Social work education in South Asia: diverse, dynamic and disjointed?

Social work, claiming to be a global profession, is struggling for its legitimate identity in South Asia. South Asia is home to over one-fifth of the world’s population, making the region one of the most populous and culturally, economically, socially and politically diverse geographical regions. Like the variations across the region, there exist key differences in the growth, establishment, nature and practice of social work education which is dynamic, diverse but also disjointed. Imparting social work education in countries of South Asia is a challenging task due to political instabilities, multicultural issues and low professional recognition. Using a comparative approach, this chapter analyses the initiation, growth and knowledge base of social work programs and addresses key epistemological challenges. By doing so, it suggests revisiting social work curricula and teaching practices in the region. Divided in to five sections, this chapter provides a regional view of the status of social work education and argues for crafting indigenous social work knowledge and practices, teaching and practice innovations, and human resource development of social work educators and students in this vast and diverse region

Conflict, Resistance and Alliances in a Multi-Governance Setting: Reshaping Realities in the Andhra Pradesh Irrigation Reforms \ud

In this article, we will explore how local politics of policy, in the interaction with governance mechanisms, have produced specific polity outcomes in the irrigation sector of Andhra Pradesh. The water sector of Andhra Pradesh, which has been struggling within inefficiency, poor performance, deterioration, and lack of participation as elsewhere in India, has undergone substantial reforms aiming at Participatory Irrigation Management (PIM). Previous research has indicated how reform policy choices were contested and mediated by relevant actors and how this affected the outcome in key areas of irrigation management. This is referred to as the politics of policy. We will look at multi-level governance in a situation where different tiers represent different institutional basis, and argue that the politics of policy at multiple levels of governance can be perceived as a form of support and/or resilience by actors to new governance mechanisms/arrangement

Identifying Motivation of Parental Involvement and Problems in Homework Encountered By Blind and Low Vision Students

This study aims to understand the motivation of parents to assist their children who are blind or with low vision with their homework and its impact on their academic achievement. Three families have been selected, all of whom have a blind or low vision child who studies at secondary level in a public school. This study employs the in-depth interview to get the views from three pairs of parents. The result leads us to look beyond the relationship between homework management strategies and grades. Therefore, the key outcome of this study leads us to identify the problems in the process of doing homework for blind and low vision students who are taught in public schools. Solutions such as the learning skill in braille, strong parents support group and close engagement among parents and teachers are needed to create the stimulating learning environment to enable blind and low vision students to read, to learn and to write their homework independently. Therefore, the implications of this study are the need to amend the policy to facilitate parental engagement and establish the systematic assessment and planning to ameliorate the barriers faced by blind and low vision students

Indigenous or Blended Model for South Asian Social Work?

An argument about indigenous social work education often surfaces in South Asian schools of social work. In this study, central concerns around the indigenous argument, together with a review of the pervasive influence of the western model of social work in Asia is undertaken. The three author- research team, utilised a methodology that featured a desk review and an analysis of communications with select South Asian scholars and academics that were respondents for the study. Additionally, the authors present their personal reflections, that prudently address their positionality and reflexivity. The primary finding in this research paper is that the legacy of Western-influenced social work education is thriving within the region, despite criticism from different quarters about its effectiveness. The secondary finding is the admittance by respondent academics in Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, India and Nepal that relevant to their societal context, limited adaptations have been introduced and are working in their respective countries. The current research provided an opportunity to research participants to view and summarily reject claims by certain bogies that western influence in social work is solely responsible for lack of cultural appropriation within the curriculum in South Asia.   The study suggests that there is a lot that can take place by way of adaptation without sacrificing the cultural elements while rearranging the social work curriculum within the region. The authors strongly advocate a blended approach as a suitable course of moderation in the re-construction attempts of social work futures in South Asia. &nbsp

Nepal: Public vs. Private?

As one of the poorest countries in the world, Nepal (with 30 million people) is going through a series of transitions and is rewriting its constitution. Access to education and now to higher education is limited in Nepal

Global Agenda for Social work and Social Development : Voices of the social work educators from Asia

Social work is contextual yet increasingly internationalized. The development of Global Agenda in 2012 by the IASSW, ICSW and IFSW gave educators and practitioners an opportunity to reflect on challenges of social work education and the profession in their respective countries. The current article discusses the key factors that confront and influence social work education and practice in the Asian region. The article brings out deep-rooted perceptions amongst educators in the region. The authors endeavour to present select views of social work educators from South Asian countries and suggest possible steps to realize the four goals of Global Agenda in the context of those countries

Disaster relief aid as soft diplomacy: Case of Canadian disaster diplomacy in Nepal 2015 earthquakes

Abstract This article explores Nepal Earthquakes 2015 as a case of Canadian disaster diplomacy, tracing the diplomatic ties between Canada and Nepal. We argue that the warming up of diplomatic relations between these countries in the 50th diplomatic year sprinted Canada's support following the 2015 Nepal earthquakes. The earthquakes increased Nepali Canadians' involvement in the relief efforts, reinforced their diasporic identities, and increased their visibility as a visible minority community within the broader Asian diaspora in Canada while surfacing the political divisiveness amongst them. Against this backdrop, we ask: what lessons can be learned for Canadian disaster diplomacy efforts in the South Asian region? Based on field evidence, we argue that non-state actors, western disaster aid, and local government efforts fail to supply disaster relief in socially optimal quantities. We urge Canadian disaster aid actors to critically reflect on their aid strategies for effective help, not merely rhetoric and band-aid solutions.RésuméCet article explore les tremblements de terre au Népal de 2015 comme un cas de diplomatie canadienne en cas de catastrophe, retraçant les relations diplomatiques entre le Canada et le Népal. Nous soutenons que le réchauffement des relations diplomatiques entre ces pays au cours de la 50e année diplomatique a fait bondir le soutien du Canada à la suite des tremblements de terre de 2015 au Népal. Les tremblements de terre ont accru la participation des Canadiens népalais aux efforts de secours, renforcé leur identité diasporique et accru leur visibilité en tant que communauté de minorité visible au sein de la diaspora asiatique au Canada tout en faisant ressortir les divisions politiques entre eux. Dans ce contexte, nous nous demandons : quelles leçons peut-on tirer des efforts canadiens de diplomatie en cas de catastrophe dans la région de l'Asie du Sud ? Sur la base de preuves sur le terrain, nous soutenons que les acteurs non étatiques, l'aide occidentale en cas de catastrophe, et les efforts des gouvernements locaux ne parviennent pas à fournir des secours en cas de catastrophe en quantités socialement optimales. Nous exhortons les agences canadiennes de l'aide aux sinistrés à réfléchir de manière critique à leurs stratégies d'aide pour être mieux capable d’offrir une aide efficace, et non seulement de la rhétorique et des solutions de fortune.Keywords: disaster diplomacy, Canada, Nepal, Nepal earthquake 2015Mots-clés : diplomatie en cas de catastrophe, Canada, Népal, séisme au Népal 201