NATIONAL 9 (Spotlight Weelky)]

Learning Again

Nepalis educated abroad have not been able to unleash their full potential for the progress of the country

By AKSHAY SHARMA

Over the decades, thousands of Nepalis have returned to the country after completing their education abroad. Their destinations are as diverse as their disciplines. These people have been exposed to and immersed in diverse ethos and settings. Then you pause to ponder: how has this fusion of international experience affected the country?

"Nepalis have been going abroad for education for a long time and they have been exposed to different models of the teaching-learning experience," says Sayeed Nabeed Shah, who has a bachelors degree in engineering from Karachi, Pakistan. "Nepalis have studied in capitalist and communist countries. Instead of using their education for the country, however, many seem to hold their outlook and ideologies more important than the nationís interest."

Children in a class-room : Better education, better future

Statistics indicate that people educated in the former Soviet Union, Eastern Europe, China and Pakistan, among other countries, have come back in greater numbers. On the other hand, a large number of those who have studied in West have chosen to stay back in hopes of a better life.

A sizeable pool of Nepali professionals is familiar with diverse socio-economic and political models and cultures of the world. "Nepalis that have gone for studies in the West have lived together with the work ethics and the ethos. This builds a social concept in human beings," an expert says.

But what good have they done to the country? "The problem for many of these people is to unlearn whatever they have learned abroad," says another expert. "They have to re-educate themselves and change their outlook toward the state and the world."

Those who studied in former communist countries had to secure a pass mark in courses on Marxist-Leninist political ideology and philosophy, which have left a lasting impact on them. Such orientation was not particularly valued in the political environment before 1990.

Nepalis have been going abroad for studies for several decades. The current trend started in 1958, when the first Nepalis began arriving in the Soviet Union, Eastern Europe states and, later, China under government and cultural exchange programs. As admissions to Indian institutions became harder to get, many Nepalis opted for higher education in a wide range of subjects in socialist countries.

Many Nepalis also had the opportunity to study in places like Egypt and Thailand, where the education system was more attuned to the development thrust of the Nepalese government. "The main quality that differentiates Nepalis from citizens of so many of our neighboring countries is that we have the ability to adapt to any culture," an expert says.

"Most of our bigger neighbors maintained links with the British empire that Nepalis fought hard to stay out of. Our young citizens have had contacts with continental Europe as well as with the British Isles," the expert adds.

Nepali students abroad have been witnesses to major moments of history, such as the decline and fall of the Soviet Union and the economic upsurge in China. Many Nepalis educated in these countries have lived through the process of rapid transformation and are well acquainted with the challenges and opportunities change brings," another expert says.

"People familiar with Western liberal societies can understand the dynamics of democratic pluralism in Nepal, but they will be perplexed to see the King of Nepal neither as powerful as the British monarch nor as decisive as the president of the United States because of the peculiarities of our constitution," the expert adds.

"The core of democracy is freedom of speech. In the West, public opinion and popular pressure are catalysts of change. In developing countries like Nepal, people are free to express themselves, but the leadership is not under tremendous pressure to follow the public voice," says another expert.

This difference breeds a sense of despair that is manifested in the division of foreign-educated Nepalis on the basis of the ethos and culture of the country they were trained in. "At a time when Nepalis should have been united in the cause of development, these differences stand in the way of progress," the expert adds. Nepal has an abundant pool of human talent molded in diverse settings, but there is no melting pot. We still have to learn how to make best use of this resource.