeholders in their vision. This !nding validates the !nding
of Lea, Stephenson, and Troy (2003) and ONeill and McMahon, i.e. "many institutions or
educators claim to be putting student-centered learning into practice, but in reality they are
not" (2003, p. 322).
Using interactive, smaller group discussion and #exible teaching as a teaching strategy
in classes with a huge number of students within a short period of time, both teachers
and students found the learning process very tedious and they did not enjoy teaching and
learning in most of the cases. Teachers expressed their concerns about the shortage of time,
space and other resources. we try to use these methods in 40 minutes period with more
than 40 students in small sized classes with few teaching aids; that is not fairsometimes,
we just teach the topics to the whole class and cannot focus on individual learning
(Interview, October 9, 2012). Time, space and resources are very important factors
in SCAT along with teachers knowledge, skills and expertise and these all factors are
interconnected and have a huge impact on learners (ONeill & McMahon, 2005). However,
working with such limited resources is a challenging and exasperating situation rather than
enjoying the teaching and learning. In such a situation, the community quality education
standards do not match with the evidence of actual practices. This huge gap between
ground realities and the claims of the provision of quality education to community school
children puts a big question mark to the policy makers and all stakeholders.
In addition to lack of resources, another problem in community schools was found to
be misuse of the classroom resources (ONeill & McMahon, 2005). The sharing of school
building with religious education centre, operating in the evening shift, etc. were found to
be the main causes of resource dependency and misuse.
Alternative Strategies to Overcome the Challenges
It was very interesting to know that teachers of the community schools have alternative
solutions to some of the challenges that they face during their teaching and learning
practices. In the context of formal classroom setup, scarcities of time, space and resources
remain redoubtable problems in order to meet the objectives of student centered approach
to teaching. To overcome these problems, teachers design their lessons and incorporate
some activities for outside classroom learning. They guide learners brie#y in the class and
send them in groups to complete their tasks and come with their learning outcome in the
next class for presentation. Teachers expressed their views that,
we use collaborative learning strategies; sometimes, we send them out of class
for activities that take more time we send learners in groups with a checklist of
what to do and what to achieve. They sometimes come with extra ordinary results
that we cannot expect of them. But their presentations show that they do these things
very interestingly. This is what we can do for our students but it needs more creative
planning with a lot of care. (Interview, October 9, 2012)
It is very exciting to know the creative engagement of learners in out-of-classroom
activities for learning. However, such kinds of efforts need commitment of teachers
with innovative ideas and expertise. Moreover, it is a very much challenging task for
less experienced and novice teachers to plan activities and to engage learners in such
a constructive way. On the other hand, it can be argued that providing group learning
assignments without teachers involvement in terms of support on task and monitoring
their work in groups, the notion of collaborative learning does not guarantee activity
based learning. It is very dif!cult to identify how many group members actively and
collaboratively work to achieve learning objectives without guidance and monitoring
of teachers outside the classroom (Cooper, Robinson, & McKinney, 1993; Shimazoe &
Aldrich, 2010). Moreover, it needs an evidence based assessment that could provide enough
proof of their learning in such kinds of activities outside their classes. This implies that
teachers of the community schools will have to think about these practices.
Assessment of Student Centered Approach to Teaching
The perspectives of teachers regarding assessment of learning, both for graded and
non graded group activities either inside the classroom or outside the classroom, appeared
encouraging in a way they are aware of the importance of assessment not only for grading
purpose but also for improving learning (Gibbs & Simpson, 2004). Teachers said that "
we use the assessment for learning it is just for the purpose of knowing to what extent
students have learnt it is not for grading them for the group task. However, students
views were found somehow different when they said teachers, most of the time, assign
graded tasks and we have to show results at any cost but they help during activities
and ask questions we really enjoy giving answers to non-graded activities. This shows
that although teachers use formative assessment for learning, their focus still remains on
assessment for grading purposes. It is argued that just asking questions and providing
assignments for learning do not necessarily re#ect the real essence of assessment for
learning. Teachers need to focus on sharing and communicating the assessment criteria
with learners as well as their expectations about their learning. Moreover, respecting
diverse talents and ways of learners during assessment process enables learners to think in
a positive way to improve more. In addition to providing general feedback on task, latest
tools for assessment like Immediate Feedback Assessment Technique (IFAT) should be
used to enable learners to think critically to !nd right responses according to the need of the
situations.
Factors Affecting Student Centered Approach to Teaching
Findings revealed that there are many factors that affect the whole process of teaching
and learning at the community schools. However, the above mentioned challenges no
doubt badly affect both the teachers and students to foster a socially accommodative
learning environment in construction of experiences. To enable learners to construct new
knowledge through experiences heavily depends upon the knowledge, skills and attitude
of teachers (Dewey, 1938). It was identi!ed that most of the teachers are inducted having
no pre-service training or experience of teaching and thus cannot handle SCAT classrooms.
And during classroom activities, in such a situation, learners most of the time get clear
through asking questions to the teachers about what to do. In such a confusing situation,
students become irritated and working in groups becomes just a loss of time and resources.
Students said that in the classes of some teachers, we do not enjoy activitieswe do
not understand exactly what to do. Properly planned activities can help students to get
engaged in their learning and can motivate them towards learning. On the other hand,
teachers claimed to face some dif!culties in making activities more live and interesting for
learners just because of unavailability of required resources in time. They said that,
we have lack of teaching learning resources we have to request the accountant
with a strong justi!cation to get some extra charts, colors, markers, papers, glue, etc.
to make our group learning activities engaging and interactive by providing everything
that students require during their task. Sometimes, we do not get those required
materials and we have to rely on the alternatives that learners do not enjoy. (Interview,
9 October, 2012)
Another hindering factor identi!ed was what teachers called strict rules of the school
administration. They cannot bring changes in the formal structured way to teaching and
learning. They said,
sometimes we got good ideas to do something new for our learners coming out
of the routine activities for example, we want to take our students out of class and
just let the learners observe physically the plants in the community park and !nd what
things are required for a plant to live and grow healthy, etcto do this, head-teachers
support and permission is very important and without that we cannot take such
initiatives. (Interview, 9 October, 2012)
Based on the !ndings, it is asserted that providing required resources and encouraging
teachers coming with initiatives and hiring teachers with relevant experience and skills
can make the environment more conducive for learning to experience. However, some
strict rules of the school, limited and misuse of resources, and fresh graduates induction
policies may hinder the way to provide opportunities for learning through creativity and
innovations.
Discussion and Conclusions
Perceptions of teachers and students and our observations of classroom practices
revealed that SCAT is a challenging job for the teachers but it gives interesting learning
experiences for the students if activities are well planned and executed with great care
and skills in a collaborative manner. However, teachers with commitment, innovations,
expertise and experience can make alternative ways to achieve the learning outcomes
effectively through inside and outside classroom activities if resources and support with
appreciation and rewards from school administration are provided timely. The !ndings
clearly revealed that only a few teachers are designing outdoor (outside classroom)
activities to engage learners in self directed independent learning. Some of the community
school teachers purposefully design independent learning opportunities for their students
to enhance creativity and sense of responsibility. These unique alternative strategies for
independent learning are used to achieve the objectives of SCAT which they cannot achieve
in a formal classroom setting due to lack of administrative support and scarcity of required
resources including shortage of time. The alternative strategies used by those few teachers
within a complex situation due to multiple challenges seem to be innovative ways to
achieve SCAT in the context of community schools, which is no doubt a contribution to the
theory of learner centered teaching.
However, in the presence of administrative support, SCAT can be used for creating
learning focused engagements successfully in terms of facilitation to smaller group works
through discussions, sharing, thinking, exploring, analyzing, and interpreting meaning of
the concepts in a cooperative and collaborative environment supported and assessed by a
class teacher (Cheong, 2010). And provision of such support and facilitation with required
resources can enable even novice teachers to use SCAT in the community schools.
However, it would be more encouraging if teachers go a step forward to create teams
(even one team on a three seater desk due to !xed furniture in class) rather than groups
for team learning and problem based learning. Moreover, in SCAT, learners enjoy
learning, feel proud of being partners in learning with teachers, participate actively, and
take responsibility for their own learning provided that the required amount of facilities are
made available and a friendly learning environment is created.
At the same time, it is challenging for teachers in the context of community schools
where teachers face not only the fear of loss of power but also scarcity of resources, time
and space to conduct group works, problem based learning activities and to enhance critical
thinking activities in a conducive learning environment in their classes. These kinds of
challenges for teachers in community schools con!ne them to operate within all the !ve
key premises of Weimers model of student centered approach to teaching that has been
taken to analyze the claims of community to provide quality education through SCAT.
On the other hand, to overcome some of these challenges, school management needs to
focus on the effective use of available resources, providing required resources, arranging
training and support for new and less experienced teachers, and encouraging innovative
ways to learning through doing. These were found to be some contextual solutions to the
existing problems in the community schools. Based on the !ndings, it is concluded that
student centered approach to teaching is one of the best ways to enable a learner to become
a lifelong independent learner who can take responsibility for his or her own learning.
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Nepali Hindu Womens Liberation 39
JER
KUSOED
March 2014, Vol. 4, No. 1, pp. 39-57
Nepali Hindu Women's Thorny Path to Liberation
Raj Kumar Dhungana*
School of Education, Kathmandu University, Lalitpur, Nepal
Abstract
This article explains how Nepali Hindu womens oppressive position was created
in the past and how they are still struggling for their full liberation mukti. It also
re#ects that Hindu womens long journey towards freedom and equality has been
moving through a thorny path. Deriving mainly from literatures, this paper discusses
how Nepali Hindu womens identity Aimai was constructed and how, through their
continuous struggle, they are getting better condition as digni!ed Mahila yet far
from their reach to the position of fully liberated women mukta mahila.
Keywords: Hindu women; patriarchy; oppression; liberation; Mukti; Gyana
The oppressed position of women has been signi!cantly discussed in many fronts in
South Asia but the critical analysis on the role of Hinduism in the construction of egalitarian
or gendered society is less discussed in academia. This paper focuses on explaining how the
Hindu women are trapped into oppression and how they are struggling mainly through their
action and education (Karma and Gyana) for achieving their full liberation or mukti
1
. It also
discusses how patriarchic Hinduism created oppressed status of women and further explains
how Hindu womens oppressive position is constructed and maintained in Nepali society. In
addition, it analyses why Hindu women are still oppressed despite their continuous struggle,
supplemented by education, against the patriarchic system. It begins with how most of the
religions are gendered to some extent and goes into the deeper discussion on the patriarchic
form of Hinduism constructing womens position in Nepal.
Gendered Dimension of Religion and Culture
Religion is in#uential in all cultures. Sachedina (2003) remarked Throughout history,
women have been denied basic human rights, through religiously imposed restrictions
or economically designed exploitation and manipulation of their position in family and
in society (p. 11). The consequences of male domination are re#ected in religion as the
western religion comes from the mens worldview (Adams & Sydie, 2009, p. 276). Even
today, there is no voting right for women in Vatican City a holy city of Christians. Till
2011, women did not have voting rights in Saudi Arabia, the country with a holy city of
* Author Email: dhungana.rajkumar@gmail.com ISSN: 2091-0118(Print)/2091-2560(Online)
2014 JER
40 R. K. Dhungana
Muslim Mecca. Similarly, the Quran has clearly positioned men in one position higher
than women (Falahi, 2008, p. 60). The Quran inscribed,
Men are the protectors (545) and maintainers of women, because Allah has given the
one more (strength) than the other, and because they support them from their means.
Therefore the righteous women are devoutly obedient, and guard in (the husbands)
absence what Allah would have them guard (546). (as cited in Ali, n.d., p. 54)
Christianity has also contributed to construct a gendered society. Pottenger (2010)
argued that the Biblical verse wives should submit to their husband" (5:22-33) is used to
mistreat women in Christianity. Similarly, the traditional Jewish societies are separated by
sex where men spend time in reading Hebrew prayer, women preparing ritual foods (Sered,
2011) and therefore the womens access to knowledge has been restricted. Similarly, in
Buddhism, despite Buddha's egalitarian principle, monks institutionalized their right to
leadership in all sangha matters, and nuns were permanently relegated to a lower level in
the religious hierarchy (Barnes, 2002, pp. 59-60). In a similar vein, female infanticide is
also practiced in Chinese society, which is largely guided by Confucian tradition, where
womens value was depicted as lower than men (Mosher, 2007). Moreover, discrimination
against women is also found in other religions like Jainism, Shikhism, Zarathushti,
and Bahai (Sharma, 2002). Quite alike, the situation of women in Hinduism is not an
exception.
Hinduism is not a religion but it is sanatana- the tradition and way of life (Sen, 1961).
The religion, rituals and practices are always interwoven. However, the religion has set
certain rituals which are further interpreted by the priests/pundits in a form of language,
idioms, myths, metaphors etc. When the religion is practiced by people, it makes a way of
life or culture. In this connection, E. B. Taylor has said that culture is "that complex whole
which includes knowledge, belief, art, law, morals, custom, and any other capabilities
and habits acquired by man as a member of society (as cited in ONeil, 2006). The social
concept about Hinduism and womens position in Hindu society is shaped by various
religious texts like the Manusmriti (the codes for Hindu); the Swasthani (story of Lord
Shiva and a part of the Skandapurana),the Chanakya Niti (Code of rulers), and Sanskrit
epics the Ramayana and the Mahabharata among others. Here I have presented ideas from
some of these in#uential Hindu scripts that shaped womens position in Nepali society. The
practices, codes, values and belief systems rooted in Hinduism determined the meaning of
good and bad, right or wrong, master and subordinate varied in different era. According to
Young (2002), womens situation during the Rig Veda
2
ic Period (1200-800 BCE) was more
egalitarian, less hierarchical (which is true still in many other societies) (p. 5). Similarly,
in the Rig Vedic period, mens authority to perform daily rituals was transferable to wives
(Jha, 2007). This pure Vedic Hinduism was distorted and manipulated over the time and
created a dogmatic form of Hinduism which is the Patriarchic Hinduism which positioned
women into the lower strata of social order than men. Broadly, this distorted Hinduism is
fostered by elites and rulers in Nepal and other countries (Young, 2002).
Hindu is the major religion in India, Nepal and Mauritius; similarly it is the third largest
religion - 15% of the total World Population after Christian and Muslim - (Indian Express,
December 19, 2012). Through its religious texts of shruti (that which is heard) and smriti
(that which is remembered) this religion is guiding the Hindus of Nepal, India and other
places (Young, 2002). There are Hindus, Buddhists, Christians, Muslims and people
following other religions living in Nepal. However, Population and Housing Census of
2011 has shown that about 81 per cent of the total population is Hindu (Central Bureau of
Statistics [CBS], 2012]. Moreover, because of the large majority of Hindu population and
also because of state policy and power Nepali society is largely in#uenced by the Hindu
way of life (Awasthi, 2004, p. 89). As a result of this in#uence, non-Hindu women are also
gendered in Nepal and therefore this article broadly covers the issue of women living in
Hindu in#uenced Nepali society. The cultural assimilation of other non-Hindu into Hindu
religious community is traceable via legal and development actions led by Hindu Kings
including their supporters who tried to construct a uni!ed national identity through their
rule over heterogeneous population (Pettigrew & Shneiderman, 2004). Even within the
Hindu religion, women are among the oppressed
3
groups in Nepal, and also the gender gap
is highest among three Hindu majority countries (World Economic Forum, 2013). This
shows that the issue of womens liberation from the oppressed position in Nepali Hindu
society is very prominent.
Construction of Hindu Women as the Oppressed Aimai
Womens journey towards emancipation, freedom and equality has been facing various
ups and downs that are manifested in the form of religious practices, cultures and traditions.
Historically, Hindu women have been !ghting for their mukti (greater freedom) which was
not very smooth and easy. Over four thousand years of journey, the meaning, traditions
and practices of Hinduism has been changing; and consequently the womens conditions
and positions vary even within the Hindu community in different times. Literature has
shown that Nepali women have been suppressed and oppressed from the time immemorial
(Shrestha, 2011). Based on everyday gendered practices of Nepali society and as are often
re#ected in literature, media and my worldview, I would use the term Aimai to denote their
oppressed position.
Young (2002) divided the history of Hinduism into !ve periods: Rig Vedic Period
(1200-800 BC), Middle and Late Vedic Period (1200-400 BC), Classical Period (400
BC-400 AD), Medieval to Early Modern Period (400-1950), and Modern Period (1950
to now) (pp. 4-17). In different periods, Hinduism gradually changed through its internal
and external reasons. The in#uences from Islam and Christianity and also from Buddhism,
Jainism and Sikhism are some of the external reasons that contributed to bring changes in
42 R. K. Dhungana
Hinduism (Sen, 1961). In the beginning of the Rig Vedic ideology, Hinduism promoted
semi-egalitarian values where women were free to choose their mate as in the other non-
Hindu communities (p. 6).
During the Classical and Early Modern Period, orthodox religious elites worsen
womens situation by creating, reinforcing and institutionalizing restrictions mainly
through various important religious texts like the Manusmriti (the codes for Hindu); the
Swasthani (the story of Lord Shiva that is recited for 30 days in the month of Magh in the
Hindu households), and major Hindu epics like the Ramayana and the Mahabharata. For
instance, the Ramayana presented the story of Sita, who, left her palace and chose to stay
with her husband in jungle for 14 years, was abducted by Ravana, a demon. When Ram
freed her from war he asked Sita to prove her purity through Aagnipariksha (a purity test by
jumping onto the !re). Even after being proven pure, Ram exiled Sita to the jungle (Gewali,
1954). The same Sita was portrayed as the most ideal wife for the Hindus (Young, 2002,
p. 12). Primarily, the Puranas and the Manusmriti were in#uential during the Classical
and Early periods which have set dual positions (Halder & Jaishankar, 2009). On duality,
Shah (2004) argued, In one hand, power of motherhood is symbolized in a form of creator
mata on the other hand, they are controlled to protect pre-sexual sacredness (p. 88).
Halder and Jainshankar (2009) also argued that, in one hand, the Puranas, mythological
stories, have described Goddess as Shakti (Goddess of universal power), Mahalaxmi
(Goddess of wealth), and Mahasaraswati (Goddess of Knowledge); on the other hand, it
placed women below the status of Sudra, the lowest strata of Hindu society (p. 665). The
Pauranic story also portrayed women as the predisposing subject of sin given by creator.
Bennett (2002) explained that the concept of purity during menstrual cycle is established
by mythical stories that menstrual blood is a source of sin thrown by Creator (Brahma)
(pp. 215-216). The Rig Vedic concept of this purity is used to con!ne womens sexuality
in Hindu tradition (Chawala, 1992). Therefore, Hindu women are recognized as polluted
during menarche and childbirth (Shah, 2004). It means purity is the major concept used to
con!ne womens sexuality in Hindu tradition. The concept of impurity during menstrual
periods has been institutionalized in Nepali Hindu society which is locally called na chune,
untouchable (Bennett, 2002, p. 215). For institutionalizing this, polluted image of women is
much discussed and brought into practice in Hindu society. However, most people may not
be aware that women are restricted even to see the goddess inside the worship rooms of the
Hindu households. Moreover, women are also excluded from certain auspicious days like
Durga Puja (Thapa, 2010).
Manusmriti
4
- the Hindu Code is another major Hindu document that has de!ned
womens position in society. It is commonly held that where women are honored, there
the gods are pleased; on the contrary, it is also mentioned that Her Father protects (her)
in childhood, her husband protects (her) in youth, and her son protects (her) in old age;
a women is never !t for independence. (Manusmriti, 3.56)
These religious codes and principles might have their contextual meanings but are not
universally applicable for all generations. Originally the Puranas and Manusmriti might
have aimed at protecting women from fear, protecting their virginity, and controlling them
against their freedom. Particularly, Manusmriti is criticized for being not appropriate to
the modern and civilized world (Singhal, 2006). Late Vedic elite society was much more
ritualized than the early period (Young, 2002, p. 6). In this period, women were less
trusted than men to perform any Vedic rituals which are cemented in the present Hindu
society of Nepal through metaphors like Aimai Ko Rudraghanti Hudaina [Women are not
trustworthy]. The Chanakya Niti [Code for rulers], one of the in#uential Hindu codes for
rulers during Medieval as well as in classical period (400 BC-400 AD), says, Do not
put your trust in rivers, men who carry weapons, beasts with claws or horns, women, and
members of a royal family (Chanakya Niti Darpan, 1.15). Consequently, Hindu women
were taken as weak, vulnerable and untrustworthy, thus their access to information and
participation in family matters was denied. In this way, to control women, the practices of
wife battering, domestication, restriction of their movement were institutionalized in the
form of patriarchy. Restriction over movement is another major thorn created by patriarchic
Hinduism. Chanakya in his Chanakya Niti Darpan stated, The king, the brahman, and the
ascetic yogi who go abroad are respected; but the woman who wanders is utterly ruined
(6.4). In this way, prohibiting women from being exposed and from interacting with
outsiders was also institutionalized.
In the Medieval to Early Modern period (400 -1950), Hindu womens position was
increasingly restricted and Sati-Pratha
5
was one of such restrictive practices. Lohani-
Chase (2008) explained that, In Sanskrit, Sati means the one who follows her husband
in everything, including death. Now, sati is usually used as a noun, which also signi!es
a living woman devoted to her husband, not only the one who dies on the pyre (p. 31).
Lohani-Chase (2008) further argued,
Although much research is needed to !nd out how sati worked in Nepal and what kind
of agency women had, it is clear that sati existed. Though Manadeva (464-505 AD)
earned great affection for his good deeds and for preventing his mother from throwing
herself on her husbands funeral pyre, sati lingered among upper caste Hindus into the
twentieth century. (p. 31)
Before Rana Prime Minister Chandra Samsher (1901-1929) outlawed in 1924, Sati-
Pratha was in practice among the orthodox Hindu families. It was a powerful example of
controlling womens sexuality through a brutal practice that occurs through predisposition
(Kondos, 2004, pp. 61-67). The concept of sati is not erased from Hindu culture as it is still
retaining in day to day language in a different meaning as a dedicated wife.
Acharya (2012) argued that after the uni!cation of Nepal, women were historically
discriminated under Hindu rulers. Kings 1962 Constitution intensi!ed the discriminatory
44 R. K. Dhungana
practices against women and even the 1990s democratic political change failed to
eliminate these practices. Accordingly, women remained and still remain a second class
citizen even legally, despite the constitutional declaration of formal political equality and no
discrimination on the basis of caste, ethnicity, sex and religion (Acharya, 2012, pp. 3-4).
Language and idioms play an important role to sustain and reinforce womens
oppression and restrictions. The modes of cultural transfer from one generation to another
are powerful in their ability to in#uence their audience (Chu, 1996). In the Nepali context
such idioms and metaphors are used to discourage women and remind them of their current
position. Aimai is made to go to others house [Aimai vaneko Arkako Ghar Jane Jat] is
one such common metaphor in Hindus communities. Malla (2001) has listed some more
gendered metaphors;
- The birth of a son paves way to heaven (Chhora paye swarga jaane)
- If a son is born, it is celebrated by sacri!cing a goat, if it's a daughter, a pumpkin is
enough (Chhora paye khasi, Chhori paye Pharsi)
- Awife is the dust of the foot (Srimati bhaneko paitalako dhulo ho)
- Adaughter as an auspicious gift (Kanya Daan)
- If a daughter dies, we can say she has been married into a rich home (Chhori mari,
thulo ghar pari)
These types of myths, idioms and metaphors helped cementing patriarchic cultural-
social traditions which are rooted in patriarchic Hinduism. As a result, Nepali women are
straitjacketed and domesticated. They are constrained to perform certain religious activities
and to participate in political, economic and social activities (Lawoti, 2010, p. 31).
'Hindu women' is not a homogeneous community as it represents the high caste royal
women to the extremely poor Dalit
6
women who are presented as impure in the society and
therefore they face multiple oppressions. Likewise, Hindu womens movement towards
mukti also varies in terms of caste, class, education, and age among others. However, the
oppressive socio-cultural and customary practices are largely universal for all Nepali Hindu
women. Such restrictions clearly show womens Aimai position in Hindu society. In this
context, women are struggling against the patriarchic system which is further discussed
from the perspective of mukti, a classical perspective of liberation.
Mukti, a Theoretical Perspective on Womens Liberation
Hindus believe that one may reach the god (achieve mukti from worldly troubles)
through work (karma), meditation and knowledge (gyanaa), or through devotion (bhakti)
(Sen, 1961). As men, after their death, Hindu women also want mukti (also called
mokshya), the supreme level of liberation and the world of peace where there is No
need to be born again (Bennett, 2002, p. 39). A Hindu holy book, the Geeta, inscribed,
Up to Brahmas realm Arjuna, the worlds come round again and again; but once I have
been reached, son of Kunti, rebirth is !nished (8.16). I have taken the idea of Mukti as a
metaphor to conceptualize womens movement for liberation with equality and dignity.
The concept of bhakti provided some leverage to women by allowing them to love Gods
besides their husbands and in some instances they are also allowed to remain unmarried
being devotees to the gods (Young, 2002, p. 17). Further, karma and gyana signi!cantly
contributed to womens journey towards mukti. Through karma, women have been !ghting
to create a new and mukta or the liberated and digni!ed position. It implies that womens
liberation from patriarchy is the major milestone towards their mukti. An emancipated
population has access to legal rights. It is a formal type of equality, but does not necessarily
re#ect a social attitude or value of equality (Stivachtis & Georgakis, 2008, p. 2).Thus,
Nepali womens desire for mukti is beyond legal rights as they need equal dignity and
liberation from all forms of patriarchic thorns.
The two concepts, mukti and liberation are not mutually exclusive rather they represent
a progression against womens oppression as depicted in gender oppression theory (Ritzer,
2000). Gender oppression theory argues that women are oppressed, not just different from
or unequal to, but actively restrained, subordinated, molded, and used and abused by men
(p. 450). Practices of oppression are different in different places and contexts. In early
society, patriarchy was created by Hindu religious leaders to protect girls and women as
and when needed as a part of collective moral duty (Ritzer, 2000, p. 90) but, in reality, it
has been practiced differently than the original idea. Talking about the imposing nature of
religion, Bordieu has argued,
Religion contributes to the (hidden) imposition of the principles of structuration of the
perception and thinking of the world, and of the social world in particular, insofar as it
imposes a system of practices and representations whose structure, objectively founded
on a principle of political division, presents itself as the natural-supernatural structure of
the cosmos. (as cited in Verter, 2003, p. 6)
The everyday world of women is problematized by sociologists by bringing the
womens dissatisfactions of their daily life (Adams & Sydie, 2009) and this paper has
also echoed with this by questioning the Hindu womens present life using the Hinduized
concept of mukti. Despite so many thorns in the Hindu culture, it is also true that women
have not remained passive accepting all forms of oppression and discrimination. Then,
questions arise, besides little effect from bhakti (devotion), how far is Nepali Hindu
womens journey towards mukti progressed from gyana (wisdom fostered by modern
education) and karma (doing their duty to resist against oppression), whether Hindu
womens karma and gyana contribute to womens mukti or regression? These questions
shape up the central course of further discussion.
46 R. K. Dhungana
AJourney From the Oppressed Women Towards the Liberated Women
Despite the stronghold of patriarchic tradition, Hindu women are continuing their
struggles against the oppression which has been clearly recorded since the beginning of
18th century, in the modern history of Nepal. In this regard, feminist proponents have
engaged in debates concerning the utility of deconstruction and to understand how it can
help feminists to move away the oppressive concept of woman (Khezerloo, 2002). In
Nepal, the journey to womens mukti has been moving through their active karma - the
socio-political action (Malla, 2011) and has been manifested in various political and social
struggles. These struggles have been contributing to eroding the orthodox and thorny
patriarchic context and increasingly gaining access to productive resources and favorable
policies and participating in development realms (Shah, 2004). Nepali womens journey
for coming out from the rooted enslavement and patriarchy is being manifested in social,
political and economic realms which is further strengthened by the increased literacy of
women. Whether Nepali womens struggle against patriarchy is focused on mukti or not
could be an interesting discussion here. Dahal (2004) stated that, The women's movement
is a response to partly the Hindu code of law and partly gender discrimination rooted in
religion, race, caste, sex, place of birth, etc. and the deep structural inequality embedded in
traditional society (p. 12). Explaining the purpose of Hindu womens movement, Dahal
(2004) argued that womens movement in Nepal is basically against Hindu code and is also
against the rooted gender discrimination. Womens movement for freedom- mukti has thus
to be located in broader political movements as womens movements are very much aligned
with the political struggles in Nepal.
The history of womens struggle for their freedom is not well documented in Nepal.
Thapa (2012) depicted that womens bravery and karma the great works have been
ignored by male historians. If history indeed is about all facts and all events then how
could it fail to show the bravery of Rajendra Laxmi who once led Nepals uni!cation, or
Lalit Tripura Sundari, the !rst woman who translated one section of the Mahabharata
Shanti Parbas Raj Dharma [Kings Code] into the Nepali language from Sanskrit.
Similarly, Ms. Kamala, (the wife of warrior Balabhadra Kunwar) participated in the
Nalapani Fort in Anglo-Nepal war in 1814-16. Evidences show that there were dead
bodies of women inside the Nalapani Fort which clearly shows that Nepali women fought
against British Army in the History of Nepal (Onta, 1996). Similarly, Yogmaya (1860-
1941) supposedly the !rst Nepali woman who organized and led a movement against
adverse social practices, particularly those practices that were oppressive for women, and
who moved people against the Rana regime. Likewise, there were Ambalika Devi, Lok
Priya Devi, Chandrakala Devi, Mangaladevi, Divya Koirala and many other women who
contributed to the arena of Nepali literature, art, and politics. Much of their lives have been
excluded [or written very little] from the narratives of of!cial records (Thapa, 2012).
The sacri!cial revolt of Yogmaya Neupane can be taken as the start of womens
organized movement in Nepal. She is the !rst woman who dared to !ght against the
tyranny in Nepal for women's liberation. She is a classic example of Hindu womens
Shakti power to challenge the highly male dominated Rana regime by bringing the very
prominent issue of good governance. On Yogmaya, Aziz (2001) stated that, These village
women called for justice for their people long before the womens rights and civil rights
movements in the west" (p. xxv). Sangraula (May 4, 2011) also describes her story that she
gave voice to the voiceless - women, lower castes, the exploited - when the entire country
cowered to the Rana rulers. Yogmaya had two agenda, !rst about the monopoly of the
Brahmin priests or Braminization of the Vedic egalitarian idea of Dharma and the second
about the states support to the distorted Hinduism. Aziz (2001) presented,
Yogmaya had a two-pronged agenda, not just one. Manamaya explained, Her !rst
target was our Brahminic system, propagated by Brahmin priests, that gives privileges
to a few and makes rules that enslave the rest, and women of all castes. Her second
object was our ruler, the Prime Minister, who along with his generals allowed
corruption and inequality prevail. Our master, Shakti Yogmaya, showed us how these
two evils are intertwined, and she feared neither." (p. 33)
She submitted a list of 268 points demands to the government in the name of Satya
Dharma Bhiksha including the elimination of all injustice and suppression (The Womens
CAUCUS of the Constituent Assembly, 2010, p. 12). Similarly, another strong lady with
similar initial name Yogmaya Koirala established !rst womens organization, Women
Committee in 1974 (Shrestha, 2011).
The Hindu womens movement was further supported by educational and political
organizations. Padma Kanya School established by Chandrakanta Malla (Thapa, 2008)
provided platform for girls to get education since 1945 and after that Rebenta Kumari
Acharya established Aadarsha Mahila Sangh (Thapa, 2008). Similarly, Mangla Devi
Singh, Punya Prava Devi Dhungana, Kamal Rana and Rohini Shah established political
organizations for women i.e. Nepals Womens Association, All Nepal Womens
Association, Women Volunteer Services and Birangana Dal respectively. As a result, Nepali
women in#uenced policy and acquired some legal rights equality before law which
was enshrined in Nepal Government Act-2004 B.S. which was also recognized by 1950
constitution (Neupane, 2004).
Nepali Congress party mobilized female college students (Ms. Kamaksha Devi Rana,
Mrs. Hira Devi Tuladhar (Yemi), Ram Maya, Sadhana Adhikari, Sahana Pradhan, etc.)
to show black #ags to King Mahendra in 1961 as a political dissent (Shah, 2004, p. 113).
Shah (2004) has noted that the term Mahila started to appear in Nepal since 1930s. The
construction of Mahila was marked as distinct from other existing ways of identifying
women. In 1951, targeting for political awareness, Kamakshya Devi and Sadhana Pradhan
48 R. K. Dhungana
published Mahila Masik' (Womens Monthly) magazine (Thapa, 2008, pp. 6-7). Mahila
referred to a modern female subject and its usage was probably in#uenced by the promotion
of the Bhadra Mahila ideal by the Indian nationalists and Hindu reformers towards the
end of the 19th Century (Shah, 2004). With the beginning of open political environment in
the county in 1990, Hindu women started getting more chances to get into political arena
using the reserved seats.
Womens participation in formal politics has increased in the post 1950s scenario in
Nepal. In 1952, Sadhana Adhikari was elected the member of Kathmandu Municipality
representing Nepal Womens Association (RSN, 2009). Though woman were not elected in
1959s election, the !rst Elected Prime Minister B. P. Koirala recognized the role of women
in politics and government and therefore nominated Dwarika Devi Thakurati as the Deputy
Minister for Health and Local Self-Governance (Joshi & Rose, 1966, p. 314).
In 1992, Women Security Pressure Group in Leadership pressurized the government
to include more women in politics and at the same year as the result of continued pressure
from women and other agencies, the government signed the UN Convention against All
forms of Discrimination (Womens Caucus, 2008). In mid 1990s, Maoist insurgency
also contributed to bring new insights into womens agency through the embodiment of
militancy and militarism (Lohani-Chase, 2008). It helped Nepali women to break the feudal
patriarchal restrictive life of theirs, mainly for the more oppressed women like Dalit by
providing them a chance to express their dissatisfaction against caste and gender based
oppression (Pettigrew & Shneiderman, 2004). From the gender equality perspective, the
Constituent Assembly Election (2008) made marked progress by including more than 30%
women in the legislative body.
The womens participation in political activities has been increasing since the beginning
of the 20th century in Nepal. Womens participation in political activities and their socio-
political movement succeeded in enacting a semblance of property rights and increased
the degree of representation in structures of local self-governance (Dahal, 2004). In
each subsequent election, the number of women candidates being elected has increased.
In the 1999's local bodies election in Nepal, the number of women emerged as leader
was very high and also the number of elected women had increased signi!cantly. Local
Governance Act (1999) allocated a quota of 20 percent of seats for women in local bodies
and Nepals Interim Constitution (2007), Article 63(5) guarantees one third of the seats in
the Constituent Assembly to women. These provisions were utilized by Nepali women. At
the village level, 25 per cent of those women who stood for elections won (Karki, 2009)
and the provision of 20 percent reserved seats was the major reason behind the improved
womens participation (0% in 1959 to 3.4% in 1991 and reached 32.8% in 2008) in local
bodies. In general, womens participation in Nepali politics has been consistently growing
with some exceptions. See Table 1 for details.
Table 1
Womens Position in Various Elections in Nepal
Election Results for women candidates
1959 Parliamentary
Election
In the !rst Parliamentary elections of 1959, the entire 6 women
candidate contesting in election lost where total 109 men were
elected (Suwal, 2013).
Rastriya Panchayat,
1986 (legislative)
Election
Out of total 140 members of parliamentarians total 3 women
were elected in Rastriya Panchayat (Mongbay, 2013).
Parliamentary, 1991
7
In the !rst 1991 election out of 205 legislatives representatives
only 7 (3.4%) women were elected (Yemi, 2010).
Parliamentary and
Local Bodies, 1999
In 1999 total 12 (5.85%) of total 205 member of parliaments
were women and 806 (19.4%) of total 4146 local elected
representatives were women (UNESCO, 2001).
Constituent
Assembly, 2008
30 out of 240 elected CAmembers were women. Total members
of CAincluding Proportionate Representative System was
197 (32.77 percent) of the total 601 CAmembers (Election
Commission, 2008).
Constituent
Assembly 2013
8
Out of total 240 elected candidates total 10 (4.1%) candidates
were women (Shahi, 24 Nov, 2013).
In the consistent increasing trend of womens political participation in local and
legislative elections, the Constituent Election 2013 is an exceptional case. Reduction in the
number of women candidates from 96 in 2008 to 77 by the three major political parties in
2013 CAElection is the major reasons of this regression (Pradhan, 2013). However, the
lower number of elected women in CAhas not signi!cantly hampered the womens role in
CAas there is a legal provision to include at least 50 percent of women in the Proportional
Representation (PR) system established by law on Election to Members of the Constituent
Assembly, 2007, Article 7. Low women representation in political parties [only 12.4 percent
in central committee (RSN, 2009, p. 10)] can be the contributing factor for lower number
of women candidates receiving tickets to stand in the election. Hindu womens struggle for
freedom is not only limited to the national political issues but it also expanded at the local
level.
The local activism of Hindu women is also very well noted which was ignored in the
past. Nepali women have played an active role in the recent past in tackling the issues
through womens groups like a) ban in drinking and making alcohol in villages, b) safer
motherhood, c) women ploughing the farm in absence of male members, though they were
50 R. K. Dhungana
forbidden even to touch a plough before, d) wearing red clothes by widows, e) giving !re
in death rituals, etc. All these actions of women groups have challenged the patriarchic
Hinduized roles and norms (Shah, 2004; Basnet, 2007). The revolt of Durga Devi can also
be taken as an example of womens local activism. Aziz (2001) narrated, A widow with no
formal education was intent on using government, not bribes or tricks, to secure her rights.
She was confrontational in most of her dealings with people, and this was unacceptable
to the culture" (pp. 102-103). There may be many undocumented cases of Hindu women
who are !ghting against the distorted Hindu patriarchy in Nepal. Unlike for non-Hindu
women, these issues were major concerns for Hindu women as they were either restricted
through or victim of such rituals. Movement of Badi
9
in Nepal is a recent example of
such a movement. Of late, more women are coming in politics, development, and security
services and mostly the Hindu women are taking lead in each of these arenas. As a result of
local movements and their political participation, Nepali women succeeded in shifting their
identity as less productive to productive sector.
Nepali Hindu Women's Move to the Productive Sector
Nepali (Hindu) women often remained as oppressed Aimai but they have been !ghting
against patriarchy and are slowly gaining a semi-egalitarian status of Nepali Mahila. This
status is being gained by women by daring to cross the Laxman Rekha line of control-
through political activism, participation in development and engaging in non-traditional
productive sector. As a result of the continuous pressure of the women movement, the
government has taken some positive initiatives for womens economic and social security.
One of the initiatives taken by the government is the Country Code (11th Amendment) Bill
1997 which made the provisions in line with Supreme Courts verdict which has recognized
daughters equal to son (Malla, 2001). Furthermore, Government of Nepal 2006/07 directive
waived land registration fees for the land registered in the name of women, the disabled,
and members of disadvantaged groups. Womens access to land has been raised from 10.8%
in 2001 to 19.7% in 2011 (CBS, 2011). Along with the introduction of planned development
initiatives in Nepal, Government of Nepal introduced Mothers Group approach to organize
and bene!t women in rural communities from development interventions. Mothers Group
formed in 1970s primarily focused on celebrating festivals, organizing worship programs,
improving the public water taps, etc. that are taken as the work of Mahila (Shah, 2004).
Eventually, the gendered function of womens role in development moved towards more
competitive development actors bikase mahila- in Nepal.
It is evident that government policy can be helpful to increase womens power in
private as well as public domains. Recognizing the inherent power of women and also
understanding the emerging wave of womens active role in society, Swami Vivekananda
has predicted that the 21st century will be the century of women (Jha, 2007). In the past,
womens access to property was only limited to Stridhan like daijo and pewa
10
. Currently,
we can see a number of women owning their own enterprises and employing women and
thus moving from dependency to independence. For example, some women like that of
Dibya Koirala not only organized women but also started providing cotton weaving skill
for women to engage them in a productive sector (Thapa, 2008). Supplementing to and
for womens activism and political socialization, womens increased gyana (literacy and
education) is another important contributing factor for womens liberation in Nepal.
Educated Women Padhelekheka Mahila
Nepali Hindu women are increasingly gaining formal and non-formal education (gyana)
(Acharya, 2004) and gradually heading towards liberation since education is considered a
means of liberation. The liberation movements are manifested in different forms and the
role of educated women is noteworthy (Dahal, 2004).Though education was not equally
accessible to men and women and therefore became a new force for perpetuating gender
inequality in Nepal (Acharya, 2012), it has made many positive contributions to challenging
various gender disparities. Moreover, the overall picture for gendered enrollment trends in
Nepal is very positive (Terry & Thapa, 2012, p.19).
Earlier, women were prohibited to study the Vedas, work as priest, and chant the
Gayatri Mantra (Koirala, 2003). In the modern history of Nepal, Hinduism was taken as the
foundation of education system and literacy in Nepal followed the Hindu Varnashramic
caste line" (Acharya, 2004). Education glori!ed Hindu values following the Woods
Education Policy fostering Hinduism as only the Religion of Nepal and implanting a false
concept of King as the incarnation of Lord Vishnu (Caddell, 2007). However, through
the structure and womens agency, womens access to education in post 1950s fostered
womens intergenerational positive changes (Mishra, 2010). Educated women have been
playing a vital role in womens movement by mobilizing other women and also invoking
the idea of modernity, human rights and democracy so that their status in society can be
improved (Dahal, 2004). Literacy not only helped women to understand their traditional
roles but also helped them reduce dependency (Pokharel, 2012). Increasingly the literate
and educated women are leading womens movement in Nepal.
Due to the increased access to education, and continued political and local activism, the
government of Nepal made policies that created opportunities for Hindu women gaining
better status in the society as productive and educated women. This has greatly facilitated to
build a situation where traditional and cultural norms created by patriarchic Hinduism have
been challenged.
Conclusion
Through continuous movement against patriarchy Nepali Hindu women succeeded to
make some space in political and social arena, their movement is not very much focused
against religious and cultural aspects as it was rightly started by Yogmaya in early 19th
52 R. K. Dhungana
century. Largely, womens movement is focused on socio-political and economic reform
(Wydra, Jay, Johnson, Draper, Escobosa, & Maurseth, 2010). Hindu womens movement
supported by their social and political movement against oppression (karma) and increased
education and literacy (gyana) prepared a ground for starting transformative movement in
Nepal. So far, some Nepali women, who have been able to occupy some space in education,
politics and wealth, are succeeded to change their less-valued condition Aimai to the
improved condition -Mahila. However, a large number of women are still living as Aimai
as they lack basic education, wealth and political space. Womens political movement,
literacy and access to some productive resources are insuf!cient mainly for transforming
the patriarchic Hinduism - the major barriers of womens liberation in Nepal. Despite few
positive changes in the lives of Nepali Hindu women, mukti is still a far-off status as they
have to pass through a long thorny path of liberation.
Notes
1
Mukti is derived from the Sanskrit word Mokshya that represents the desire of Hindu community
to be liberated themselves from the world of troubles and reach the stage of greater freedom
which can be acquired through devotion (Dhyana), knowledge (Gyanaa) , and action (Karma).
This concept is derived from a story of the Mahabharata where Lord Krishna was convincing
Arjuna (a great warrior) to !ght with his own relatives for the sake of Dharma.
2
The Rig Veda is the oldest known to Sanskrit literature and it was developed in the classical period
and is also known as the most sacred (Young, 2002). It is a holy book of Hindu Religion that
consists of hymns to various deities.
3
Hindu women particularly those categorized as untouchables are heavily deprived and this is
widely applied to all Hindu women during their menstruation period (4 days a month), in the
period of child birth (Sutkeri). Married, uneducated women who dont get married within a certain
age, disabled, having issue of infertility, etc. face more oppression than other women in Nepal.
4
The Manusmriti basically comprises the Laws of Manu written in the 2nd century. It is a Hindu
religious scripture to regulate Hindu code and Dharma (religion). Avirtuous wife should never
do anything displeasing to the husband who took her in marriage, when he is alive or dead, if she
longs for her husbands world (after death). [157] When her husband is dead she may fast as much
as she likes, (living) on auspicious #owers, roots, and fruits, but she should not even mention
the name of another man. She should be long-suffering until death, self-restrained, and chaste,
striving (to ful!ll) the unsurpassed duty of women who have one husband[165] The woman
who is not unfaithful to her husband and who restrains her mind, speech, and body reaches her
husbands world (after death), and good people call her a virtuous woman (115-116) (as cited
in Lohani-Chase, 2008).
5
Widow burning on the funeral pyre of their husband is known as sati system in Nepal which is not
in practice now.
6
Dalit were classi!ed as the lowest strata of Hindu community, they are mainly the manual
workers and also considered as untouchables. Despite the law prohibited, even today they are
discriminated in Hindu societies.
7
The new constitution promulgated in 1990 made mandatory that all the contending Parties !le a
minimum of 5 percent of the seats for women as a condition to contest the election.
8
Though in 2013 CAElection, less number of women elected in compare with 2008 but the total
percent of women in CAwill be remained about 30 percent of 601 members of CAin Nepal.
9
Badi community originally came to Nepal from India in the 14th century and settled in Salyan
district. Their primary responsibility is to be entertainer staging song and dance but gradually they
also started/are trapped in prostitution (Coax, 1993). The Badi communities are residing in the
mid and far west Nepal and they are Hindus by religion.
10
Daijo is commonly translated as dowry that is sent along with the bride whereas pewa is small
property given by the parental home.
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58 E. Carm
JER
KUSOED
2014 JER
* Author Email: ellen.carm@hioa.no
March 2014, Vol. 4, No. 1, pp. 58-77
Inclusion of Indigenous Knowledge System (IKS) A Precondition for Sustainable
Development and an Integral Part of Environmental Studies
Ellen Carm*
Oslo and Akershus University College for Applied Sciences
Oslo, Norway
Abstract
UNESCO (2005) launched the Decade of Education for Sustainable Development,
2005-2014, and as we now proceed into the !nal year of that decade there is a
time for asking whose development? That question heavily relies upon what type
of education, which again leads to aspects concerning epistemological lenses. I
am using my experiences and research from two totally different assignments; an
evaluation of a post-literacy and skills program in rural Laos, and the other aimed
at developing and implementing a localized approach to HIV/AIDS education in
Zambia. The outcomes from the two interventions revealed that in order to initiate
and sustain change and development, it was crucial to ensure the inclusion and
merger of multiple knowledge systems, science and traditional knowledge. That
requires a focus on how. In other words, the processes we put in place to ensure the
recognition and merger of different epistemologies are crucial to ensure sustained
local development.
The paper brie#y discusses key concepts related to multiple knowledge systems,
education for sustainable development, and different conceptualization of learning
and teaching methods, and explores how environmental education can contribute to
sustainable development. The last section illustrates how expansive learning can be
applied as a method and a tool to analyze the processes at stake, and outcomes of
participatory and inclusive interventions. The paper elaborates on the methodology
and shows how a multi-voiced approach can bridge the gap between different
epistemologies, e.g. Indigenous Knowledge and Western Knowledge, create space
for interaction and negotiations among a diverse group of stakeholders and actors to
reach to the local innovations and development activities.
Keywords: Situated learning, indigenous knowledge, inclusion, sustainable
development, expansive learning
Inclusion of Indigenous Knowledge System 59
Introduction
As an external partner in a master program on Environmental Education and
Sustainable Development at Kathmandu University, and having an educational and
developmental background, I was challenged to explore how pedagogy and learning theory
can contribute to visioning a broader understanding of environmental studies through a
cross-disciplinary approach.
Established and Situated Conceptualizations of Learning
Learning processes have traditionally been characterized as vertical or linear input
oriented models of learning. There is a competent "teacher" who knows what is to be
learned, according to a !xed content. It is a self-evident presupposition that the knowledge
or skill to be acquired is itself stable and reasonably well de!ned. Learning processes are
usually viewed as processes where a subject (traditionally an individual, more recently
possibly also an organization) acquires some identi!able knowledge or skills in such a way
that a corresponding change in the behavior of the subject may be observed (Engestrm,
2008).
Much of the most intriguing kinds of learning in work organizations violate this as
people and organizations are all the time learning something that is not stable, not even
de!ned or understood ahead of time. Important transformations even from our personal
lives as well as organizational practices originate from new forms of activity/ies which are
not yet there. We literally learn while they are being created. Thus, there is no competent
teacher. The conclusion then is that standard learning theories have little to offer if one
wants to understand these processes (Engestrm, 2001, pp.137-138).
Asituated or contextualized perspective on knowledge regards knowledge as
constructed through interaction with the environment, in a dialogue with others, through
horizontal interaction and re#ection (Du-Plessis, 2010). It is contextualized within a given
culture and language, and knowledge is created through a process where new information is
interacting with prior knowledge and experiences of the learner (Table 1).
Table 1
Conceptualization of Traditional/Established Versus Situated /Contextual Knowledge
Conceptualization Traditional/Established Situated/Contextual
Learning
Cognitive passive
selective
Embedded in community and
identity
Forms of knowledge
Canonical, theoretical,
codi!ed, distilled in text and
manuals
Embodied/context-sensitive,
indigenous
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Conceptualization Traditional/Established Situated/Contextual
Understanding
developed
Abstract/Universal Transformation of identity
Transmission
Vertical instruction by
authorities
Horizontal, collaboration
with peers
(Adapted from Du-Plessis, 2010)
Traditional or established knowledge is cognitive, theoretical, codi!ed according
to certain rules, and tends to be abstract as opposed to situated and context-sensitive
knowledge which is embedded in the local community, and a part of the people`s identity
construction. Knowledge aiming at individual or local change and transformation is
situated or contextualized, often termed indigenous as opposed to knowledge transmitted
by authorities, viewed as universal. Along the following sections, the situated or contextual
knowledge (also termed indigenous knowledge) will be further discussed.
Indigenous Knowledge
Indigenous knowledge is the knowledge that people in a given community have
developed over time, and that continues to develop. It is based on experience, often
tested over centuries of use, adapted to local culture and environment, dynamic and
changing(International Institute of Rural Reconstruction(IIRR),1996).Even though
Indigenous Knowledges are multiple we can still identify some common threads that bind
them together (Breidlid, 2013). Indigenous Knowledges are by de!nition interdisciplinary,
where local people think of and manage their natural environment as a whole system,
developed in speci!c historical and cultural contexts, and are therefore typically not
generated but a set of pre-speci!ed procedures or rules and orally passed down from one
generation to the next (Semali & Kincheloe, 1999, p. 40, as cited in Breidlid, 2013, p.
31). Indigenous Knowledges bridge the spiritual world with the physical world, and it is
therefore a need for assessing the extent to which the cultural embeddedness of knowledge
creates meaning without becoming unacceptably distorted (Sillitoe, 1998).
Contextual realities, people`s everyday lives, micro- or meso-level activities guided by
culture, and contextual or established knowledges can be explored, discussed and contested.
If people are invited to take part in processes in order to identify and re#ect upon what one
just regards as given, the traditions representing the rules and the division of labor, or
any other activity we inherit from our ancestors, these processes may open up for localized
initiatives and sustained developmental activities, based upon IKS..
Indigenous knowledge is situated and context speci!c but has the potential to be applied
to other regions, being transferable and having time-tested reliability. This can be illustrated
by studying the diagram made by villagers showing how livestock and land are owned by
various castes in a Nepalese community.
Figure 1.Use of matrix as a tool for identifying local context (Archer & Cottingham, 1996).
As illustrated above, the livestock are unequally distributed among the different castes
present in the diagram. This knowledge has been extracted from participatory learning
activities among illiterate villagers, but presented in a table like this, the pattern of unequal
distribution of wealth, may be applicable to communities populated by the same castes.
Illustrations produced through participatory learning activities (PLA), allowing a diverse
group of stakeholders to contribute, are useful tools, or instruments for re#ections upon
existing practices, for learning and conscientization (Chambers, 2004; Freire, 1970). The
participants develop their own learning through interaction and dialogue, while at the same
time constructing new knowledge, which may again open up possibilities for new solutions
to local challenges (Engestrm, 2001).
Participation and Community Involvement
Participation and community involvement has for the last two decades been a commonly
agreed principle guiding development work in general, but the concepts rarely go beyond
aid rhetoric and seldom reach down to grassroots level (Fortier,1993; Shaffer,1994;
Chambers,1997; Chambers & Pettit, 2004; World Bank, 2005;World Bank et. al, 2009;
Benjaminsen & Svarstad,2010). Experiences from recent global reviews on success
stories on improved and sustained agricultural developments and ef!cient food production
unfortunately still argue the same. There is now an urgent need to move from rhetoric to
implementation, a paradigm shift is still required (Benjaminsen & Svarstad, 2010).
Building upon Arnsteins`(1967) ladder of community participation where she
explores how involvement may be distorted and even be turned into manipulation, several
applications of this theory have been developed. She argues that:
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... the fundamental point [is] that participation without redistribution of power is an
empty and frustrating process for the powerless. It allows the power holders to claim
that all sides were considered, but makes it possible for only some of those sides to
bene!t. It maintains the status quo. (Arnstein, 1967)
The starkness of Arnsteins`(1967) framing of citizen participation, as an overt struggle
for power between government of!cials and community activists being played out in
settings varying from community halls to committee rooms, has been a touchstone for
policy makers and activists for 35 years (Bruns, 2003). The only measure of participation
according to Arnstein (1967) is the redistribution of power to make decisions and seizing
this control as the true aim of citizen engagement. The different steps on her ladder relate
directly to the degree to which citizens have attained decision making power with complete
citizen control being de!ned as the highest step (Table 2). When moving from the lower
rungs of Manipulation and Therapy through Informing, Consultation, and Placation,
it is only the top three steps, Partnership, Delegated Power, and Citizen Control that
demonstrate citizen power. The lower rungs are differentiated by the limitations of citizen
power and its replacement with participation that does not necessarily in#uence decision-
making (Arnstein, 1967).
Table 2
Ladder of Participation
8: Citizen control - community as sole decisionmakers Degrees of
Active involvement, Citizen
Power,
7: Delegated power- community as chief decisionmakers
6: Partnership- community as co decisionmakers
5: Placation-community as monitors
Indirect involvement or
consultation, Degrees of
Tokenism
4: Consultation-community as respondents
3: Informing-community as listeners
2: Therapy-community as users
Passive involvement
or manipulation, Non
Participation
1: Manipulation- community as pawn
(Adapted from Arnstein, 1967; Shaffer, 1994)
Akey issue here is to explore how we can move from passive or indirect involvement
of local people to active involvement in development activities, and thereby being able
to merge Indigenous Knowledges with the scienti!c knowledge, termed Western
Knowledge.
According to Breidlid (2013), Western Knowledge, has not been developed in a
vacuum, but its trajectory is inextricably linked to the spread of colonialism and capitalism
and to the dislocation of other epistemologies (p. 5). Similarly modernity has been
associated with capitalism and westernization, in the sense that progress has therefore also
been linked to modernization, most often de!ned in opposition to tradition (Tucker, 1999,
p. 7). Westernization has therefore gained its status of a universal goal and destiny. The
epistemological consequence, as may be seen today, is a tendency of creating a dichotomy
between modernity and tradition, between indigenous knowledge and western knowledge.
As stated by DuPlessis (2010), the traditional or established knowledge also carry the
understanding of being universal. If we really want to be serious and implement the global
UN objectives focusing on Education for Sustainable Development, this understanding
has to be reversed. In the following section the concept, Education for Sustainable
Development, will be further elaborated in order to frame Engestrm`s theory of expansive
learning in the context of sustainable development.
Sustainable Development
According to Breidlid (2013), sustainable development is almost entirely centered on
a western and epistemological and ideological framework as discussed among the UN
organizations. In the Johannesburg Declaration of Education for Sustainable Development
the focus was on eradicating poverty and achieving a just and fair resource allocation.
But education and training were referred to together with Technology transfers, human
recourse development, education and training to banish underdevelopment forever (UN,
2002, p.18). Education was also noted as essential to mobilize natural resources as well as
critical for promoting sustainable development. In The Declaration, it is also underlined the
importance of the environment in sustainable development. This implies that Indigenous
knowledge must be seen from this perspective. But Breidlid raise an important issue (2013,
p. 70) when he asks; How does the educational inputs promote sustainable development?
Some of the answers to this is elaborated on by UNESCO (2005). In
2005,UNESCOlaunchedthe Decade of Education for Sustainable Development with
the overall objective of integrating the principles, values and practices of sustainable
development into all aspects of education and learning (UNESCO, 2005) as that effort
will encourage changes in behavior that will create a more sustainable future in terms
of environmental integrity, economic viability and a just society for present and future
generations (UNESCO, 2005).Some writers questioned how the strategies could be both
economically and environmentally friendly, others stated it was all just an attempt to show
that capitalism is environmental friendly, again some argued that these two objectives were
compatible (Breidlid, 2013, p. 71). Later UN documents, e.g. UNESCO/UNEP (2011, p.
48,as cited in Breidlid, 2013, p. 72) just sporadically mentioned indigenous knowledge, or
the concept, local knowledge as in some instances is being used synonymously, as re#ected
in the following quote:
Indigenous and local knowledge is a key recourse for communities in understanding the
environment, and assessing the adapting to climate change impacts.and Educational
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programs promoting indigenous knowledge, sustainable lifestyle and sustainable
development will further enhance these capacities (critical thinking and problem solving
skills. (UNESCO/UNEP, 2011, p. 48, as cited in Breidlid, 2013, p. 72)
These sporadic references to indigenous knowledge and the crucial role education could
play to promote sustainable development by including local knowledge are the integral
parts of an educational discourse promoting local and sustained developmental strategies.
Along the following lines, I will use cultural-historical activity theory (CHAT) and the
!ndings from two research projects to show a model that might bring new insights in how
one can utilize and gain from merging different epistemologies, here indigenous and local
knowledge and western knowledge systems.
Applying the Model of Expansive Learning to Sustainable Development
Expansive learning is based upon a sociocultural perspective drawing upon CHAT
and reveals the connection between action and meaning among the relevant stakeholders
in a given context or situation. Botha (2011) argues that partnerships between actors and
institutions working towards a potentially shared development objective who historically
have developed quite different and contradictory motives, tools and divisions of labor, e.g.
indigenous and western, can be developed and analyzed using this theory as a model for
sustainable development.
CHAT is characterized by work or activity-based learning. It relates to change at
individual as well as institutional/organizational level, and focus on challenges and
possibilities of inter-organizational learning. The process also requires a minimum of two
interacting activity systems. CHAT also addresses cultural diversity by viewing possible
con#icts among multiple systems, as essential for the development and learning, as
contradictions, then will create new discussions, negotiations and provide openings for new
perspectives and solutions.
The numerous meetings and/or workshops required for such a process to take place,
have been named as Change Laboratory (CL) (Engestrm, 2001). Such processes require
the following: there is abroad stakeholder involvement, the roots of the problems are
identi!ed jointly, the stakeholders are collaborating and commonly envisioning future
designs for change according to the given context and challenges, and thereafter joint
agreed strategies which are partial and contingent (not absolute) are developed. Lastly a
strategic work plan is approved ensuring a series of activities/workshops are taking place,
for designing and redesigning possible strategies ahead.
Empowerment and Re"ective Practice
The strategy also focuses on the empowerment of practitioners while engaging
in re#ective cycles of deconstruction, reconstruction, trial and re-adjustment. It is
a participatory approach whose objective is to reveal the needs and possibilities for
development in an activity, not in relation to a given standard or objective, but by jointly
constructing the zone of proximal development of this activity.
The ideal-typical learning cycle termed expansive learning cycle (Engestrm, 2001) is
taking place in a multi-organizational context, and the step-wise learning cycle is illustrated
below. The development process starts with questioning, challenging and rejecting
existing practices across boundaries of existing organizations and institutions, across
epistemological, ethnic or cultural boundaries. One starts analyzing existing practices
in order to collaboratively and mutually contribute and support the building of new
models, concepts, artifacts or patterns of conduct across previously identi!ed boundaries.
Thereafter, through re#ections and examinations of the suggested models, concepts and
artifacts, further negotiations and trading of material or immaterial resources related to new
ideas, concepts and strategies are agreed. The expansive learning cycle will be !nalized by
re#ecting on and evaluating aspects of the process and strategies by different stakeholders
involved, before consolidating the outcomes and new practices, and if needed, revising
the strategy based upon the experiences and outcome in the implementation of the !rst
intervention, eventually starting the learning circle a second time.
Figure 2. Expansive learning cycle (Engestrm, 2001).
The !ve central principles of activity theory includes the following, a minimum of
two activity systems as unit of analysis, a multivoicedness of activity, the historicity of
activity, the contradictions as a driving force of change in activity, and the expansive cycles
as a possible form of transformation in the activity. In conclusion, implications of this
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framework are the basic principles used for the understanding of the increasingly important
horizontal dimension of learning being discussed.
Creation of New Activity, Re"ective Re-mediation
Through re#ective re-mediation one can open up an entirely new question and lead to
the formation of a new object and a new activity. The limitation of goal-rational models of
creation and change is that they require that the investigator or interventionist de!nes the
desired outcome of the change effort at the beginning. Re-mediation involves a shift from
the prede!ned or given new goal to an unexpected or created new object (Engestrm,
1987). Imposed categories often become iron cages which reduce and rule out possibilities.
Such closed stabilization knowledge is commonly the result of exclusively authorized
correct knowledge (Engestrm, 2001). Therefore, CHAT opens up an entirely new set of
questions and leads to the formation of new objects and new activity.
Boundary Crossing
Applying a mixed methods approach through CHAT means using a theoretical
framework that Westerners can relate to in order to delimit Western knowledge and research
and thereby create an openly de!ned space for indigenous people to name and practice
their knowledge(IKS), making procedures that state, where and how IKS would relate to
Western knowledge (Botha, 2011). Boundary crossing actions are always two-way inter-
actions. If only one party is willing to cross a boundary and receives no response, the action
is incomplete and thus cannot be categorized as boundary crossing. To be expansive, such
actions need to be characterized by mutual engagement and commitment to change in
practices (Engestrm, 2008).
Boundary crossing occurs because human beings are involved in multiple activities
and have to move between them. For example, a school student must move from home to
school to peer culture and back home where indigenous knowledge or traditional leadership
is confronted with Western scienti!c knowledge or Eurocentric leadership practices
(Breidlid, 2013). Boundary crossing provides material for double stimulation. It requires
negotiation and re-orchestration. Therefore, it is the most obvious aspect of the horizontal
or sideways dimension of development (Breidlid, 2013). Whether or not a boundary
crossing action is expansive can ultimately and only be determined in the broader context
of transformation in the activity systems and the participants involved. The model is further
illustrated in the following diagram.
Figure 3. Two activity systems and a potentially shared object (Engestrm, 2008, p. 4).
The upper part of the triangle represents individual and group actions embedded
in an activity system- the instruments, the tools or the artifacts mediating learning and
behavior. The lower part is referring to the division of labor between the actors involved
in implementing the activity, targeting the given community. Finally the third corner or
domain in the triangles re#ects the existing rules that regulate the activity or action. The
artifacts mediating peoples lived world are contextually bound, as are the divisions of labor
and rules. For example, rules or artifacts guiding or controlling peoples lived world may
in one context be based upon laws and jurisdiction, policies or institutional regulations,
whereas in the other context, behavior may be rooted in cultural, spiritual or religious
traditions and practices (Bernstein, 2010).
The oval representations are used to indicate the object-orientated actions whereby the
two activity systems are interacting searching and negotiating to reach to a new innovative
action, or a shared object of activity illustrated by the shared and overlapping part of the
circles. That indicates how IKS and local knowledge can be merged through the facilitation
of horizontal learning as characterized by ambiguity, surprise, interpretation, sense
making, and potential for change (Engestrm, 2001, p. 134). In the following section,
I will illustrate some of the concepts of expansive learning to practical experiences and
outcomes.
Case Studies: Laos and Zambia
In the Lao study, the author was the team leader of an external UNESCO evaluation
(2002), conducted jointly with the representative from the Laotian Ministry of Education,
the UNESCO representative and one from NORAD. The overall aim of the project was
to improve and sustain rural development (Carm, 2002). In Zambia, the author was hired
by MOE Zambia as an external educational expert to support them in implementing the
existing HIV/AIDS education policy in one province comprising a total of approximately
890 public schools. The team coordinating and facilitating the various activities were in
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addition to the author, MOE employees from different levels, as well as lecturers from one
of the colleges in the province.
The two case studies referred to were directly focusing on the how and the why, trying
to understand the strategies guiding the developmental processes, and the outcomes of
the development projects, according to the voices of those directly involved. Both the
studies employed an exploratory and qualitative case study approach based upon on a
constructivist paradigm. These types of case studies are used to explore those situations
in which the interventions being addressed have no clear, single set of outcomes (Yin,
2003, as cited in Bryman, 2008). A constructivist paradigm also acknowledges that truth
is relative in the sense that it also depends upon the researcher`s perspective (Baxter
& Jack, 2008). Constructivism is built upon the premise of a social construction of
reality. One of the advantages of this approach is the close collaboration between the
researcher and the participants while enabling participants to tell their stories (Crabtree
& Miller, 1999, as cited in Baxter & Jack2008). The unit of analyses in the Laotian case
comprised three project districts, where 30 villages out of a total of 150 project sites were
randomly selected. In the Zambian case, the unit of analyses was a province in which the
decentralized approach to HIV/AIDS education was piloted over a period of four years.
The !ndings revealed that the inclusion and thereby the role of the traditional leaders
in !ghting the HIV/AIDS epidemic through their own internal leadership structures
and strategies were crucial in order for the MOE HIV/AIDS prevention strategy to be
implemented (Carm, 2012). The table below clari!es the development objectives for each
of the projects.
Table 3
Development Objectives for the Two Projects
Laos: Development objectives Zambia: Development objectives
-To improve the basic education level,
particularly for women and ethnic
groups.
-To contribute to sustained rural
development in the central region of
Laos.
-To develop education strategies supporting
the Zambian government in !ghting HIV/
AIDS at school and community level.
Both development projects were managed by a coordinating unit, which in both the
cases also involved governmental representatives. But as can be seen in Table 3 below,
there were a number of actors participating, some as planners, implementers, bene!ciaries
or both.
Table 4
Overview the Sample of Informants
Actors/Institutions Laos Zambia
Govt. bodies X x
Higher ed./universities X x
International experts x x
National experts x x
Private inst./NGO x
Religious Inst. X
Local leaders X X
Community members X X
PTS/SMC X
Parents/households X X
Children, pupils X
In both the cases, a participatory approach was applied with the overall aim of reaching
a working relationship that imply what Arnstein`s (1968) called Citizens Power opposed
to manipulative strategies. A minimum of two activity-systems were involved as illustrated
in Engestrm`s model (2008). The meetings implied negotiations towards a new objective
of activity, the needs, interests and environmental, as well as socio-cultural contextual
conditions.
Responsibilities were delegated to the various institutional levels, e.g. household,
community, local leader or chiefdom. Facilitation and support structured were in both cases
developed and differentiated according to the needs.
Through questioning, analyses, interaction and horizontal learning, the various
actors involved were sharing their ideas and thoughts re#ecting their worldviews and
epistemologies. Gradually the participants in each project modeled a local solution to
improve or overcome their challenges and problems.
Sustained Rural Development in Laos
This project focused on improvement at the household and community-level targeting
individual participants and bene!ciaries of the project. A multi-channeled learning
methodology was developed, where the bene!ciaries identi!ed and decided upon their
learning needs, e.g. identi!ed the themes and topics, which primarily were focusing on
improving their livelihood through more ef!cient farming and the identi!cation and
implementation of new agricultural products suitable for their environment and climatic
conditions. In close collaboration with the local and national experts, appropriate learning
70 E. Carm
materials were designed, learning content and materials were developed and activities
implemented through close monitoring and following up mechanisms. Village committees
were representing the various bene!ciaries, including the elders, and worked hand in hand
with the project staff and coordinators.
The project was implemented in 150 villages, selected in 3 districts, and our impact
research revealed a positive direct impact on health, nutrition, family planning, agriculture
and livestock. Their improved living conditions and income generation activities indirectly
impacted and changed traditional gender roles, and had a positive impact on increased
enrolment among their children (Carm, 2002).
Some few examples will illustrate the impact, namely issues related to agriculture and
livestock, one of the key areas for sustained rural development. They are also at the same
time excellent illustrations of the term boundary crossing (Engestrm, 2008).
By using new techniques such as the use of natural fertilizers they had increased their
production of traditional crops. Moreover, new products had also been introduced to the
villagers, e.g. cassava, watermelon, mushrooms and !sh-farming through locally developed
!shponds. With the introduction of livestock vaccines, especially for chicken and pig
raising, they had increased the numbers and quality of their livestock. In addition, the
village bene!ciaries revealed that they did not only gain new knowledge and skills, but had
also been encouraged to participate more fully in the decision-making processes in their
communities (Carm, 2002).
Scienti!c, Western, knowledge systems through the involvement of scientists and
agricultural experts were merged with the bene!ciaries own situated wisdom, traditional
knowledge and their own needs. The communities` need for improved living conditions and
their voices were responded to by experts and project planners and facilitators. Through
negotiations, considering environmental conditions and feasibility the two activity systems
agreed upon a common strategy and the means and tools needed for the implementation in
an illiterate environment where resources and infrastructural facilities were rare.
Role of Traditional Leaders Promoting HIV/AIDS Prevention in Zambia
In the Zambian case, the main aims were to pay attention to the role of the local leaders,
the importance of bringing them fully into the planning and implementation process, and
also their actual contribution using their own traditional management structures to identify
risky behavior for contracting HIV/AIDS and develop mitigation strategies. Through
their structures, their national chiefs` parliament, House of Chiefs, and their traditional
governance of their kingdoms through head men and village structures, an otherwise
taboo-related issue such as sexuality and HIV/AIDS were opened up to dialogue by their
subjects through the chiefs` role as door opener to the villagers. Their new ways of working
with the schools and teachers paved way for a coherent and comprehensive school-and
community based approach !ghting HIV/AIDS.
By looking at Figure 4 below, one can see how the three main groups of actors were
involved, and the arrows illustrate the collaboration between the three main institutional
actors, as well as how each of them also related to the individual stakeholders through their
own administrational structures. Some of the innovations created by the traditional leaders
and how that contributed to enlighten and create awareness in their kingdoms regarding
HIV/AIDS are highlighted in the right column below.
Expansive Learning in-service model
Civil
Society
Churches &
NGOs
MOE
Districts
Schools,
Teachers,
PTAs, Learners
Traditional
Leaders
Chiefs &
Headmen
Village
Leaders,
Parents and
Children
Figure 4. Interaction and coordination
across activity systems.
Monitoring HIV/AIDS education in the
local schools
Literacy classes including HIV/AIDS
prevention were developed jointly with the
schools/NGOs
Chiefs use of media/TV to sensitize the
public
Increased openness about HIV/AIDS
among the villagers though chiefs
involvement and agency
Reduction of stigma through greater
openness between schools and parents/
pupils related to harassment, misuse and
HIV-infected pupils
Sexual Cleansing were turned into other
local rituals/and practices re#ecting their
local needs, herbal baths, back rubbing etc
Chiefs were advocating for and changing
the content of the initiation ceremonies,
e.g. not promoting sexual intercourse
and traditional gender roles during the
ceremonies
Polygamy was being discouraged.
These two case studies indicate how, by capitalizing on the positive dimensions of
traditional knowledge and overcoming its negative dimensions through conventional
science based inputs, dif!cult process of securing peoples participation in environmental
conservation together with the socio-economic development of local communities is eased.
It also shows the important role local leaders can play as gate openers and agents for
change, by bringing up crucial knowledge related to local traditions and cultural practices,
and using their in#uence and their own rules and division of labor.
Environment Education (EE) and Sustainable Development
Sauve` (1996, p. 1) explored various conceptions of environment, of education and of
sustainable development trying to identify what the concept of environmental education
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for sustainable development actually referred to. From his viewpoint, environment can
be viewed as a pure nature, resource, problem, place to live, biosphere and community
project. How do these de!nitions later impact how we then project the type of relationship
and how we assign environment education to different principal characteristics? How does
environmental education deal with the notions of the original, pure environment; our
collective biophysical heritage, sustaining quality of life? Or does EE address how the
environment is threatened by pollution, creating activists and change makers focusing on
a shared living milieu; focusing on socially critical analysis or a political concern for the
community?
Teaching and learning strategies that might be selected are then based upon our
previous assumptions about the characteristics of the environment, e.g. nature exhibitions;
immersion in nature, audit of energy consumption, problem-solving strategies, case
studies or integral action research approaches through participatory process aimed at
transformation.
Atypology of environmental educational paradigms referred to by Sauve` (1996)
shows the link between the typologies from A C, and their corresponding educational
paradigm, the typologys characteristics and lastly the applied pedagogical approaches. The
!rst typology refers to the rational educational paradigm and has its origin in a traditional
and vertical learning tradition, where education is understood as an information transfer
process, mainly of a scienti!c, technological and legislative nature.
Table 5
Sauves (1996) Typologies of Environmental Education (EE) Paradigms
Environmental
Education
Paradigms
Associated
Educational
Paradigm
Principal
Characteristics
Examples of EE
Pedagogical
Approaches
A
Industrial: nature
domination and
competition for
productivity and
growth
rational
transmission of
predetermined
knowledge(mainly of a
scienti!c and
technological nature)
formal
presentations or
demonstrations;
modules approach
for training
B
Existential: respect
for nature, in search for
harmony and personal
accomplishment
humanistic
optimal
development of the many
dimensions of the learner;
freedom to learn
Con#uent approach for
nature education
or environmental
value education
C
Symbiosynergic:
toward symbiotic
relationship between
human, society and
nature
inventive
Critical construction of
knowledge for social
transformation;
cooperative learning
grass roots EE;
socially critical
environmental
education
(Adapted from Bertrand & Valois, 1992, as cited in Sauve`, 1996, p. 17)
The second and third paradigms though are corresponding to the situated or contextual
understanding of knowledge, these last two typologies re#ect a socio-cultural paradigm,
focusing on the symbiotic relationship between humans, society and nature. The inventive
(or transformative) paradigm favors critical construction of knowledge, implying the
recognition of inter-subjectivity and transformation. This vision calls for new educational
practices, such as making schools more open to the real world, co-operative learning and
concrete problem-solving. Many aspects of the socially critical environmental education
correspond to this last vision (Sauve`, 1996).
Sustainable Development and Environment Education
Sustainable development as a concept can be understood as continuous development
owing to technological innovation and free trade and/or development as dependent on
a world order. The principal characteristics are productivity and competitiveness within
a market-driven society with free trade on a world scale focusing on scienti!c and
technological innovation or economic growth.
An alternative development credo argues that only a complete global shift in
social values and choices will permit the development of sustainable communities and
autonomous development, also called indigenous development. Linked to that, sustainable
development, as can be argued, is valued if it is rooted in cultural identity. The principal
characteristics of sustainable development are then further characterized by processes
reducing dependency, increasing autonomy, favoring renewable resources, and stimulating
democratic process, participation and solidarity. Associated educational strategies are
re#ected in the inventive paradigm and correspond to what we have previously called
situated and contextual learning: a community-led process of critical investigation toward
the transformation of social realities. Through interaction the relevant actors construct
contextually signi!cant and useful knowledge, taking into account traditional values and
know-how (Sauve`, 1996, p. 27).
The identi!cation of relevant actors needs to be considered carefully, as well as how
the various actors can contribute equally to the process of knowledge construction, to avoid
manipulation and focus on active involvement (Arnstein, 1964). Keeping the inventive
educational paradigm in mind, and focusing on environmental education and sustainable
development, a corresponding method in this regard is re#ected in the expansive learning
theory of Engestrm (2001, 2008), which illustrates how processes can be developed to
ensure the merger of the various knowledge systems.
Environment Education, Teaching and Learning
Research shows that despite formal theory, in the end, it is the educator's personal
theory, self-constructed whether explicit or not, that in#uences his or her daily pedagogical
choices (Donnay & Charlier, 1990, pp. 95-96; Hart, 1990, as cited in Sauve`, 1996).
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Therefore, before the design of any environmental education program or activity, it is
important to clarify the underlying essential representations. Such a process should be
encouraged within the framework of critical discussions concerning signi!cant educational,
environmental, social realities, local and global perspectives (Chambers, 2004, Freire, 1970).
Environmental education is by its nature an interdisciplinary project. Among a number
of interrelated educational dimensions that might be included in environmental education,
some of the following themes can be mentioned, peace education, human rights education,
intercultural education, population education, international development education, and
media education (Sauve`1996, p.17).Any responsible development must be de!ned
contextually. Only when the activities are deliberately chosen by the community then it
will guarantee a type of sustainability (Chambers, 2004, p. 29,). The main questions for
sustainable development are the why? what? for whom? and how?
The goal of improving critical thinking is also fundamental to environmental educators'
efforts to create an environmentally literate citizenry. In the face of complex environmental
issues, environmental education does not advocate a particular solution or action, but
instead facilitates a student's ability to draw on and synthesize knowledge and skills from a
variety of subject areas to conduct inquiries, solve problems, and make decisions that lead
to informed and responsible actions (UNESCO, 1978, as cited in Bright &Tarrant, 2002).
They further suggest that researchers can better measure the effectiveness of environmental
education not by assessing environmental knowledge or perceptions regarding the truth
about environmental information, but by examining their ability to think critically about
complex issues. Thus, critical thinking and disposition toward critical thinking can be used
as variables to evaluate environment-based education programs (Ernst & Monroe, 2004, p.
509).
Environment-based programs enhance students' critical thinking skills and disposition
toward critical thinking when they integrate multiple disciplines using a common
environmental theme, and involve open-ended projects that required hypothesizing,
investigating issues and conducting research. These all are the aspects that empower
students to be responsible for their own learning. By providing these opportunities for
students, they will be able to react to what they have done or learned, and thereby helping
them to make the connection to the real and local purpose of their efforts (Ernst & Monroe,
2004).
Concluding Remarks
What are the conditions under which links of development, education and science are
most likely to occur? The promise lies in cross-disciplinary, multi-disciplinary and cross
sectorial approaches of policymaking, planning and implementation. We need to go beyond
the rigid thinking along administrative division lines, social and scienti!c disciplinary
subjects and narrow minded competition between disciplinary units (Takala, 2010, p. 7).
When raising the issue of how and if Environmental Education can contribute to
sustainable socio-economic development, or whether science should be a good in itself, I
would argue- we need to explore how environmental education, science and research can
contribute to science for development and then having a development in mind that re#ects
a broad stakeholder contribution in deciding upon whose development and thereby also
in#uencing how to resolve our challenges ahead.
There is also the question of whose social development? We have to look into the wider
society to see how and where changes can be made which would support current efforts to
promote sustainable change and improved livelihood of people. Sustainable development
and change has proven to depend upon a local commitment and involvement. Experiences
from Zambia and Laos show the importance of including participatory and inclusive
methodologies, whereby one recognize the different worldviews and epistemologies as
integral parts of environmental studies and development work. These approaches are able
to enhance a critical and re#ective consciousness, making the various actors aware of and
conscious about their local heritage, environmental knowledge and how to include scienti!c
knowledge as a potential and important contribution to sustained development.
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78 R. Uprety and S. Baniya Chhetri
JER
KUSOED
2014 JER
* Corresponding Author.
Email: 12615_raju@kusom.edu.np
March 2014, Vol. 4, No. 1, pp. 78-94
College Culture and Student Satisfaction
Raju Uprety* and Sabina Baniya Chhetri
Kathmandu University School of Management, Lalitpur, Nepal
Abstract
This study examines the relationship between college culture and student
satisfaction. It also examines the order of strength of relationship of college culture
dimensions as perceived by students with student satisfaction. The study was
conducted among 251 BBAstudents of various colleges located within Kathmandu
and Lalitpur districts of Nepal using Denison Organizational Culture Survey Model.
We measured student satisfaction using the questionnaire adopted from Hartman
and Schmidt (1995) and Silva and Fernandes (2012). Our results indicated that
college culture dimensions involvement, adaptability, and consistency related
signi!cantly to student satisfaction and the strength of relationship followed the
order: involvement, adaptability and consistency.
Keywords: College culture, student satisfaction, BBAprogram, dimensions of
college culture, organizational culture
Introduction
In todays competitive academic environment, delivery of high quality educational
services and satis!ed customers can be viewed as critical for successful existence of any
higher education institutions. They compete among each other to attract potential students
for different programs. They also need to enhance students' experience throughout their
study period to further promote the services the institutions offer. In this regard, Porter
(1985) suggested that a competitive advantage exists when an organization maintains
an edge over its rivals in retaining customers and in positioning itself to take advantage
of environmental changes. Under these circumstances, successful service organizations
realize the importance of carefully monitoring and managing customer satisfaction (Bitner,
Booms, & Mohr, 1994).
Satisfaction is an overall customer attitude towards a service provider" (Levesque
& McDougull, 1996, p. 14). In case of higher education institution, a satis!ed customer
plays an important role in the promotion of that particular institution. When competition
to attract and retain students exists, the success of education institutions comes from
considering market forces, establishing competitive positioning and having resource
College Culture and Student Satisfaction 79
advantage (Cameron & Quinn, 1999). Cameron and Quinn further added that organizational
culture as a key ingredient determines the success of educational institutions. Many
researchers (e.g., Denison, 1990, Koter & Heskett, 1992) found that a companys culture
has a close link to its effectiveness. Many organizational scholars have recognized that
organizational culture has a powerful effect on the performance and long-term effectiveness
of organizations (Cameron & Quinn, 1999; Deshpande & Farley, 2004; Lund, 2003; Sin &
Tse, 2000). The importance of culture can be illustrated by the claim of Ouchi and Wilkins
(1985) that organizational performance cannot be adequately nor accurately understood
without a comprehension of the culture of the organization (p. 469).
In the last few years there has been a rapid increase in the number of colleges offering
Bachelor in Business Administration (BBA) program in Nepal. These colleges are
af!liated to Kathmandu University (KU), Tribhuvan University (TU), Pokhara University,
Purbanchal University and some foreign universities. Similarly, a signi!cant number of
students are going to neighbouring and other foreign countries to attend the BBAprogram.
Thus it has become a challenge for colleges within the country to retain and attract students
in the BBAprograms available in the country. If colleges can create an environment
of satisfaction for students that usually results through culture, they can attract and
retain students for their BBAprograms. Moreover, students will have enriching learning
experience only when they are satis!ed with the college.
The major question that the present study tried to investigate is which dimensions
of college culture affect student satisfaction? From the perspective of organization theory,
colleges are also a type of organization. As a corollary, generic dimensions of organization
are also applicable to colleges. Thus, in the absence of dimensions of organizational culture
developed in the context of Nepal, this study uses dimensions of organizational culture
framework proposed by Denison and colleagues (Denison, 1990; Denison & Mishra,
1995; Fey & Denison, 2003). This framework conceptualizes organizational culture
along four dimensions: involvement, consistency, adaptability, and mission. Involvement
and consistency have their focus on dynamics of internal integration, while mission
and adaptability focus on dynamics of external adaptation. These four dimensions are
consistent with Schein's (1990) observation that culture is developed as an organization
learns to cope with the dual problems of external adaptation and internal integration. This
organizational culture framework is used by Ehtesham, Muhammad, and Muhammad
(2011) to assess the culture of Institute of Information Technology, University of Pakistan.
Some studies (e.g., Okun, Braver, & Weir, 1990; Bentz, Klingensmith, & Menne, 1970,
as cited in Liu & Jung, 1980) claimed that student satisfaction level is also affected by
student speci!c characteristics like gender, residency type and year in college. Similarly,
in the context of Nepal too students level of satisfaction may be affected by such student
speci!c characteristics. Therefore, this study also tried to investigate do levels of student
satisfaction vary based on gender, residency type, year in college and university af!liation?
Before going into these questions we !rst discuss some of the key concepts used, describe
the conceptual framework, set the hypotheses, and discuss the methods adopted in carrying
out this study.
Organizational Culture
Organizational culture is considered the heart of human resource management strategy
because of its in#uence on individuals attitude and outcomes such as commitment,
satisfaction, retention, performance, etc. Therefore, no organization can remain unaffected
by the changes that occur in organizational culture. This further enhances the roles of
organizational culture in ensuring the organizational performance. Against this backdrop,
an important question arises how does understanding and improving organizational
culture !t into the current climate of Nepali colleges offering the BBAprograms.
Barney (1986) saw culture as a viable source of competitive advantage and stressed
that culture must be valuable, rare and not easy to imitate for a company to sustain
superior performance (as cited in Trice & Beyer, 1993). In the early 1980s, researchers
such as Ouchi (1981), Pascale and Athos (1981), Peters and Waterman (1982), Deal and
Kennedy (1982), and Schein (1980, 1985, 1990) contributed to the conceptualization
of organizational culture in higher education (Cameron & Quinn, 2006). In the early
1990s, Trice and Beyer bridged researchers earlier work by describing some typologies
of organizational culture based on the research studies from the 1970s and 1980s. West-
Monyes (2012) mentioned that typologies proposed by Trice and Beyer became very useful
in identifying a sample of common dominant ideologies by researchers rooted in levels of
control, risk taking, regard for employees, levels of trust and balance between #exibility
and control. It is interesting to note that the terms clans and hierarchy identi!ed by Trice
and Beyer to denote the types of organizational culture (which was later used by Cameron
& Quinn, 1999) were also used as early as 1978 by Ouchi and Jaeger.
According to Schein (1983), Sathe (1983), and Cameron and Quinn (2006), as
organizations adapt and respond to their changing environment, they tend to develop a
dominant organizational culture. West-Moynes (2012) argued that, given the evolving
study of organizational culture, as depicted in the literature, it is increasingly clear that
organizational culture cannot be considered passively. The external in#uences affecting
post secondary institutions, such as funding, performance, accountability, and the ability
to attract students is clearly the active forces that dominate organizational reputation and
in#uence organizational sense of worth (West-Moynes, 2012). The work of Martin (1992)
explained that culture in organizations is complex and theoretical in nature; however
the work describes culture from three different perspectives: integration, differentiation
and fragmentation. Martins analysis assists in the understanding of each perspective,
the limitations, and further provides scholarly insights into the complexity of the culture
research (West-Moynes, 2012).
In the context of Nepal, dominant work culture is characterized by hierarchy
orientation, authority orientation, status quo orientation, rule orientation, close in-group
orientation and performance for patrimonial relationship (Pant 2000 as cited in Pant,
2007). In addition, Dangal (2005) stated that the culture of a particular society shapes the
character of organizations in that society. Thus, the values and culture of a society, and of
course people, largely in#uence the functioning of the organization. West-Monyes (2012)
also stated that neither the distinguishing characteristics of each colleges organizational
culture are well understood, nor are the speci!c changes that could be implemented to
achieve the desired culture outcome well de!ned. West-Monyes further added that it is
very possible that a broad and liberal use of the term culture can be seen as contributing to
the lack of understanding of the concept of culture, contributing to its ongoing abstractness
and inhibiting formal assessment to determine the distinguishing cultural features of an
organization.
Customer Satisfaction
Kotler and Clark (1987) de!ned satisfaction as a state felt by a person who has
experienced performance or an outcome that ful!ls his or her expectation. In terms of
students, expectation may go as far as before the students even enter the higher education,
suggesting that it is important to the researchers to determine !rst what the students expect
before entering the universities (Palacio, Meneses, & Perez, 2002). In contrary, Carey,
Cambiano, and De Vore (2002) believed that satisfaction actually covers issues of students
perception and experiences during the college years. They considered student satisfaction
as a match between what students expect while entering colleges, and perception and
experiences they develop during the college years. While most studies on satisfaction focus
on the perspective of customers, researchers are facing a problem of creating a standard
de!nition for student satisfaction thus providing a need of customer satisfaction theory to
be selected and modi!ed so that it can explain the meaning of student satisfaction (Hom,
2002, as cited in Hasan et al., 2008). Similarly, William (2002) mentioned that even
though it is arguable to view students as customers, but given the current atmosphere of
higher education marketplace, there is a new moral prerogative that students have become
customers and therefore can, as fee payers, reasonably demand that their views be heard
and acted upon. Our study also considers students as customers.
College Culture and Student Satisfaction
The future of higher education institutions depends on their ability to attract and
retain students. In order to respond to the increasing demand of customers, higher
education institutions need to identify the key factors that in#uence the satisfaction of the
customers, thereby creating a competitive advantage (Silva & Fernandes, 2012).
Aprior study on home construction markets and automobile dealership has predicted
relationship between organizational culture and customer satisfaction (Gillespie, Denison,
Haaland, Smerek, & Neale, 2008). Some Nepali studies (e.g., Shrestha, 2013; Thapa,
2011) have explored about Total Quality Management (TQM) in the education sector in
Nepal. Thapa (2011) mentioned that TQM is a philosophy and system for continuously
improving the services or products offered to customers. It is a management system for a
customer-focused organization that involves all employees in the continual improvement
of all aspects of the organization. Shrestha (2013) argued that TQM has limitations as it
focuses only on satisfying customers' expectations, in this case, students expectations.
However, other stakeholders such as parents, employers, faculty members and general
society also have expectations and play an important role in in#uencing the recipients in
making choices of educational programs as well as institutions. Both Shrestha and Thapa
in their studies have not examined the role of culture but related the concept of TQM with
satisfying students. The culture of a higher education institution plays an important role in
actual realization of the expectation with which students admit themselves to the institution
and thus student satisfaction plays a role of in#uencer to other stakeholders.
Previous literature offers varying views regarding the importance of college culture
and its role in achieving student satisfaction in the setting of educational institutions. Most
importantly, most of the prior studies have assessed college culture from the perspective
of employees. The present study differs from the prior studies by assessing college culture
from the perspective of students. This approach of linking culture as perceived by students
(customers) and students (customers) satisfaction is expected to add a new discourse in
the literature of organizational theory.
Conceptual Framework for Understanding College Culture
Anumber of researchers have shown that an organizational culture has a close link to
the effectiveness of an organization (Denison, 1990; Kotter & Heskett, 1992). In todays
competitive environment, customer satisfaction is an increasingly important component
of an effective organization, especially in the service sector (Berry & Parasuraman, 1992;
Farnell & Mithas, 2006). Education can be considered to be a part of service sector, within
which colleges can be considered an organization providing service to its customers. In
this case, students are consumers of services being offered by colleges. While consuming
those services, students also become a part of college. It is evident from the fact that
students represent their colleges to the world outside the college. They spend most of their
time within colleges or working for college assignments and papers and in the process, we
believe that students will build up their own understanding and perception of the college
culture. So, in this study, we have assessed college culture as perceived by students, not as
perceived by employees of the college.
The organizational culture framework used in the present study conceptualizes
organizational culture along four dimensions: involvement, consistency, adaptability, and
mission. A college high on adaptability dimension means it has the capacity to change in
response to external condition. A college high on mission dimension means it knows why it
exists and where it is heading. Similarly, high on involvement dimension means employees
of the college are committed to their work, have a sense of ownership and feel that their
input is valued. Similarly, a college high on consistency dimension means that there exist
organizational system and process that promote alignment and ef!ciency.
Figure 1. Conceptual framework of the study.
This conceptual framework of our study is based on the theory proposed by a grounded
study of Denison and Mishra (1995). The theory was further empirically validated by
a study conducted by Gillespie et al. (2007) on residential home building industry and
automobile dealership.
Hypothesis
Basically deriving from Denison and Mishra (1995), we are of the view that each
of four organizational cultural traits will relate to customer satisfaction. The trait of
adaptability is related most obviously to customer satisfaction as it involves the capacity to
respond to changing market demands.
H1: Adaptability perceived by students as a dimension of college culture is positively
related with their satisfaction.
Gillespie et al. (2008) argued that "adaptability and mission when viewed together
represent an external focus, which means organizations mission includes goals and
strategies to meet customer demands" (pp. 118-119). Thus, mission will also be related to
customer satisfaction.
H2: Mission perceived by students as a dimension of college culture is positively
Gillespie et al. (2008) further argued, "Traits of consistency and involvement are
more internally focused. Through the focus on building shared values (consistency) and
maintaining employee involvement, the organization is equipped to serve the needs of
College Culture
Adaptability
Mission
Involvement
Consistency
(As perceived by students)
Student Satisfaction
customer better in the long run" (p.119). Thus, we expected that organizations higher on the
traits of consistency and involvement will have greater customer satisfaction.
H3: Involvement perceived by students as a dimension of college culture is positively
H4: Consistency perceived by students as a dimension of college culture is positively
While we hypothesized that all four college culture traits should relate positively
to student satisfaction, we also thought some of these traits might have stronger and
some might have weaker relationship based on the logic used by Gillespie et al. (2008).
As argued by Gillespie et al., adaptability is explicitly customer focused. Therefore it
seems that adaptability is directly relevant to student satisfaction. Mission, together with
adaptability, is externally focused. Therefore mission should be considered second to
adaptability. Again as argued by Gillespie et al., involvement and consistency should
demonstrate weaker relationship with customer satisfaction because these are internally
focused characteristics. However, of those two, involvement should facilitate satisfying the
customers by way of empowering employees. Consistency seems to oppose adaptability,
the most customer-focused of the four traits. Thus, in line with the argument by Gillespie et
al. (2008), we hypothesized that:
H5: The strengths of relationship of four college culture dimensions as perceived by
students with student satisfaction will be in the following order from strongest to
weakest: adaptability, mission, involvement, and consistency.
Okun et al. (1990) had assessed the effects of gender and grade level on student
satisfaction. They found that grade level affects student satisfaction but gender had no
effect. Although the study of Okun et al. was conducted among school students ranging
from grade one to twelve, we are of the view that !ndings of the study will also be
applicable to college students. So in accordance with the !ndings of Okun et al., we have
assessed difference in student satisfaction level between groups based on gender and level
in a study program (semester). Positive signi!cant relationship between year in college and
student satisfaction was also found by Bentz, Klingensmith, and Menne 1970, as cited in
Liu & Jung, 1980).
Bentz et al. (1970, as cited in Liu & Jung, 1980) found that type of residence was also
in#uential in affecting student satisfaction. In case of Nepal, the majority of colleges
offering BBAprogram are concentrated within the Kathmandu valley. Some students in
those colleges come from outside the valley. Staying away from their permanent residence
and from other family members will mean they are barred from various kinds of family
support which might affect their level of satisfaction with their colleges. So we have also
assessed the difference in student satisfaction levels between groups based on whether the
location of permanent residence of student is within the Kathmandu valley or outside the
Kathmandu valley.
Universities currently offering the BBAprogram in Nepal differ in terms of various
characteristics like percentage of external and internal marks for each subject in the BBA
program, holding exams as per the prede!ned academic calendar, timely publication of
results. We are of the view that these university speci!c characteristics might also affect
student satisfaction. So, we have also assessed the difference in student satisfaction levels
between groups based on University af!liation.
Methodology
The population of this study comprised students enrolled in the BBAprogram in
different colleges located in Kathmandu and Lalitpur districts. Moreover, the sampling
consisted of two steps. In the !rst step, we prepared a list of all eligible colleges. The list
was further strati!ed based upon University af!liation. There were 20 colleges af!liated
to Pokhara University, 17 colleges af!liated to Tribhuvan University, 18 colleges af!liated
to Purvanchal University, 4 colleges af!liated to Kathmandu University, and 9 colleges
af!liated to different foreign universities. The number of students enrolled in the BBA
program in each college was enquired to the administration of the respective colleges over
the telephone. However, some colleges did not disclose the exact number of students. In
such instances, an average of particular strata was used to calculate the total population.
This way, the total number of students enrolled in the BBA program in the above mentioned
colleges was estimated to be 11,314 for the year 2013. Thirty eight per cent of students of
the total population were studying in colleges af!liated to Pokhara University, 22% were
in colleges af!liated to Tribhuvan University, 15% in colleges af!liated to Purvanchal
University, 12% in colleges af!liated to Kathmandu University, and 13% in colleges
af!liated to foreign universities. Based on our subjective decision, we distributed the
questionnaires to ten colleges. Ten colleges were randomly selected from each stratum
(university af!liation) to ensure the proportion of the sample to the population. Out of ten
colleges, three were af!liated to Pokhara University, other three to Tribhuvan University,
two to Purvanchal University, one to Kathmandu University, and one to a foreign
university.
In the second step, based on our convenience we decided to distribute 30 sets of
questionnaires to each of the ten selected colleges. Thus altogether 330 questionnaires
were distributed but among them only 272 questionnaires were !lled and returned. Out of
them, 21 questionnaires were not completed, so we decided not to include them in further
analysis. Thus, we used 251 data sets for further analysis. This happened to be 2.2 per cent
of the estimated total student number studying BBA. Out of 251 data sets, 14.3% belonged
to the students of Pokhara University, 46.6% to Tribhuvan University, 18.7% to Purvanchal
University, 12.4% to Kathmandu University, and 8% to a foreign university. The proportion
of universities being represented in the sample does not exactly match with that of the
total population. This limitation of our study should be considered while interpreting the
!ndings. Some of the students while responding to the questionnaire were in a hurry,
so they might not have understood and internalized the meaning of each item prior to
responding. This might have brought in some error and bias. This limitation should also be
considered while interpreting the !ndings of this study.
College culture as perceived by students was assessed by using the Denison
Organizational Culture Survey (Denison & Neale, 2000). The original survey consisted
of 12 Likert scale items, 3 items per sub-scale. Each dimension was measured by a sub-
scale. We conducted a pre-test of the survey among our probable respondents to ensure the
clarity of instructions and question statements, and also conducted a reliability test of the
sub-scales. Sub-scale measuring mission dimension had a Cronbach's alpha of 0.443. The
probable reason for low Cronbach's alpha for this sub scale is that students might not have
been able to perceive strategy, goal, vision and mission of the college as well as employees
could have. Given the low Cronhach's alpha, we dropped mission dimension of culture
from the !nal survey. Cronbach's alphas for the subscales involvement, consistency and
adaptability were found to be 0.718, 0.605, and 0.711 respectively. Seven Likert scale
items were administered to measure student satisfaction. Out of the seven Likert scale
items, three were adopted from the construct identi!ed by Hartman and Schmidt (1995) to
measure alumni satisfaction. Remaining four Likert scale items were developed and used
by Silva and Fernandes (2012). Reliability test was conducted of these seven Likert scale
items. Cronbach's alpha was found to be 0.773. Both these instruments were incorporated
in one set of questionnaires. In addition, the mean score was calculated for satisfaction and
each dimension of culture. New variables were named avg_satisfaction, avg_involvement,
avg_consistency, and avg_adaptability.
Test of Normality
Test of normality was conducted on the data set of dependent variable (avg_satisfaction)
using Shapiro-Wilk test. Shapiro-Wilk test revealed p value to be 0.012. Thus, we
conclude that the data set is normally distributed at 1% signi!cance level. The histogram
of regression standardized residual of dependent variable indicates that the data set of
dependent variable is normally distributed. Thus, we proceeded with the parametric test for
further analysis.
Findings of the Study
The analysis of the survey data provided support on associations between different
dimensions of college culture and student satisfaction. In line with this, we present the
major !ndings of our study below.
Correlation Between Students Perceived Culture and Their Satisfaction
Pearson correlation was used to determine the relation between culture dimensions
as perceived by students and their satisfaction. As displayed in Table 1, the correlation
between involvement dimension of culture and student satisfaction was 0.519, consistency
dimension of culture and student satisfaction was 0.437, and adaptability dimension of
culture and student satisfaction was 0.499. All these correlations were signi!cant at the
0.01 levels.
Table 1
Scale Inter-correlation and Cronbach's Alpha
Mean SD 1 2 3 4
1 Avg_Involvement 3.16 0.95 (0.718)
2 Avg_Consistency 3.27 0.79 .641
**
(0.604)
3 Avg_Adaptability 2.95 0.96 .592
**
.603
**
(0.711)
4 Avg_Satisfaction 3.29 0.79 .519
**
.437
**
.499
**
(0.77)
**- Correlation is signi!cant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed). Cronbach's alphas are provided in parentheses along
the diagonal
This result supports our hypotheses H1, H3, and H4. Thus, we conclude the followings:
Involvement perceived by students as a dimension of college culture is positively
Consistency perceived by students as a dimension of college culture is positively
Adaptability perceived by students as a dimension of college culture is positively
Dimensions of Culture and Student Satisfaction
Aregression analysis was conducted to determine the order of the strength of
relationship of involvement, consistency, and adaptability with student satisfaction.
The adjusted R square for the model is 0.320, which means 32% of variation in student
satisfaction is explained by independent variables of the regression model. F-statistics of
the model is 39.824 and is signi!cant at 1% signi!cance level.
In a regression model that explains student satisfaction, unstandardized coef!cient for
constant is 1.573, for avg_adaptability is 0.224, for avg_involvement is 0.258, and for avg_
consistency is 0.076 (Table 2).
Table 2
Unstandardized Coef!cients and Collinearity Statistics
Model
Unstandardized Coef!cients Collinearity Statistics
B Std. Error Tolerance VIF
1
(Constant) 1.573 0.181
Avg_Adaptability 0.224 0.058 0.564 1.772
Avg_Involvement 0.258 0.061 0.522 1.915
Avg_Consistency 0.076 0.073 0.513 1.949
a. Dependent Variable: Avg_Satisfaction
This does not support our hypothesized order of the strength of culture dimension with
student satisfaction. Thus, based on the unstandardized coef!cient of the regression model
we conclude that the order of strength of relationship of college culture dimensions as
perceived by students with student satisfaction will be in the following order from strongest
to weakest: involvement, adaptability, and consistency.
Difference in Satisfaction Levels Between Groups
Difference in satisfaction level between two groups had been assessed by using
independent sample t-test. The result of which is given in Table 3.
Table 3
Independent Sample t-test for Equality of Means Between Two Groups
Equality of means between* T Sig. (2-tailed)
Avg_Satisfaction
Male / Female -1.0631 0.2888
Permanent resident within/
outside Kathmandu Valley
0.9421 0.3471
*- Equal variance not assumed
The p value of t-statistics for both cases - male/female and permanent resident within/
outside the Kathmandu valley - is higher than 0.050. So we conclude that there is no
statistically signi!cant mean difference in satisfaction level between male and female; and
between those with permanent resident within and outside the Kathmandu valley.
Difference in satisfaction level among various groups (in case of more than two groups)
has been assessed by using one-way ANOVA test. In case of groups based on university,
p value of F-statistics is higher than 0.050. So we conclude that there is no statistically
signi!cant mean difference in satisfaction level between groups based on university
af!liation.
In case of groups based on semester, p value of F-statistics is lower than 0.050. So,
we conclude that there is statistically signi!cant mean difference in satisfaction level
between groups based on semester. In the data set taken for analysis, one was from the
!rst semester, 75 from the second semester, 30 from the third semester, 50 from the fourth
semester, 34 from the !fth semester, 42 from the sixth semester, 18 from the seventh
semester, and one from the eighth semester. Since two groups (i.e. !rst and eighth semester)
have cases less than one, it was not possible to conduct post hoc test. In an effort to
compensate unavailability of post hoc test results we drew a graph with semester in X-axis
and mean of avg_satisfaction in Y-axis (Figure 2).
Figure 2. Mean of avg_satisfaction vs. semester.
As seen in Figure 2, the mean avg_satisfaction is lowest for the fourth semester
students. However, we are not in a position to claim mean difference between which
particular groups (based on semester) is statistically signi!cant and between which
particular groups are not statistically signi!cant.
Our study also found no signi!cant difference in satisfaction level between male and
female students. This result is in congruence with the !ndings of many prior studies that
have assessed relationship between student gender and satisfaction (e.g, Okun et al., 1990;
Bellick, 1973, as cited in Liu & Jung, 1990).
This study clearly indicates that involvement dimension of culture (unstandardized
beta coef!cient = 0.258) and adaptability dimension of culture (unstandarized beta
coef!cient = 0.224) are strongly associated; and consistency dimension of culture
(unstandarized beta coef!cient = 0.076) is moderately associated with student satisfaction.
This implies that student satisfaction increases when the college invests in the development
of employees, faculty and student skills; cooperation and team efforts from staff and
students exist; and there is a sense of ownership and responsibilities towards the college.
The relationship between adaptability dimension of culture and student satisfaction is very
understandable. As the college understands the need of students and adapts to the external
environment, student satisfaction increases. Moreover, consistency dimension of college
culture is positively related to student satisfaction (correlation = 0.437). However, the
effect of consistency dimension of culture on student satisfaction is lower as compared
to the effect of involvement and adaptability dimension. This indicates that students are
willing to compromise on consistency in lieu of having their say in things that affect
them (involvment).
These !ndings are insightful to education practitioners of colleges offering the BBA
program. Educational practitioners should make investments on their staff as well as
students skills while creating an environment to work on common goal cooperatively and
collectively. Students are more satis!ed when they feel that they have some responsibilities
and ownership towards their colleges as well. More speci!cally, this type of analysis of
college culture as perceived by students and culture change effort as prescribed by this
study will help Nepali colleges to attract and retain students in their BBA program. Students
after spending few years in that institution become a part of that institution and develop an
understanding of the culture within the institution and at the same time students pay for the
services of that institution like that of a customer. Therefore, we can assume that students
possess dual characteristics. Therefore, ignoring dual characteristic of students will limit
the understanding of achievement of educational institutions effectiveness in terms of
student attraction and retention.
Organization Culture Matters Most in Educational Institution Settings
The order of strength of relationship of college culture dimensions as perceived by
students with student satisfaction predicted by our study rejects our prior hypotheses, and
interestingly is not in congruence with the !ndings of a similar prior study. In a study of
Gillespie et al. (2008), the order of the strength of relationship of culture dimension with
customer satisfaction was in the following order from strongest to weakest: adaptability,
consistency, involvement for home building industry; and for the auto dealership industry
the ranking was in the order of consistency, involvement, adaptability. We think the most
important reason for this difference is because of different industry type. The relationship
between students and the college has different dynamics when compared with the
relationship between home buyers and home building companies; and between auto buyers
and auto dealers. On the other hand, the regression model of our study indicates that 32%
of variation in response variable is explained by the explanatory variable. In case of other
study with similar response variable and explanatory variables, only 17% and 8% variation
in response variable is explained by the explanatory theory variable (Gillespie et al., 2008).
This indicates that the relationship is stronger between culture and customer satisfaction in
colleges than in other types of industries.
Conclusion
College culture plays an essential role in student satisfaction. Colleges that focus on
the adaptability, involvement and consistency dimensions of culture are the ones that
have satis!ed students . Further, this study strengthens the argument that students of
any higher educational institution after spending few years in that institution become a
part of that institution and develop an understanding of the culture within the institution.
Meanwhile, they also pay for the services offered by the institution so they also possess the
characteristics of customers. Dual characteristics that students possess has been supported
by this study which adds new discourse in the study of organization culture from the
perspective of customers. A strong association between college culture dimensions and
student satisfaction is an indication that education practitoners need to create a kind of
culture within the institution that positively affects student satisfaction to achieve better
organizational performance. Student satisfaction does hold a signi!cant role in the success
of educational institutions in a competitive environment. Thus, ignoring their perspectives
towards the institution will only provide a partial understanding of why educational
institutions suffer from student retention problem and low intake every year. Our study
also found that Denison Organization Culture Model was applicable even in the context
of Nepali higher educational institutions as the !ndings were in line with the result from
previous studies, conducted in the western context, that used Denision Culture Model.
Some future studies are necessary in this area so as to strengthen the !ndings of this
study in different contexts as well while including other performance variables in education
institutions as pro!tability, employee satisfaction. A study with longitudinal design will
further provide deeper insights into the understanding of college culture as perceived by
students.
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Educational Development of Muslim Minority 95
JER
KUSOED
2014 JER
* Author Email: manjunarula@nuepa.org
March 2014, Vol. 4, No. 1, pp. 95-110
Educational Development of Muslim Minority:
With Special Reference to Muslim Concentrated States of India
Manju Narula*
Department of Educational Administration, National University of Educational
Planning and Administration, New Delhi, India
Abstract
In India the National Minority Commission has identi!ed Muslims as minorities
along with Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists and Jains on the basis of religion. Out of
these religious minorities Muslims are the largest ones. In spite of being the largest
minority they are lagging behind in education in comparison with other religious
minorities. Literacy which is a !rst step to education is lowest of the Muslim
minority and inter-state variation in their literacy rates is also very high. Also, their
literacy rate in some of the states is abysmally low. In the light of these contexts,
this paper presents a brief discussion of policies and programs implemented for
the development of education of the Muslim minority. Thereafter, the paper tries to
portray the progress of school education in terms of access, participation, retention
of Muslim children in the Muslim concentrated states. The paper suggests that
strategies for their educational development should be adopted according to the
need of the state/district/area. Finally, the areas of intervention and challenges are
discussed and appropriate measures are suggested to improve and promote the
education of Muslims in India.
Keywords: Religious minority, India, school education, Muslims, educational
development
Introduction
India is a country with diversities inhabiting various ethnic, cultural, linguistic
and religious groups. The development of education varies among these groups. The
Constitution of India aims to bridge these gaps by empowering the society and providing
equality of status among all its citizens. These ideas are re#ected in different articles of the
constitution and to realize these ideas different policies, programmes and schemes have
96 M. Narula
been initiated by the Government of India (GOI). The minority religious groups (Muslims,
Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists and Jains) as identi!ed by the National Minority Commission
constitute 18 per cent of the total population of the country where Muslims are the largest
religious minority and constitute 13.4 per cent of the population as per the Census 2001.
Nevertheless, despite being the largest religious minority, Muslim literacy rate is lowest
among all the religious minorities.
Henceforth the educational backwardness of the Muslim minorities has always been
a grave concern and attracted the attention of many researchers. The studies conducted so
far reveal that the major causes for educational backwardness are socio economic factors,
gender issues, shortage of female teachers, teaching learning process in schools, drop out of
children, implementation of policies and programmes, etc. (Minault, 1982; Chanana, 1990;
Dwarakanath, 2002; Choudhary, 2003; Udin, 2012). The present paper primarily focuses on
educational status of the Muslim minorities in the states where size of Muslim population is
more in comparison to other states as per the Census 2001. Therefore, the paper tries to !nd
out the educational status of Muslims as well as reasons for variations in their education
development among the states and within the state. Further it suggests strategies for
educational development of Muslims in the country, particularly in Muslim concentrated
areas.
This paper is descriptive in nature and discusses policies and various af!rmative
actions implemented by the government to improve the educational status of the Muslim
minorities. Excepting the !nal conclusion section, the paper is divided into three major
sections. The !rst section presents a brief discussion of policies and programs implemented
by the government for the upliftment of the Muslim minority. The second section discusses
macro statistics on the growth and expansion of education of Muslims. The paper tries to
portray the progress of school education in terms of participation of Muslim children in
schools and the status of their education in the states where Muslim population is highly
concentrated. In the third section, the paper tries to explain the educational backwardness
of Muslims. While doing so, the paper also discusses educational development of
Muslims in the context of economic activities they are engaged in trying to see whether
their engagement in primary and tertiary activities affect their educational development.
Finally, in the conclusion section, areas of intervention and challenges are highlighted
and appropriate measures are suggested to improve and promote the educational status of
Muslims. The paper is based on some secondary sources i.e. Census Report 2001, Sachar
Committee Report (2006), 64th Round of National Sample Survey Report (2007-08),
National Policy on Education 1986 and its revised Programme of Action 1992, etc. and
research studies conducted in the area of Muslim education.
Out of the total 29 states and seven Union Territories in the country, four states West
Bengal, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, and Bihar are selected for the study on the basis of
the concentration of Muslim population (more than ten million Muslim populations in the
states), national literacy rate and national Muslim literacy rate. Among the four selected
states, two are the states with higher than national literacy rate and the two lower than
national literacy rate. Likewise, among these states only Maharashtra has higher Muslim
literacy rate compared to the national Muslim literacy rate. The speci!c characteristics of
the selected study states in terms of population and literacy are as following:
1. The states have more than 10 million Muslim population (West Bengal, Maharashtra,
Uttar Pradesh, and Bihar.
2. National literacy rate of India as per 2001 Census is 65.38 per cent. The literacy rates of
the selected states are: Maharashtra 77 per cent, West Bengal 69 per cent, Bihar 48 per
cent and Uttar Pradesh 57 per cent. Thus two states have higher literacy rates and two
states have lower literacy rates than the national average.
3. The National Muslim literacy rate of India as per 2001 Census is 59.1 per cent. Out
of the four states only Maharashtra has higher Muslim literacy rate than the national
Muslim literacy rate.
Programs for Muslims Educational Development
After the independence (1947), initiatives for educational development for minorities
were started in India, in late 1970s, which geared up after the National Policy on Education
(NPE), 1986 and its Programme of Action (POA), 1992. Both the NPE and POA
emphasized the need of special efforts, to bring the educationally backward minorities
(which include Muslims) on par with the rest of the society and to make them participate
fully in the national development activities (GOI, 1992, p. 9). Many long term and short
term programmes were started in the form of af!rmative actions to improve the educational
status of minorities like: Prime Ministers 15 Point Programme for the Welfare of the
Minorities (1983), Area Intensive Programme for Educationally Backward Minorities,
Modernization of Madrasa, Maulana Azad Education Foundation Scheme (1989), Free
Supply of Books and Stationery and Merit Scholarship, and Pre-examination Coaching
scheme for the weaker sections.
Various research studies on Muslim minority conducted after the independence revealed
their educational backwardness. But the issue came into lime light after 2001. After the
independence, religion wise data were published for !rst time in the Census 2001and
educational backwardness of Muslim community was an eye opener for policy makers and
also for implementers. Thereafter many initiatives were taken in favour of the education
of the Muslim minority. These include renewal of Prime Ministers 15 point programme
in 1983and setting up of Prime Ministers High level Committee on social, economic,
and educational status of the Muslim community. In 2004 the National Commission for
Minority Educational Institutions (NEMEI) was set up by an ordinance to advise the Centre
and state governments on any matter regarding the education of the Muslim minority,
98 M. Narula
to establish and administer educational institutions of their choice. In 2006, National
Monitoring Committee for Minority Education (NMCME) was reconstituted with the aim
to attend to issues relating to the education of minorities on an ongoing basis. In 2006, the
NEMEIs powers were enhanced by creating an exclusive Ministry of Minority Affairs.
In addition, the Ministry plays a pivotal role in planning, coordination and development
programmes for the bene!t of the minority communities. The Government of India opened
residential schools called Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidhyalaya for the girls of Scheduled
Castes (SCs), Scheduled Tribes (STs), Other Backward Class (OBC) and minorities in
backward districts where female literacy is below the national average and wide gender gap
exist. In spite of all these provisions and interventions by the government, desired progress
in education has not been occurred especially with regard to the Muslim minority.
Educational Development Status of Muslims in the Selected States
This section presents a discussion of development status of the Muslims in the four
selected states using four indicators namely literacy rate, participation rate, completion rate
and retention rate.
Comparative Literacy Scenario With Minorities
The literacy rate is considered as the basic ingredients for measuring the educational
development. The Census Report 2001 reveals that in spite of the concerted efforts over
the last more than 60 years, the spread of education among Muslim minority has not yet
reached to the satisfactory level. The literacy rate of the Muslim minority in India is found
lower (59.1 per cent) in comparison with national literacy rates (65.4 per cent).
Out of the four selected states, the Census Report 2001 shows Bihar, U.P., and West
Bengal have low literacy rates than the national Muslim literacy rate (59.1 per cent).
Bihars and U.P.s Muslim literacy rate is 42.0 per cent and 47.8 per cent respectively. The
situation of West Bengal is unique. Unlike Bihar and U.P., its national literacy rate (68.6
per cent) is above the national average (65.4 per cent). But the states Muslim literacy rate
(57.5 per cent) is slightly below national Muslim average (59.1 per cent). The reason is
there are many Muslim concentrated areas, with low literacy rates and with high-population
density. In West Bengal, the growth rate of Muslim population is nearly !ve per cent from
the decade 1961 to 2001, which is highest among all the selected states (Sachar Committee
Report, 2006). Apart from these three selected states Maharashtra's situation is different.
The states literacy rate (78.1 per cent) as well as Muslim literacy rate (78.1 per cent) are
above the national average.
Comparative Literacy Scenario With Other Religions
The comparison of literacy rates with major religious groups found that Muslims have
the lowest literacy rates among all. The literacy rates of different religions are as follows:
Hindus 65.1 per cent, Muslims 59.1 per cent, Christians 80.3 per cent, Sikhs 69.4 per cent,
Buddhists 72.7 per cent, and Jains 94.1 per cent. Also wide gap in rural and urban literacy
rates is observed among the religious groups. The rural-urban Differential Index pointed out
the differences among all the religious groups. It is interesting to note by the Differential
Index that the Hindus (largest religious group) recorded the highest gap between their
urban and rural literacy rates and narrowest is found among the Jains (the smallest religious
group). In fact, the Muslims displayed the lowest urban as well as rural literacy rates among
the major religious groups and place second between rural-urban Differential Index (Kaur
& Kaur, 2012).
Religion-wise Educational Development
According to National Sample Survey 2007-08, 46.2 per cent of the children aged
between 6-18 years are attending primary, middle, secondary and higher secondary
education in the country (reference) The Report reveals that among all the religions, not
enrolled children are more from Muslims in both rural and urban areas. As children move
from the primary level to the higher secondary levels of education, Muslim childrens
participation declines in comparison to other religions. The Report also reveals that the
disparity among religious groups was greater in urban India than in rural India.
Participation of Muslim Children at the Elementary Level
Table 1 reveals that after the independence very few Muslim students in India
completed their primary level of education. The af!rmative actions by the centre and
state governments, though helped in increasing the participation of students at all levels
of education, did not sustain at the satisfactory level. Table 1 reveals that after the
independence, Muslim students enrolment increased more than three times at the primary
level. The increase however is not uniform in all the states. The inter-state comparison
shows variation in the selected states. Immediately after independence in all the four
states percentage of Muslim students who completed primary level of education is less
than 20 except in Maharashtra (24.1 per cent). The gap between Maharashtra and other
selected study areas states that it continued to increase up to the year 2001. Though these
states progressed, they have still remained far behind Maharashtra. Same situation can be
observed at the upper primary level.
Table 1
Distribution of Muslim Students Who Completed Primary and Upper Primary Levels of
Education
States Year Primary Upper Primary
West Bengal
2001 50.3 26.0
1948 14.6 7.5
100 M. Narula
States Year Primary Upper Primary
Uttar Pradesh
2001 48.2 29.2
1948 14.4 7.4
Bihar
2001 40.7 23.7
1948 17.3 8.6
Maharashtra
2001 80.4 56.8
1948 24.1 10.0
All India
2001 60.9 40.5
1948 18.2 8.6
(Sachar Committee Report, 2006)
Gender Parity
It is generally observed that girls are at a disadvantaged situation due to several
economic, cultural and social factors. A sizeable number of girls are engaged in carrying
out domestic chores. Some of them are prevented from attending schools due to social
pressures. The Government of India has launched several initiatives to improve the
enrolment as well as attendance rates of girls. Some of those measures as mentioned in
Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) are scholarships and fee waivers, free education, separate
toilets for girls, appointment of female teachers (Nuna, 2003). Indeed the enrolment of girls
has improved quite a lot during the last few years. But there still is a clear gender disparity
with the type of school (management wise) Muslim boys and girls are attending (Table 2).
There is variation in ratio of Muslim girls in comparison to boys in attending government,
local body and private aided schools, both at primary and upper primary stage. The ratio
of girls to boys is more in case of government, local body and private unaided schools
both at primary and upper primary stage and far low in case of private unaided schools.
This illustrates the reality that Muslim parents have been discriminating their daughters by
sending them to low-cost government, local body and private aided schools and favoring
sons by sending them to costly private unaided schools. This is a very good example of
continuing societal discrimination against girls in Muslim community (Government of
India/Ministry of Human Resource Development [MHRD], 2013).
Table 2
Ratio of Muslim Girls to Muslim Boys in Schools by Management Type
Management Primary Upper Primary Elementary Total Children
Government 1.02 1.15 1.05 1.02
Local Bodies 1.03 1.09 1.04 1.00
Private Aided 1.01 1.03 1.02 0.94
Private Unaided 0.78 0.78 0.78 0.76
Others 0.97 1.28 1.04 Not Applicable
(Government of India/MHRD, 2013)
Transition Rates of Muslim Children
Transition rate refers to the number of students moving from one level to the next
level out of the total pass out students and is expressed in terms of percentage. A smooth
transition process demonstrates the quality and competency of the system. All India
averages show that transition rates substantially decline as the level of school goes up. That
is, fewer students are able to continue to higher levels of schooling. An examination of
transition rates in four states shows wide variations (Table 3). In West Bengal which has the
highest concentration of the Muslim population, the transition of students from primary to
upper primary and from upper primary to secondary stage is lowest. The National Sample
Survey Organization Report 2007-2008 revealed that Muslim participation at various
levels of school education is not only low, but as students transit from one level to another,
number of students decline sharply (GOI, 2007-2008). Some other studies mentioned
the reasons for low transition rate of Muslim Children as erratic enrolment and irregular
attendance, seasonal migration of children with parents, ill health, discrimination (GOI,
2011), inadequate provision of schooling infrastructures and facilities (Lipta, 2011), lack
of parental demand kept children out of school (Pratham, 2007-2008), and inappropriate
school curriculum not supporting the needs of the children (Taylor & Mulhall, 1997).
Table 3
Transition Rates at Various Levels
States Year Primary Upper Primary Secondary
West Bengal
2001 50.3 26.0 11.9
1948 14.6 7.5 3.5
Uttar Pradesh
2001 48.2 29.2 17.4
1948 14.4 7.4 4.4
Bihar
2001 40.7 23.7 16.1
1948 17.3 8.6 5.6
Maharashtra
2001 80.4 56.8 35.1
1948 24.1 10.0 7.3
All India
2001 60.9 40.5 23.9
1948 18.2 8.6 5.4
(Sachar Committee Report, 2006)
Explaining Educational Backwardness of Muslims
The scenario of educational development discussed earlier reveals that considerable
efforts are needed to spread education among the Muslim minority. Various initiatives have
been initiated for their educational development, but have not been taken to a satisfactory
level. Though over the years the number of institutions, enrolment, teachers, physical
facilities in the schools has been increased, still the group is lagging behind in all the
102 M. Narula
educational indicators like literacy, enrolment, girls enrolment, retention, completion,
performance, etc. The literacy which is a !rst step to gain education is found lowest among
the Muslim minority in comparison with all other minorities. Likewise, the proportion of
enrolment is low and out-of-school children are also highest among Muslims. As they
move up to higher levels of education ladder i.e. primary level to secondary, and higher
secondary, their representation decreases. Analysis of time trend indicates that despite an
overall improvement in educational status of the Muslim minority, the rate of progress is
very slow. The gender disparity is also observed in terms of attending government, local
body and private aided schools, both at the primary and the upper primary stages.
Various research studies have been carried out to explain the reasons for educational
backwardness of the Muslim minorities. According to GOI report (2006), lack of adequate
number of schools and infrastructural facilities in the Muslim dominated areas was a major
cause of educational backwardness of this community. In spite of more than six decades of
constitutional guarantee, there are many settlements where government schools are lacking
and required facilities do not exist in schools as discussed in the education policies (Narula,
2012). Ramachandran (2004a, 2004b, 2009), Batra (2005, 2009), Muralidharan and Kremer
(2006), Kingdon (2009), Nambissan (2009), Vasavi, Ramachandran, & Naorem (2012),
Ramachandran, Patni, and Mehrotra (2009), PROBE reports (1999, 2010), Majumdar
and Mooij (2011) pointed out that teaching-learning processes and overall schooling
environment (teacher-pupil relationship, pupil-pupil relationship etc.) are the reasons of low
participation of Muslim children. The outcome data does not always throw light on why
some children drop out or why some children learn so little even though they have been
attending school, and even being promoted from one grade to the next (GOI, 2012).
Low participation of girls in schools is another notable problem in the education of
Muslims. In schools, physical facilities are not available as per the need of the girls and
as per the norms and standards laid by the government. When schools are not available
within a walking distance and closer to the place of dwelling, parents are a bit reluctant -
due to the feeling of insecurity - to send their girls to a school which is far off. The studies
of Jha (2005), Husain (2010), and Abidi and Abbas (2011) have shown that the reasons
for educational backwardness of Muslim girls are lack of government commitment in
providing adequate infrastructural facilities in terms of building with a boundary wall, basic
amenities, libraries, hostels, etc. Likewise, high teacher student ratio as well as absence
of lady teachers in schools restricted the girls from pursuing schooling. Jha and Jingarans
(2005) study reveals that Muslim girls are going to Madrasha because government schools
are not functioning well, there is inadequate infrastructure, teachers are irregular and
disinterested and the schools remain closed very frequently. Therefore parents prefer to
send girls to religious institutions. The enrolment rates of Muslim girls have steeply fallen
relative to the all-India average, especially during and after the decades of the 1990s
(Shariff & Razzack, 2006).
The history of educating women was started in pre-colonial period and was a public
issue during that time (Ahmad, 1981). However, the formal system of education for
women was absent. According to Minault (1982) and Chanana (1990), two parallel formal
systems of education were in existence during the pre-colonial India and were organized
and managed by the Hindus and Muslims. Religious and Secular education were imparted
in these places. Girls were not enrolled in formal secular schools. Muslim girls would go
to Kuran or religious schools which were generally located in the mosques. The studies
of Nayar (2007), Husain (2009), Hasan and Menon (2004), and Jafri (2010) indicate
Muslim women are marked with stark educational backwardness. A number of studies and
literature have given perspectives on the various reasons and issues behind the educational
backwardness of Muslim girls. For example modern education has yet to become an
asset for Muslim girls because there still is the idea that the proper place for women is
the home (Begum, 1998). Ruhelas (1998) observations are also similar. He pointed out
that traditional Islamic injunction restrict girls to go in for education in public places.
However, this is true, not only for Muslim girls but for all the communities of girls in
India. As majority of the communities have patriarchal society, women have very less
rights and education for women is not considered very important in comparison to boys.
Contrary to this view, the Sachar Committee report (2006) reveals that interactions with the
Muslim community are adequate to dispel misconceptions and stereotypes with respect to
education of Muslims. According to the report, Muslim parents are not averse to modern or
mainstream education and the general perception that Muslim parents are against educating
their girls is also not true. Rather problems lie in unavailability of schools within easy
reach for girls at the lower level of education, absence of girls hostels, absence of female
teachers and availability of scholarships as they move up the education ladder. It is also
found that education of girls has not made much progress, especially when they transit from
one level to another.
During the decade of 1990s renewed efforts were introduced to bridge the gender
and social gaps in elementary education. These interventions were for universal access,
retention, making the system responsive, and for reaching out to special focus groups.
However, Muslims are not responding to these educational development programmes
and schemes (Kaur & Kaur, 2012). The reasons may be the programmes differ from state
to state in terms of coverage, quality and number of bene!ciaries. The programmes are
largely governed by political commitment and !nancial constraints. The states which are
committed get resources and try to help weaker sections. In addition, there are historical
reasons for development of education in the state. The difference can be seen in the
progress of education as is re#ected in the present paper. In educational development,
Maharashtra has been ahead of other states in literacy rates, completion and transition of all
the grades from the primary to the secondary levels. However, West Bengal has also made
progress. Its total literacy rate is above the national average.
104 M. Narula
It was reported by the Standing Committee of National Monitoring Committee
(2007-08) for Minorities that Sarva Siksha Abhiyan (SSA) should be brought directly
under the control of Central Government instead of the State Governments, which are
not taking much interest in SSAand funds are very conveniently being diverted to other
schemes. Such cases need immediate attention and enquiry. The schemes and programmes
launched by the Government remained untouched. Even if it is utilized there is a delivery
shortcoming in terms of delays which needs to be taken into account. According to Udin
(2012),
As far as the Prime Ministers 15 point programme is concerned, there is no mandatory
power. It is only advisory in nature. Further it needs to have clear cut policy directions
for its effective implementation which should have a strong political will among the
states. This is essential because state minority commission have no statutory powers to
address religious minority issues. (pp. 395-402)
Nuna (2003) while evaluating Area Intensive Scheme found that the scheme was not
properly and effectively implemented by the state governments and was unsuccessful in
achieving its goals towards education of the Muslim girls. The Sachar Committee report
(GOI, 2006) reiterates the need for region/location speci!c strategies that will enable the
Muslim children, especially girls, to access formal elementary education.
The problems and issues of education of Muslims differ from state to state and region
to region. Muslims in Uttar Pradesh do not face the same barriers as they face in Bihar. The
situation in West Bengal is altogether different and may need an entirely different strategy.
Therefore it is very essential to recognize that parameters for Muslims vary with region and
state and accordingly they have to make strategies and plans to educate Muslims. The GOI's
#agship programmes Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan and Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan
are consistently working on improving access to elementary and secondary education.
These efforts at Central and State levels include opening of schools, improved provisioning
for textbooks, supplementary teaching learning materials and uniforms, hiring female
teachers, bridge courses and special schemes and programmes. However, sub-Group on
Elementary Education and Literacy for the Twelfth Five Year Plan (2012-2017) states that:
The strategies and activities to address girls education have largely assumed that they
are homogenous category, whose disadvantage can be addressed through a common
basket of interventions. While schemes like Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidhyalaya
(KGBV), National Programme for Education of Girls at Elementary Stage (NPEGEL)
have been successful, their reach is limited in numbers. Looking at the literacy rate
of Muslim girls and gap between male and female, more KGBVs need to be located
close to the Muslim habitations to retain the girls in the schooling system. The NPEGEL
programme works in this area but suffered from fragmented approach. (pp. 29-33)
According to Kamat (1981), the reasons for educational backwardness of Muslims
could be broadly grouped under three main heads: (i) religious traditionalism and
backwardness of those professing Islam, (ii) partition of India and the psychological
crisis of identity it created for the Indian Muslims, and (iii) the deliberate neglect and
discrimination against the Muslims by the majority (Hindu) society which professed to
be secular but was, in fact, discriminatory whether in education or in employment. India
faces dilemma of secularism regarding education of the minorities in general and Muslims
in particular. The reason is at the time of independence, India was divided on the basis
of religion - with a large section of Muslims forming separate country (Pakistan). The
division was not done peacefully. This has created anti-Muslim feeling among some of
the Hindus. Even after more than sixty years of independence, the feeling has not gone.
Therefore in India development policies are made on the basis of social deprivation, not
on the basis of religion. It is rightly mentioned by Choudhary (2003) that it is better to
adopt a citizen based and secular rather than community based approach in resolving the
problem of educational backwardness of the people belonging to all religious communities
in the country. The religious traditionalism and backwardness can further be explained by
the attitude of the Muslim community. According to the studies by Choudhary (2003) and
Halan (2007), the Hindu, the Christian and the Sikh communities had set up a network
of good educational institutions which provides general and professional education. The
Muslim community has failed to set up such institutions in large numbers to provide
its youth with modern education. However, Tamil Nadu and Kerala have been quite
encouraging both from the viewpoint of increasing the educational preparedness of average
Muslims and enlarging the size of the educated Muslims.
Other studies in this direction show that educational development of Muslims is closely
related with the economic activity. As per Saxena (1983), over 70 per cent of the Muslims
in India are living in rural areas and are marginal and small farmers or self-employed
artisans and remaining 30 per cent who are living in towns. Among all the Muslim
people, roughly 80 to 85 per cent are skilled workers, tailors, retailers and are involved
in professions which do not require them to be literate. This could be explained from the
viewpoint that Muslim population residing in rural areas is marginal and that most of the
Muslim people are small farmers or self-employed artisans, tailors, retailers, etc. It depends
on the need of education for a particular occupation. Imtiaz (2003) states that signi!cant
percentages of Muslims are self-employed in relatively low income generating occupations,
whether this concentration is structural or imposed by real or preserved fears of rejection
or discrimination in more secure and better sectors is dif!cult to say" (p. 191). Ali (2007)
also points out the same observation. According to him, Muslims are from low castes and
follow caste-based professions like weaver, dyers, bangle making, grave diggers, carders,
dhobis and so on and are mostly self employed. To a large extent this is true. Children learn
these occupations through experience. Any specialized training or education is not required.
106 M. Narula
Because of this reason, their representation is very less in the government and high pro!le
jobs. Udin (2012) states that 25 to 45 per cent Muslims are generally self-employed
compared to 28 per cent of Dalits and 40 per cent of Hindus. Only 18 per cent are in regular
employment (Hindus 25 per cent). According to Sachar Committee report (2006), Muslims
hold a tiny 5.7 per cent of government jobs. In states with high Muslim population (West
Bengal, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh) this ratio is lesser than a third of their population share. In
Maharashtra, it is less than one !fth. This shows under-representation of Muslims in the
employment sector. According to Imtiaz (2003), this may be because of their preference
for occupations and thus Muslims are either predominantly self-employed or employed in
small establishments where education is not valued.
Conclusion
The discussion suggests that in spite of the af!rmative actions by the Government of
India, educational development of the Muslim minority is not uniform in all the selected
states. All the states are not bene!tted uniformly from the provisions, schemes and
facilities provided through these af!rmative actions. The paper revealed that over the years
the number of institutions, enrolment, teachers, physical facilities have increased; still
educational progress of Muslims is not satisfactory in terms of literacy rates, enrolment, and
retention and in completion of grades. Therefore due attention is needed for increasing their
enrolment, improving physical facilities in the schools, maintaining teacher pupil ratio,
addressing adverse socio-cultural and economic realities as these are the keys in removing
educational backwardness of Muslims.
The paper also highlighted inter-state variation in educational development of Muslim
minority. It revealed that Maharashtra, in comparison with Bihar, West Bengal and Uttar
Pradesh, is far ahead in educational development of the Muslim minority. However, West
Bengal is also higher than the national average. In any case, Muslim community has
remained slow in taking advantage of governments educational policies and programmes.
This is largely because of their cultural ethos resulting slow progress in educational
!eld in comparison with other minorities. This makes it clear that the problems of weak
educational development of Muslims need to be understood and treated as per the need and
in an area speci!c manner. That is, strategies for Muslims educational development should
not follow the uniform and blanket approach under one umbrella.
The paper also revealed gender disparity as one of the reasons of educational
backwardness of the Muslim minority. The negative attitude and low aspirations of
parents towards girls education, early marriages and cultural preference for a domestic
role for women delimits womens role in participation of formal education. These issues
need critical examination. Though the parental attitude towards girls education has been
changing in a positive manner, womens domesticated role is still true to a large extent.
Continuing parental discrimination to their daughters is revealed by the fact that more girls
are sent to government, local bodies, and private aided schools while boys are sent to better
perceived private unaided schools. The issue needs to be reviewed.
Bringing and retaining children in schools, especially girls, demands additional
investment in terms of more physical facilities, more women teachers, separate schools for
girls, transport and scholarships, etc. The Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan has made provision for all
these facilities. However, there is an urgent need for proper monitoring and implementation
of the programme. When schools are present in the Muslim concentrated areas, they need to
be well resourced and functional, in terms of regularity and timings for creating meaningful
learning experiences for the Muslim in general and Muslim girls in particular. Finally,
it is equally necessary for the government to create conducive and safe environment for
removing the feeling of discrimination, along with education as factors for development of
religious communities, particularly of Muslims, in India.
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email.
Upon acceptance of the manuscript, all revisions must be made in Track Change Mode
when resubmitted.
By submitting the manuscript to JER, the authors fully agree that the copyright of
all published papers remain with the Journal. Moreover, when their submissions are
accepted and !nal revisions are made, the (corresponding) author will be asked to sign in
a copyright licensing agreement form (on behalf of the authors).
When the paper is published, all authors are entitled to getting one copy each free of
charge. The authors should be clear that they will not get any payment on publication of
their papers. Neither does the Journal charge any fee for publishing the papers.
Page Layout and Design
The manuscripts should be submitted in the following format:
1. Times New Roman, font size 12 (including titles and headings). Text aligned left.
2. Double spaced, margins one inch at all sides.
3. Indent paragraphs (half-inch).
4. Manuscript should include a title page. The title page includes (in the order of):
Running head, main title of the paper (centred, heading style capitalization), subtitle
(centred, heading style capitalization), and author information.
5. Insert page number (#ush right) in all pages.
6. Add* after the name of the corresponding author. Generally, lead authors are the
corresponding authors.
7. At the end of the title page, type the date you email your paper.
8. The second page is the Abstract page. Type Abstract (centred), and on the next line
begin the abstract text (without indentation).
9. The main content of the paper should begin on the third page (the content page) of the
manuscript. The content includes the main text of the paper (do not repeat the title),
endnotes, acknowledgements (if any), references, and appendices (if any).
Manuscript Submission Guidelines 113
10. Tables should where possible be created simply using MS Word Table function. All
tables must be numbered and set #ush left. On a new line, give the Title of the table
(heading style capitalization). If necessary give Table notes immediately below the
table. Table number, title, and notes should come in double space. However, contents
within the tables are to be single spaced.
11. All Illustrations must also be numbered and captioned.
12. In order to emphasize some texts, please use italics, do not use bold or underline, etc.
Italics should also be used for non-English words, titles of books, plays, etc.
13. If you need to acknowledge some person(s) and/or institution(s), please do so under a
different section Acknowledgements preceding References. Please acknowledge
the institutions and/or grant commissions of any !nancial support you have received for
your research.
Address all correspondence to:
Kathmandu University School of Education
Balkumari, Lalitpur
GPO Box No. 6250, Kathmandu, Nepal
Email: jer@kusoed.edu.np
The Editorial Board reminds any interested authors to submit their articles at www.kusoed.
edu.np/journal as soon as possible for review in the August 2014 issue (JER, Vol. 4, No. 2)
so that we can arrange our reviewers for a quick turn around with feedback.
For more information, visit the JER Webpage: www.kusoed.edu.np/journal
Journal of Education and Research ISSN: 2091-0118 (Print) / 2091-2560 (Online)

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Journal of Education and Research, March 2014, Vol. 4, No.

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