Project
Nepal’s curriculum officers to review school textbooks through culture lens
There have been several efforts to integrate them into the education system – formal and non-formal, within the framework 2003 UNESCO Convention for the Safeguarding Intangible Cultural Heritage in the Asia-Pacific region and in Nepal.
In line with this and to ensure that the lessons learnt from previous initiatives inform educational policies and get firmly anchored in the education system, more than 35 participants - the curriculum officers and core subject team of the Curriculum Development Centre, officers of the Centre for Education and Human Resource Development and culture experts, officers and professionals from the Ministry of Culture, the Department of Archaeology and its site offices including museums, national archives – brainstormed on 22 December 2022 reviewing the school-level textbooks on Social Studies, Science, English and Nepali from cultural heritage perspective and provided constructive feedback. The event was organized by UNESCO, jointly with the Curriculum Development Centre of the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology and the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation.
Culture Expert Bhim Nepal presented on "Review of National Curriculum Framework for School Education 2076 in relation to Cultural Heritage, 2021". He stated,
"There is a fair inclusion of culture in the textbooks, however, there are some lessons that could be fully or partially presented with examples. The titles and the content do not go well together, and the main subject is overshadowed in some cases"
Similarly, officers from Curriculum Development Centre presented on cultural heritage in different subjects – Social Studies, Science, English and Nepali- of grades 8 and 10. The presenters noted that they have started seeing the contents from the view of culture and mentioned that they have linked the class activities with various dimensions of cultural heritage. Meantime, the presenters felt the need for authentic documents to refer to cultural heritage while writing/reviewing the textbooks.
The participants unanimously agreed that the content should be accurate, moreover, the delivery part is important as the content alone may not cover all intricate aspects of cultural heritage. Hence it is important to intervene promptly in the teachers’ guide and training.
Director of the Planning and Programme Section of the Curriculum Development Centre, Mr Basant Prasad Koirala stated that the national workshop "Bringing Living Heritage to the Classroom" held in November 2022 guided the Centre to include meaningfully and contextually the cultural heritage aspects in grades 8 and 10 textbooks which they are finalizing very soon. On top of that, the Centre is in process of developing a teachers' guide for grades 4, 7 and 9 this year and for grades 5, 8 and 10 next year.
We are compelled to think and be cautious of sensitive aspects before writing about cultural heritage."
The one-day consultation workshop provided concrete recommendations -
- preparing ad-hoc mechanism between education and culture authorities with focal points and regular meetings
- organizing regular interaction among textbook writers, curriculum developers, teachers, teachers’ trainers and culture professionals
- reviewing the teacher’s guide and developing customised training for teachers’ capacity building in delivering cultural matters
- redefining the eligibility criteria and qualifications for teachers
- developing reference materials for curriculum developers containing authentic information and data on culture
- coordination with local governments and other bodies such as Central Bureau of Statistics and Commissions related to language, indigenous groups that produce data on culture
- strengthening the Provincial Training Centers along with dissemination of latest development on culture integration through District Education Development and Coordination Unit (using virtual meetings)
- in-depth gap-analysis of national curriculum framework 2076 for the curriculum audit from cultural heritage perspective in a long-run.
This consultation workshop was organized as a result of the national workshop ‘Bringing living heritage to the classroom’ held on 1 – 4 November 2022, organized by UNESCO with support from the Korea-based UNESCO's category II institute, , jointly with the Education and Culture authorities to sensitize broader stakeholders within the education sector on using living heritage in the classroom.
Bringing living heritage to the classroom
More than 65 diverse participants from central and local levels, including teachers from ten selected model public schools across Nepal, local governments’ education officers, as well as curriculum officers from central and provincial levels, and experts exchanged on the important connection between culture and education. They discussed various entry points for bringing living heritage to the classrooms and widening the approach within the education system. This includes interventions in the curriculum, teachers’ guides and textbooks and training the teachers widely. Further needs include the development of credible reference materials for curriculum developers, teacher-trainers and resource materials for the teachers.
In the various sessions, the workshop delivered on the ways to integrate living heritage into the classroom, and various steps to follow, with examples and best practices. The sessions were complemented by one day visit to Kirtipur where the four pilot schools – Janasewa and Mangal Secondary School of Kirtipur and Ganesh and Naulin School of Budhanilkantha - demonstrated how they used intangible heritage in teaching various subjects. The interaction was also held with the pilot school teachers and students where they shared their experiences of learning, challenges and how the learnings were effective and interesting for students using culture approach in teaching.
In a panel discussion on 4 November 2022, experts in culture and education highlighted the need and ways to integrate living heritage into schools. Presenting on the curriculum development process, Mr Tuk Raj Adhikari shared the possibilities to integrate cultural heritage into school curriculum in collaboration with the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation. Likewise, Mr Girman Thapa of the Centre for Education and Human Resource Development outlined teacher training modalities – one month and 5 days packages which shall be useful to integrate culture heritage in teaching and learning process.
One key priority is to broaden the understanding of the role of culture and heritage as an integral part of quality and transformative education and in so doing, develop strengthened collaboration among the stakeholders of culture and education sectors - the concerned Ministries, departments and local/provincial governments, as well as the communities and culture bearers, teachers-students collaboration and beyond. UNESCO stands ready to support, however, the success ultimately depends on the sustained efforts at various levels and processes anchored between the concerned government ministries, for the overall amendment of national curricula which is foreseen at every 10-year interval with mid-term review in the fifth year.
Related Links:
- 2021 – 2022:
- 2021:
- 2020-2021: Living heritage in schools: pilot implementation in Nepal brings a new beginning in innovative teaching and learning
