Stemming the educational landslide: Supporting teacher professional development in remote Nepal

Using the organic methodology provided in grounded theory, the research explores a cluster of primary school teachers working in two VDCs in a remote mountainous area in Eastern Nepal. It seeks to inform future provision of Teacher Professional Development in Nepal and provide an innovative theoretical framework for the sensitive consideration of socio-cultural context in its delivery. The research is being conducted for a Master of Education degree through Central Queensland University, Australia (completion date 2018). The research asked the following questions: What are the driving factors contributing to the educational shift from remote public schooling to urban private schooling? and How can remote public school teachers be better supported through professional development to help address this shift? Despite very hard work put in by the Nepali government to establish public schools in even the most remote places in Nepal public education is being undermined by increasing perception that it is a provision for the poorer segment of society and inferior in quality to private schooling (Bhatta, 2008; Thapa, 2011). Students are steadily being withdrawn from public schools and re-enrolled in private schools. The reality of this perception is continually seen in the SLC results with 9 out of ten private school children passing. However in public schools less than 3 students out of ten pass. In remote areas this is leading to a‘landslide’ of students leaving the village areas to attend ‘quality’ schools. In the National Living Standards Survey of Nepal 22 percent of all absenteeism in remote areas is attributed to seeking education. A more focused research among youth aged 10-19, in two remote mountainous areas in Nepal, shows that as much as 75 percent are absent from the village area because of attending schooling in urban private schools and monasteries (Craig, 2014). This educational ‘landslide' results in the majority of children that are sent away never returning to their villages. There are many contributing factors causing the shift however increasingly the debate is centering on the role of Teacher Professional Development (TPD) in achieving pedagogical change (UNESCO, 2014). And rightly so, the quality of the teacher rather than the inputs, has the greater impact on learning (Snoek, Swennen and Van der Klink, 2010). However the teacher’s voice is hardly present in this debate, nor the socio-cultural contexts of teachers and the barriers teachers face in the engagement in professional development. Further while there is provision for TPD, these is little documented research considering not some ‘how much’ or ‘what’ but rather ‘how’ TPD in remote areas should be provided. The research seeks to inform future government TPD policy and planning strategies. Guide and assist professional development providers in designing and delivering of TPD remote setting and inform further research in TPD and issues related to education in the remote contexts. The paper presentation will present the initial theories that are developing from the data being collected this year and other findings based on the said sample of primary school teachers.