Negotiating Between Unequal Neighbours: India's Role in Nepal's Recent Constitution-Making Process

Nepal's post-conflict constitution-making process has seen the involvement of many international actors. While studies on democracy promotion, to this day, mainly focus on Western "donors" and international organizations, this paper looks at the role played by India in the complicated process of moving from a peace agreement to the establishment of an inclusive, democratic constitution in Nepal. More specifically, it is analysed how a powerful neighbouring democracy (India) participated in what is essentially a domestic negotiation process (constitution-making) with a view to influencing the emerging democratic regime. In terms of the issues on the negotiation table, the analysis shows that India, in pushing for an inclusive constitution, pursued the specific agenda of supporting the inclusion of the Madheshis, an ethnic group mostly living in Nepal's Terai region. In terms of negotiation strategies, the paper identifies four different ways in which India tried to influence the constitution: high-level dialogue; economic blockade; international coalition building; and targeted support of domestic oppositional forces in Nepal. Comprehensive as this negotiation strategy was, it only met with partial success. Parameters that limited India's influence included the domestic strength and legitimacy of the official Nepali position (elite alignment; popular support) as well as scepticism concerning India's role in Nepal, which was reinforced by India's overly partisan agenda.Nach Be­endigung des Bürger­kriegs in Nepal be­teiligte sich eine Viel­zahl von inter­nationalen Akteuren an der Ge­staltung des ver­fassungs­gebenden Prozesses im Land. Der Groß­teil der Forschung zu Dem­okratie­för­derung be­trachtete vor allem die Rolle west­licher Geber­staaten und inter­nationaler Or­ga­ni­sationen in diesem Prozess. Im Unter­schied dazu analysiert das vor­liegende PRIF Working Paper das En­gage­ment eines nicht-west­lichen Akteurs: Indien. Es unter­sucht die Rolle, die Indien während des Pro­zesses vom Friedens­vertrag bis hin zur Ver­ankerung einer demo­kratischen Ver­fassung in Nepal ge­spielt hat. Im Mittel­punkt steht die Frage, wie Indien als mächtiger demo­kratischer Nach­bar­staat Ein­fluss auf einen im Kern inner­staatlichen Ver­handlungs­pro­zess der Ver­fassungs­gebung Ein­fluss ge­nommen hat und was das für die Ent­wicklung eines demo­kratischen Re­gimes in Nepal be­deutete. Indien drängte im Ver­handlungs­pro­zess auf eine ver­stärkte In­klu­si­vität der Ver­fassung und sprach sich ins­be­sondere für die In­klusion der Madheshis aus, einer ethnischen Gruppierung in der ne­pa­lesischen Terai-Region. Es lassen sich vier Ver­handlungs­strategien Indiens ab­leiten: hoch­rangiger po­li­tischer Dia­log, öko­no­mische Blockade, inter­nationale Allianz­bildung, und ge­zielte Unter­stützung der inner­ne­pa­lesischen Op­position. So um­fassend die Be­mühungen Indiens auch waren, er­zielten sie nur einen Teil­erfolg. Indiens Ein­fluss wurde einer­seits be­schränkt durch die starke Le­gi­ti­mität der of­fiziellen ne­pa­lesischen Position, die so­wohl von den Eliten des Landes wie auch der Be­völkerung breit unter­stützt wurde. Anderer­seits traf ins­be­sondere der Versuch der ein­seitigen Partei­nahme durch Indien auf große Skepsis und Wider­stand

English Language Teachers’ Experience on Online Teaching amidst COVID-19

The COVID-19 pandemic closed schools forcing adoption of online teaching in most of the countries of the world including Nepal. With the help of two secondary level English language teachers’ experience on online teaching, this article aims to reveal the perceptions, challenges and the ways to overcome such challenges on online teaching. The data collected via unstructured interviews and informal conversations were analyzed using general inductive approach. The findings reveal that English language teachers take online class as both opportunity and challenge. Opportunity in the sense that they have got chance to experience something new and challenge in the sense that though they try their utmost, they are not able to make online class as interactive as face to face class. They make the guardians aware of their children’s activities to cope the challenges they face. Moreover, online class can be a good supplement to face to face class rather than replacement to it

Ethical Practices of Educational Administrators: A Nepalese Experience

Ethics is an important part of administrative behavior for a head schoolteacher. A school often proceeds in the path of success if it is led by an ethically sound leader. However, professional ethics are largely thought to emerge from the conscience of the administrator. This article is based on a study undertaken with the purpose of identifying how the ethics of educational administrators are practiced in public secondary schools in Nepal. The study was carried out using a humanistic paradigm with a series of in-depth interviews and focus group discussion through a phenomenological approach. The study found that professional codes of conduct for school administrators need to be well defined, well internalized, and focused on the culture and context in question. One way to do this is to require representatives of all of the school’s stakeholders to discuss and develop the professional codes of school administrators. This sensitive and participatory approach in the development and adoption of the ethical rules generates a “feeling of ownership,” responsibility, and commitment among all school stakeholders. However, at present, there are no such provisions to understand social interaction in particular social settings to ensure participation of all the stakeholders in the formation of ethical codes of educational administrators

Trainee Characteristics Affecting Training Transfer Among the TVET Instructors

This study aims to assess whether perceived training transfer differs across personal and professional attributes of the instructors of technical vocational education and training (TVET) in Nepal. Gender, marital status and age were assessed under personal attributes and the type of institution based on ownership, the locale of the institutions and instructors’ experience were assessed within professional attributes. Survey questionnaire was sent online to 251 instructors across the country who had participated in instructional skills-based training in the past three to 15 months and were engaged in technical education as instructors during the time of the study. Data were analyzed using independent samples t-test for demographic variables with two groups, and analysis of variance along with Brown–Forsythe and Welch tests for variables with more than two groups. Statistically significant results were further substantiated using power analysis. The result concluded that perceived training transfer was higher among female instructors, married instructors, privately owned TVET institutions and instructors with five to 10 years of experience as compared to the new ones

How “Inclusive” Has the Inclusive Education Been?

The main intent of inclusive education is to include diversity in terms of access to education. Hence, inclusive education is of tremendous significance to a country like Nepal, which has so much diversity. However, the strategies formulated by the inclusive education policies in Nepal still follow a narrow definition of inclusive education, though the policies are progressive. Does inclusive education mean only a scheme for disabled learners? Through a desk review of the policies after 2000 related to inclusive education, this paper argues that the smooth transition to inclusion in education has been challenging. The paper argues that despite policy provisions, Nepal has not been able to actualize inclusion in education because its strategies and actions are not directed toward inclusion. This situation is there mainly because of the lack of uniform understanding of inclusive education, and its present practice will lead towards segregation but not towards integration

Effects of Civil Society Organizations’ Capacity-Building Factors on Their Governance

This article investigates the differential impact of six civil society organizations’ (CSO) capacity-building factors on governance, using data from a survey of 366 Nepali non-governmental organizations. The factors include Organizational Commitment to Need-based Intervention, Institutionalized Learning Process, Creative Engagement of Staff in Decision-Making, Financial Management, Legal Enabling Environment, and Education of Leaders. Results from Multiple Regression in SPSS 16 show that all six capacity-building factors, both collectively and individually, significantly and positively influence CSO governance with large effect sizes. Notably, Organizational Commitment to Need-based Intervention, Institutionalized Learning Process, Creative Engagement of Staff in Decision-Making, and Financial Management explain 68% of the variance, while Legal Enabling Environment and Education of Leaders explain 19%. Financial management (38.3%) and creative engagement of staff in decision-making (26%) stand out as significant contributors, suggesting a need for targeted capacity-building efforts in these areas to enhance CSO governance. The study provides valuable insights for Confirmatory Factor Analysis and future longitudinal studies on the role of these factors in CSO governance

Professors\u27 Informal Learning in their Workplace: The Case of Nepali University

This study explores how Nepali professors engage in informal learning practices in their workplace and identify the potential for creating a conducive learning environment We conducted in-depth interviews with five Nepali professors using a qualitative case study approach to explore their informal learning experiences at their workplace. The study revealed that professors engage in informal learning through various methods, such as enacting job roles, reflecting on work experiences, interacting with colleagues, seeking feedback, and initiating self-learning through reading, online courses, professional networks, and formal training programs. However, organizational constraints hindered their self-initiated learning activities. Future research can examine the organization constraints influencing self-initiated learning among professors. This study contributes to the limited research on informal learning among professors in the workplace of developing countries and emphasizes the importance of creating a supportive learning environment for their professional growth

Construction and Validation of Nepali Teachers’ Self-Efficacy and Classroom Management Practices Instruments Through the E-Delphi Technique

This study presents the processes applied in developing and validating Nepali Classroom Management Practices (CMPS) and Nepali Teachers’ Self-Efficacy (NTSE) instruments. The instruments were developed using the e-Delphi technique. To find the consensus benchmark of the responses, the study used a five-point Likert scale and used Microsoft Excel to analyze responses. The items that achieved a 75% consensus were accepted. Following the interviews and two rounds of questionnaire administration, 28 items from the initial 35 for NTSE and 24 items from the initial 52 for CMP were found to have a high consensus among the experts. Therefore, 28-items NTSE and 24-items CMP instruments were developed to measure Nepali public school teachers’ self-efficacy and their classroom management practices. The pilot study results demonstrated that there was strong internal consistency of items with the value of the overall Cronbach’s alpha in both scales α= .86 (NTSE α = .77 and CMP α = .83). These scales can be used for educational research projects in Nepal and then be contextualized to use in other countries

Local Values in Governance: Legacy of Choho in Forest and School Management in a Tamang Community in Nepal

The political modernization in Nepal accelerated since 1951 when the country changed its course owing to a popular movement that was acclaimed as the beginning of democracy in the country. However, the governments continued cultural and political homogenization.  This has been so in the case of local governance practices as well. Modern governing structures/institutions are guided by the state formed policies and elite-based power structures despite the fact that different ethnic groups in Nepal have their own traditional self-governance systems. In this context, this article unfolds the inheritance of traditional practices of the Tamang community (one of the major ethnic groups of Nepal), in a village, in the district adjoining Kathmandu valley, within the modern structures of governance of forest and school management systems. The paper argues that there is a legacy of the traditional institution, the Choho, though the system of Choho itself has now largely disappeared. This paper, based on ethnographic fieldwork, presents the accounts of Choho and examples of how the particular norms, values, beliefs, and practices are still in practice challenging and denying the modern/state formed mechanisms of governing the forests and schools in the village. The paper further argues that given the modern governance system, the traditional souvenir exchange practice that was rooted in the notion of honour and respect has now shifted towards the practice of giving and receiving gifts based upon the principle of reciprocal benefits that could be described as a bribe

Technology, Chemistry and Bioactive Properties of Large Cardamom (Amomum Subulatum Roxb.): An Overview.

Large cardamom (Amomum subulatum Roxb.) is an aromatic and medicinal spice native to Eastern Himalayas belonging to the family Zingiberaceae. It is used as flavoring and preservative to different types of coffee, liquors, confections, beverages and tobacco. Volatile oil (2-4%) is the principal aroma-giving compound in large cardamom and 1,8- cineole is the major active compound in an extent 60 to 80% of the total volatile oil. Alcohol and aqueous extract of large cardamom have been reported to contain allopathic, analgesic, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, antioxidant, antiulcer, cardio-adaptogenic and hypolipidaemic activities. Large cardamom and its powder, oleoresin and essential oils have many culinary and therapeutic uses. Objective of this review is to give short overview on the processing technology, chemistry, bioactivity and uses of large cardamom and its components