A Primary School Poetry Textbook: Another Evidence of the Failure of Nepali Education System?

A primary school poetry textbook contains 108 poems by 66 poets representing only 44 surnames. All but three were male poets. A vast majority (88%) of the poets were Bahun/Brahmin, hill so-called high Hindu, men who make up 6% of the population. And that's not even the worst.

Regardless, that makes one wonder, among other things, what the accomplishment of seventy or so years of education for the public has been. Who has the State been educating?

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Studies Show Race of Teacher Affects Education of Students in the US. What About Caste of Teacher in Nepal? Probably

Studies in the US have demonstrated differential treatment of black students by white teachers affecting their learning outcomes as well as, in the long-term, their lives. 80% of public school teachers in the US are white.

In Nepal, disproportionately high percent of school teachers are Khas-aryas, the hill so-called high caste Hindu. How do they treat students belonging to other castes? Likely not the same way they do their caste and that likely has affected the educational achievements of students of other castes, as well as their lives later on.

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About Dassain…”Methinks thou dost protest too much”

Closed and inward-looking people are "offended" or "hurt" by anything they perceive as an attack on anything even remotely connected to or part of their identity. Many even go on the offensive in reaction instead of introspecting.

Closed and inward-looking Nepalis are no different. This is an example of their reaction to protests by indigenous population against Dassain, the biggest national festival of the country, which, to many of them, is a symbol of oppression and suppression.

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To a hill so-called High Caste Hindu Professor, sharing evidence of structural issues is being “communal” and having “venom” for “certain ethnicity”!

One of the many legacies of the long casteist history of the country is the major structural issues Nepal continues to face. Evidences abound! But I keep coming across hill so-called High caste Hindus who can't see or refuse to see the evidences for what they are.

This is about one such man, a professor at a medical college no less!

Continue ReadingTo a hill so-called High Caste Hindu Professor, sharing evidence of structural issues is being “communal” and having “venom” for “certain ethnicity”!