Education Reforms in Nepal: An Update Please for an Outdated System

Last week, efforts from the Ministry of Education(MoE) to remove the Certificate Level in Nepal, popularly known as the Intermediate Level,failed. Although I revere the effort by MoE to update our academic system which is one of the few progressive steps being taken in Nepal in terms of educational reforms, the government body fell short in providing a well-planned solution to replace the Certificate Level Proficiency. Several student bodies led huge oppositions against the proposition from various parts of the country. WHY?

The Certificate Level Proficiency in Nepal can be considered equivalent to a High School Diploma in the U.S., A Levels in the U.K., and ICSE or CBSE in India. Students begin their Certificate Level, which is strictly offered only in public institutions, after completing their 10th grade (also known as School Leaving Certificate (SLC) which is another ‘to remove or not to remove’ topic). However, with the inset of many private institutions offering ‘+2’ programs that provide more comprehensive curriculums and is also easily accepted internationally, the Certificate Level program has been losing popularity.However, a problem with the removal of Certificate Level would be that students would have no option but to enrol in these '+2' programs which are not yet offered in public instituitions. The main concern with the universal implementation of the ‘+2’ program is that the average cost of enrolling into a ‘+2’ program is considerably higher than enrolling into an Intermediate Level. The government has not arranged for any of its public colleges to provide the ‘+2’ curriculum yet where the fees would have been none or at least, comparatively affordable . Considering the demographics of Nepal, the majority of the students will be unable to continue on to the '+2" Level as they private schools charge hefty fees for the 2-year program. In essence, the government cannot introduce a system that will not work for the majority of its population. The program should first be introduced as an option in the public college system where a student can choose to enter either the current system of Intermediate Level or the new '+2' curriculum. This would remove the issue of cost as both the programs will be the same. After monitoring the changes and studying the effectiveness of the new curriculum, only then should the curriculum be implemented on a national scale. This will give way to the gradual self-removal of the Certificate Level Proficiency, as the ‘+2’ program will provide a better quality of education to the students, which will naturally gain ground.

Additional coverage of the event? Students, cops clash; scores hurt; TU likely to push back decision to phase out PCL

Censorship & My Take On It

Censorship is the removal of information deemed inappropriate for an audience by a censor board which is often the government or a media organization. In many countries, television and radio programs are carefully censored for offensive language and behavior while in other countries; little or no censorship is practiced. The topic has been in hot debate for a long time. It has long been criticized as a suppression of freedom of expression and this is where I align my viewpoint. I strongly agree that censorship prohibits individuals from accessing accurate information, therefore the government should not decide for an individual’s interests and learning.

Firstly, restriction on sharing of new ideas in the modern era of information has only proven harmful to the development of a country. Although moral and religious rationales such as avoidance of offensive language and behavior are the often cited as the reasons for the power of the censor board by the government, the control is often politically motivated. Observing censorship history in Eastern Europe during World War 2 and the heavy filtration of media content in China today, I believe that a high level of censorship is often implemented to achieve political control by depriving citizens of information. Currently, North Korea, Myanmar, and Venezuela are some of the countries that implement strict censorship to maintain political power but the scale of economic problems lurking in these countries prove that censorship simply hurts the progression of a society.

Another reason why government should not limit the content of information for the public is because censorship is conducted unfairly in many contexts. While individuals can easily access to media content that are heavy in sexual and violence content, they are not able to access certain news channels, websites and information portals. Hence, the governments have not implemented fair censorship as useful information is being cut off in the pretext of controlling offensive language and behavior. Finally, censorship creates distorted views of facts. For example, the deletion of certain historical events from Japanese history textbooks has produced a distorted view of the actual World War 2 occurrences for Japanese students. Similarly, the exclusion of science classes in conservative Christian societies is depriving students of a whole subject of knowledge and skills. Hence, the deletion of factual information has more negative effects on a society than positive. More full and unbiased information needs to be presented to the public so they have the power to choose what they want to intake or not. Furthermore, with the advances in technology, tools have developed which could be used by individuals to control offensive language and behavior content.

Graduation

I was the Valedictorian of my graduating class. Read more on the ceremony and my speech :)

More than 300 graduate during winter commencement ceremony

My trip to New Orleans

I organized an Alternative Spring Break for my college to New Orleans in 2007. We collaborated with a grassroot organization called Common Ground to assist with the post- Katrina hurricane relief. You can read more about the project here:

Tusculum College one of 39 campuses to host National Post-Katrina College Summit

Cool Widget

Cool Links:

www.personaldemocracy.com - Technology is changing politics
www.realclearpolitics.com - Links to great political articles
www.urbandictionary.com - Urban Dictionary is the slang dictionary you wrote. Define your world
www.pdfonline.com - Free PDF Online Conversion
www.pandora.com - Free Online Radio

I don't know, just arm them!

President Bush was recently interviewed by BBC. Here are some classic quotes :

Question: "What would prompt Hezbollah to abandon their weapons?"
Bush's Answer: "I don't know. Its hard for me to get inside Hezbollah's head. I do know they are destabilising Lebanon."

"what's there to negotiate, they know my position"

"I thought if talks would matter we'd talk." (why not...just shoot 'em!)

"that's why Condy Rice and Hadley and others are going out there all the time to encourage them to get the deal done"

"States can't look like swiss cheese"

"all of a sudden, out of the blue, there's in the middle of some kinda remote area, a reactors there, built with the help of Koreans....North Koreans."

"out of nowhere, they discovered this erector, i mean, reactor"

Please click the link below for the full interview:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/7397376.stm

Most Powerful People in Business

Fortune featured the 25 most powerful people in the modern business world. With money and mind, these business icons have revolutionized the culture of business. The pool consisted of a diverse range of age, industy, ethnicity, interests and assets. From the innovative CEOs who created the funky ipods and who enabled us to"Google" anything we need to find, to the more traditional calculative genuises like Warren Buffet and Lakshmi Mittal, the list is a great selection of the best in the business.

Fortune's 25 Most Powerful People In Business:

1. Steve Jobs - Apple
2. Rupert Murdoch - News Corp
3. Lloyd Blankfein - Goldman Sachs
4. Larry Page and Sergei Brin - Google
5. Warren Buffett - Berkshire Hathaway
6. Jeff Immelt - Exxon Mobil
7. Bill Gates - Microsoft
8. Jeff Immelt - GE
9. Katsuaki Watanabe - Toyota
10. A.G. Lafley - Proctor & Gamble

Let's go shopping...in Asia

The rapid commercial development of emerging markets like Phillipines, China and Malaysia are attracting huge investments globally. With foreign investments rising at record levels and an overall improved economy in these countries, the local consumer spending in these markets are heading skywards. High fashion powerhouse like Gucci and Prada are simultanoeusly launching showrooms in India, China, Malaysia and other emerging markets.

Increasing consumer demands and spendings on luxuries, fashion, leisure and entertainment has compelled Asian economies to establish shopping amenities that accommodates the needs of the rising shopping demands. These shopping malls are slowly becoming an attraction to foreign shoppers as well. Forbes Online's Tom Van Riper gives us profiles of 10 largest shopping malls in the world in his report "THE WORLD'S LARGEST MALLS" and most of them are currently in Asia.

In Picture: South China Mall, Dongguan, China - The world's largest mall

Stupid Game Show Answers - Dumb...Dumb Dumb Dumb!