Presentation given at the Magee campus of the University of Ulster by Dr Tejendra Pherali, Senior Lecturer in Education Studies and Sociology in the Centre for Education and Early Childhood Studies LJMU, at a seminar entitled 'Education and Peacebuilding in Conflict Affected Situations' run by the UNESCO Centre for the INCORE Summer School 2012. Uploaded with the permission of Dr Pherali.

1. UNESCO Centre

2. A Political Economy Analysis
of Education in Nepal
Dr Tejendra Pherali
Liverpool John Moores University

3. 1. ‘People’s War’ and Post-War
Turmoil
 Armed rebellion 1996 – 2006 – Causes largely located in the
grievances of marginalised people
 Poverty level rose from 33% in 1976 -77 to 42% by 1995-96
 Income level for top 10% of the people rose from 21% in 1980s to
35% by the mid-1990s, while the share of the bottom 40% shrank
from 24% to 15% in the same period (Sharma, 2006: 1245).
 Poverty reduction 1995/96 – 2003/4: Brahmin and Chhetri –
46%, Muslims – 6%, Hill Indigenous nationalities – 10% and Dalit –
21%
 Communist popularity rose from 7.2% votes in 1959 to 39.51% in
1999 and 56.98% in 2008
 Peace Accord - November 2006, elections for the Constituent
Assembly in April 2008 - Maoist victory with 229/601 in the CA
 The CA dissolved on 27 May and new date for re-election - 22
November

4. 2. Society and Education
 Education is a ‘political act’ and schools are ‘caught up in a
nexus of other institutions—political, economic, and
cultural—that are basically unequal’ (Apple, 2004: 61) .
 Education amplifies social and ethnic divisions
(Davies, 2005) – e.g. language, history and content
 Schools reflected social realities –discrimination against
lower castes, females, ethnic minorities (Pherali, 2011)

5. 3. Impact of Conflict
 Political change – abolition of monarchy, increased
participation of historically repressed populations in
politics, gradual transformation of power structures
 Deformation of social structures – caste, gender and
ethnicity-based relationships have been ruptured
 Notions of multiple nationalities and the rise of ethnicity-
based identities superseding the idea of unified national
identity
 Excessive politicisation and de-institutionalisation of
learning environments in schools

6. 4. Political Economy Analysis
 ‘There is increasing blockages for effective reform at the
sectoral level (including for delivery, planning and
procurement) can be political and that technical solutions
alone may not be enough.’ (Joint Donor Workshop, 2009)
 ‘PEA is concerned with the interaction of political and
economic processes in society: the distribution of power
and wealth between different groups and individuals, and
the processes that create, sustain and transform these
relationships over time.’ (OECD-DAC)

7. 5. Key Findings
 Macro Analysis –
 Geopolitical factors and historical trends lock Nepal into a
permanent state of weak governance
 Social structures work against the pro-poor policies
 Sector Analysis –
 Politicisation of the education system (e.g.
teachers, SMCs, educational officers),
 Corruption in school funds,
 Teacher recruitment and redeployment,
 Lack of accountability in general (Pherali et
al, forthcoming, 2012)

8. 6. Problem-based Analysis in the
Education Sector
 Decentralisation - Excessive centralisation remains a key
feature of governance, inhibiting local engagement and control
 Centrally imposed policy without necessary support for local
groups – neoliberal agenda
 Political patronage based on political affiliation and weak
governance
 Economic motivations due to poverty – e.g. CSSP
 Public-private divide – education in mother tongue policy
 Technical and vocational education – peacebuilding by pacifying
youth from marginalised communities
 Confusions about federalism

9. 8. Conclusions
 DPs’ interests seem to be more on technical solutions (e.g.
access, quality, infrastructural development, teacher
training, etc.) rather than engaging with more deeply-
rooted problems in education (e.g. social and political
exclusion, caste-based, ethnic and gender
discrimination, linguistic repression, etc.).
 Increased development aid without structural reforms
only benefits politically dominant social groups
 Education has received very little attention in the peace
process and post-war peacebuilding strategies

10. ‘If our aim is to produce a new stratum of
intellectuals … from a social group which
has not traditionally developed the
appropriate attitudes, then we have
unprecedented difficulties to overcome’
Gramsci (1971: 43).

11. References
 Bourdieu, P. (1986) The forms of capital, In Richardson, J. E.
(Ed.), Handbook of theory of research for the sociology of
education, Westport, Greenwood Press.
 Davies, L. (2004) Education and conflict: Complexity and
chaos, London: RoutledgeFalmer.
 Gramsci, A. (1971). Selections from the Prison Notebooks.
London: Lawrence and Wishart.
 Pherali, T. J.(2011) Education and conflict in Nepal: Possibilities
for reconstruction, Globalisation, Societies and Education, 9, 135
- 154.
 Pherali, T. J., Smith, A. and Vaux, T. (forthcoming, 2012) A
political economy analysis of education in Nepal, Brussels:
European Union.

12. UNESCO Centre