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

Visceral Leishmaniasis IgG1 Rapid Monitoring of Cure vs. Relapse, and Potential for Diagnosis of Post Kala-Azar Dermal Leishmaniasis.

Background: There is a recognized need for an improved diagnostic test to assess post-chemotherapeutic treatment outcome in visceral leishmaniasis (VL) and to diagnose post kala-azar dermal leishmaniasis (PKDL). We previously demonstrated by ELISA and a prototype novel rapid diagnostic test (RDT), that high anti-Leishmania IgG1 is associated with post-treatment relapse versus cure in VL. Methodology: Here, we further evaluate this novel, low-cost RDT, named VL Sero K-SeT, and ELISA for monitoring IgG1 levels in VL patients after treatment. IgG1 levels against L. donovani lysate were determined. We applied these assays to Indian sera from cured VL at 6 months post treatment as well as to relapse and PKDL patients. Sudanese sera from pre- and post-treatment and relapse were also tested. Results: Of 104 paired Indian sera taken before and after treatment for VL, when deemed clinically cured, 81 (77.9%) were positive by VL Sero K-SeT before treatment; by 6 months, 68 of these 81 (84.0%) had a negative or reduced RDT test line intensity. ELISAs differed in positivity rate between pre- and post-treatment (p = 0.0162). Twenty eight of 33 (84.8%) Indian samples taken at diagnosis of relapse were RDT positive. A comparison of Indian VL Sero K-SeT data from patients deemed cured and relapsed confirmed that there was a significant difference (p < 0.0001) in positivity rate for the two groups using this RDT. Ten of 17 (58.8%) Sudanese sera went from positive to negative or decreased VL Sero K-SeT at the end of 11-30 days of treatment. Forty nine of 63 (77.8%) PKDL samples from India were positive by VL Sero K-SeT. Conclusion: We have further shown the relevance of IgG1 in determining clinical status in VL patients. A positive VL Sero K-SeT may also be helpful in supporting diagnosis of PKDL. With further refinement, such as the use of specific antigens, the VL Sero K-SeT and/or IgG1 ELISA may be adjuncts to current VL control programmes

Snowmass Neutrino Frontier: DUNE Physics Summary

The Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE) is a next-generation long-baseline neutrino oscillation experiment with a primary physics goal of observing neutrino and antineutrino oscillation patterns to precisely measure the parameters governing long-baseline neutrino oscillation in a single experiment, and to test the three-flavor paradigm. DUNE's design has been developed by a large, international collaboration of scientists and engineers to have unique capability to measure neutrino oscillation as a function of energy in a broadband beam, to resolve degeneracy among oscillation parameters, and to control systematic uncertainty using the exquisite imaging capability of massive LArTPC far detector modules and an argon-based near detector. DUNE's neutrino oscillation measurements will unambiguously resolve the neutrino mass ordering and provide the sensitivity to discover CP violation in neutrinos for a wide range of possible values of δCP. DUNE is also uniquely sensitive to electron neutrinos from a galactic supernova burst, and to a broad range of physics beyond the Standard Model (BSM), including nucleon decays. DUNE is anticipated to begin collecting physics data with Phase I, an initial experiment configuration consisting of two far detector modules and a minimal suite of near detector components, with a 1.2 MW proton beam. To realize its extensive, world-leading physics potential requires the full scope of DUNE be completed in Phase II. The three Phase II upgrades are all necessary to achieve DUNE's physics goals: (1) addition of far detector modules three and four for a total FD fiducial mass of at least 40 kt, (2) upgrade of the proton beam power from 1.2 MW to 2.4 MW, and (3) replacement of the near detector's temporary muon spectrometer with a magnetized, high-pressure gaseous argon TPC and calorimeter

A Gaseous Argon-Based Near Detector to Enhance the Physics Capabilities of DUNE

This document presents the concept and physics case for a magnetized gaseous argon-based detector system (ND-GAr) for the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE) Near Detector. This detector system is required in order for DUNE to reach its full physics potential in the measurement of CP violation and in delivering precision measurements of oscillation parameters. In addition to its critical role in the long-baseline oscillation program, ND-GAr will extend the overall physics program of DUNE. The LBNF high-intensity proton beam will provide a large flux of neutrinos that is sampled by ND-GAr, enabling DUNE to discover new particles and search for new interactions and symmetries beyond those predicted in the Standard Model