National 6 (Spotlight Weekly)

Karnali Zone — Revisited The impact of one institution

— Larry C. Asher

In April/May 1978, the author participated in a trek through Humla, Mugu, Jumla, Kalikot, Acham, Bajura and Bajhang districts to study the local conditions. The United Mission to Nepal (UMN) had been requested by the government of Nepal to consider assisting in the establishment of a new educational work in that remote corner of Nepal. The outcome of that trip, made 25 years ago, was the establishment of the Karnali Technical School (KTS) a one-hour walk from Khalanga, the Jumla district headquarters. KTS, begun in 1980, was the first technical school of the new Technical School Plan being established in Nepal. A partnership relationship to develop KTS, was made between His Majesty's Government of Nepal (HMGN) and UMN.

KTS provides Technical School Leaving Certificate (TSLC) training in three disciplines — agriculture, construction and health. In agriculture, trainees can qualify as a Junior Technical Assistant (JTA) in either agriculture or livestock. In building construction, there are three specializations with the resultant qualification of Sub-overseer. In health, training is provided for Community Medical Assistant (CMA) and Auxiliary Nurse Mid-wife (ANM). Since its establishment in 1980, KTS has produced more than 1,250 TSLC graduates. The majority of those graduates are from the Karnali zone.

Humla young women in simikot

As expressed by Dr. Suresh Raj Sharma, the idea of establishing technical schools, including KTS, in remote areas of the country was to develop and provide technically trained lower and middle level manpower from the locality to meet the infrastructure development needs of that area. Even when assigned to work in remote places, persons from outside the area were often reluctant to go and serve in their assigned post in a dedicated fashion. The resultant lack of technically trained manpower to work in these remote areas, hampered development work of all types. The Karnali-Bheri Integrated Rural Development Program (K-BIRD) was one example.

Twenty-five years later, in June 2003, this author has had the opportunity to repeat the first part of that trip from Simikot, Humla to Khalanga, Jumla. During this latter trip, no visit was made to Kalikot or Dolpha districts. Any information given here regarding the situation in those districts or areas outside of Karnali is totally second-hand through KTS graduates and others from whom the author has received information.

General Education

During the original trip, the data collected indicated that apart from some who had migrated outside of Karnali zone, only about 10 persons had passed School Leaving Certificate (SLC) in Karnali Zone. In 1978, for most local people, the value of education was not seen except for a few who had the ability, resources and connections to attain a class 8 or class 10 education and then become a peon in a government office or a teacher in the local school. When compared to the rest of the country, the percentage of school enrollment was very low. The enrollment of female students beyond class 1 or 2 was abysmal, even with the establishment of hostels for female students, free textbooks and many other incentives provided through the Ministry of Education at that time.

The academic standard of students of Karnali zone, when compared to the counterparts in other parts of the country was also abysmally low. It was not easy for KTS to recruit adequate trainees with class 7 pass who had sufficient academic abilities to cope with the training programs. At the beginning of an academic year, KTS regularly provided several months of extra coaching to the weakest trainees just to enable them to cope with the academic level of the studies.

In 2003, the picture of general education for Karnali is certainly not a rosy one. However, there have been some significant changes. As some in Nepal move to bring about change, they often focus upon all that is wrong without giving appropriate recognition for what has been accomplished. Karnali zone is a case in point. There do remain places in the most remote parts of each district, which may not have felt the changes to the same extent as in or nearer the district centers, however, it seems that even in the more remote areas of Karnali, some change has taken place.

Today, the number of general education institutions has increased throughout Karnali and there are one or two private run education institutions in each district as well. The total number of students in these institutions has increased as well as the proportion of female students. More teachers are present and the overall academic quality of the teaching staff seems to have improved.

It still seems that the academic standards of Karnali zone are far behind the rest of the country. Often trainees from Karnali, particularly the more remote areas are much weaker than those from district centers or outside of Karnali zone. Nevertheless, there has been significant improvement. In the beginning it was difficult to recruit an adequate number of students with a class 7 pass. Today the entry requirement is SLC Fail and there are as many as one-hundred applicants from a district. Persons who have passed SLC from Karnali zone now number in the hundreds as opposed to being counted on two hands.

When compared to the rest of the country, particularly the developed urban centers, general education in Karnali zone today is even further behind than it was 25 years ago. However this is not to suggest that all is bad. Even in the most remote areas of the country, things are moving ahead, just much more slowly than both the country as a whole and the aspirations of the people.

Development Manpower and Technical Education

With few exceptions, before the beginning of the Technical School Program in 1980, it was necessary to pass the SLC examination before going on to receive technical training, whether it was in agriculture, forestry, engineering, or health. Secondly, no such technical training was offered in any of the areas of Nepal that could honestly be called remote. Without a quality general education institution near ones own home for obtaining an SLC, it was next to impossible for someone from a remote district to qualify for entrance into any form of technical training. If one did manage to study outside of the remote area to obtain an SLC and then join a technical campus, it was highly unlikely that upon completion of their technical education they would be motivated to return to their home area and work. The glamour of the city and more developed area of the country would have captured them.

At the same time, anyone assigned by HMGN to work in the remote areas often considered it as punishment. Many spent more time and effort upon being transferred back out of the remote area or away on leave or "kaj" than upon trying to fulfill the duties of their assigned post. For this reason, even when HMGN or development program posts were actually filled, often the person was not present or did not put much effort into fulfilling their duties. No other area of Nepal was more affected by this problem than Karnali zone. It was often referred to as the "Siberia of Nepal".

It is with the needs of these remote areas in mind that the Technical School Plan was developed. The idea was to take people from the local area and provide them with the needed technical training in that general location. Avoid exposing them to the glamour of the city. Then upon completion of their training let them fill the vacant posts in their own area of the country. Hopefully, at least for the lower and middle level manpower needs, this would be a remedy for the above problems.

Seldom do ideas on paper work out in reality as easily as it seems they should. Though the challenges have been daunting, the ultimate results, at least for KTS, Karnali zone and much of the rest of the Mid-Western and Far-Western Development Region speak for themselves.

Where lower and middle level government posts in the District Agriculture Office, Local Development Office, District Health Office, health posts and hospitals were vacant or seldom had anyone present, today the majority of those posts are filled by KTS graduates. Some graduates are employed at the VDC level as well as outside Karnali zone.

Agriculture Development Bank has graduates from KTS as technicians in most of their offices in Karnali Zone and many of their other offices in that region of the country.

INGOs and NGOs who are engaged in development work in Karnali predominately have KTS graduates as technical staff. In at least one instance, a group of KTS graduates have formed their own NGO to carry out development work in thir home VDC.

Several KTS graduates are employed as lower level instructional staff at KTS and in other technical schools.

Apart from the above formal employment, some graduates are working as contractors, running their own shops or stores or have returned to farming.

Other Differences

In other ways, as they relate to technical manpower creation, KTS can be seen to have made a difference. Some of these, such as, attitudes towards education or technical education are more general throughout the Karnali zone. Others, relating to specific technologies, etc.are more limited to the general Jumla area or district centers.

Where few vegetables were grown anywhere in Karnali twenty-five years ago, today, particularly around district centers, many houses have small kitchen gardens and locally produced vegetables are available in the bazaar seasonally. Others grow vegetables when they can get the seeds.

Traditional buildings in most of Karnali zone are built with rubble stone, very small windows and workmanship is very poor. This is still true twenty-five years later throughout all but Jumla district. In the Jumla area where UMN/KTS trained local stone masons and carpenters in the building of KTS, new private and public buildings are built with cut stone, large windows and door with uniform, square corners, often with screening. The skills of the local people who were trained are in great demand.

Twenty-five years ago, everyone cooked on open wood fires in the center of their kitchen area and the smoke from the fire presented a serious health hazard. Many people throughout the Jumla district and even some in Mugu and Humla now use smokeless stoves, which burn much less wood and have chimneys that carry the smoke to the outside. Smokeless stoves are made by local craftsmen trained by UMN/KTS in Jumla, however, in Mugu and Humla, the smokeless stoves that are used must be brought in from outside because no locals have been trained in how to make them.

Beyond the items mentioned here, one can assume that many other smaller impacts have been made by KTS in the lives of the people of Karnali zone, however, measurement of those impacts is almost impossible. In some cases, graduates have applied or taught their families to apply things, which they have learned. Attitudes towards education and training have been impacted and the number of female students studying has increased markedly, however, there are many other factors besides KTS impacting these changes.

None of the above is meant to suggest that the development needs of Karnali zone have been answered. The production of lower and middle level technical manpower for local infrastructure is but one factor in a myriad of factors, which must all work together to ensure development. Along with dedicated lower and middle level manpower, there must also be dedicated senior level technical manpower. There must be adequate budget focused upon the remote areas. Inputs must be received in adequate quantities, on a timely basis. A dedicated, fair and just political system is also essential.

Today, Karnali zone remains the most remote and least developed area of Nepal, however, because of KTS, local lower and middle level technical manpower is available. When those responsible, show the necessary dedication and commitment to provide the rest of the resources necessary to help transform Karnali, change will be able to take place at a much faster pace.

(Larry Asher has worked in Nepal in the field of technical education since coming to Nepal with his wife and family in 1968. Trained as a vocational educator with his major field being agriculture, he has worked with different institutions like United Mission to Nepal (UMN) and later directly CTEVT. He has worked as an educator in Nepal pre-NESP, during the NESP and subsequently directly with the development of the present Technical School Plan. He was the first Principal of KTS where he and his wife worked for more than 7 years)