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Friday, 29 June 2012
Monday, 25 June 2012
8th GSF on Engineering Education
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| SPEED (Organisers of the 8th GSF on Engineering Education) |
HOW DO I SIGN UP?
Apply online at worldspeed.org. Click on 8th GSF!
WHAT WILL I DO?
Popular Global Student Forum activities!
- Action plan development,
- Networking evening,
- Cultural events t
- Intergenerational panel,
- Community service activity,
- Student papers highlighted in the main conference, including contest winners
- Issue discussion
- SPEED general assembly
New
this year! some new activities are designed to offer more
networking and engineering education content opportunities to cater to the attendees' needs.
- Match up with a local student to make a great connection
- Simultaneous EE workshops on important issues in the field from leaders in industry, academia, and students
- Meet a student lunch, another way to support one-on-one student and non-student interaction
- Professional skills workshops to support skill development for growing scholars/engineers
- Technical visit to see a local industry partner's facilities
- Session highlighting partner student organizations
HOW DO I GET THERE?
Dates
October 12-18, 2012
Start planning now!
Location
Buenos Aires, Argentina
If you need a visa, organisers can provide a letter of support.
WHAT DOES IT COST?
$700 registration fee
This
includes all local transportation costs, food, lodging, conference
participation, and entrance fees to cultural activities. The only
additional expenses on the student's part are airfare to get to Buenos
Aires and any souvenirs!
Organisers understand students have particular challenges in
funding their travel. They encourage students to start now with seeking
funding from universities and local companies. They have had many past
students who have gotten their travel funded, simply by showing
university administrators or local companies that they will be important
representatives. Please register as soon as possible so the organisers can work
with you to find funding sources.
Speed : http://www.worldspeed.org/
Saturday, 16 June 2012
Education in Developing Countries: in the context of Nepal
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| Author : Mr. Rajendra Kattel |
Abstract:
Since 1952, Nepalese people have access in formal education and it is systematized in 1971 as “Nepal Educational Planning commission” which has been in function with several amendments. It is about 40 years that guide our education system. Nepal faces 60 governments with in these sixty years so that focus of people is in governing system. Because of globalization, we are facing both positive and negative impacts in education. These days, people want readymade educational organs like curriculum, goals, teaching strategies etc instead of building and improving their education system according to their necessities. It is very shameful that our educational planning is guided by foreign donor agencies on their interest most probably as an educational lab. In this context here I am going to focus on the main problems in our education system with few remedies.
Main Obstacles:
1. Access in Education.
a. Cannot go to school
Among 676,583 boys and 713,629 girls of ages 4-6 who should join pre-primary school, have only 63.4% enrolment in school.
b. Drop out/Repeat/fail
Only 20.8% students reach in grade 10 who enrolled in primary class, among them about 50% pass school Level Certificate (Grade 10). Only 2% among admitted can get master degree.
2. Generate unemployed manpower
Only 2.7% illiterate people are unemployed but more that 10% school level graduated people are unemployed and it is increasing according to their academic level because educated people are not ready to do physical work.
3. Manpower production for foreign countries
Nepal cannot stop educated people to go abroad either they go in the name of education or immigration or work even though government scholarship students like high skill as in medical or engineering etc are not also work in the country easily. Nepal invests them but its advantages are taken by developed countries.
4. Different types of educational products
We have altogether 27 types of schools for the same kind of children. Mainly these are in two categories: community base and institutionalize. On the first category, many subcategories falls like funded by INGOs, Trusts etc and in second category private schools. All schools have same curriculum but vast difference in skilled teacher and in other resources. Because of that, different types of students participate on the same exam in SLC (Grade 10) nationwide.
5. Free Education
In the constitution, education is written in basic need but it is not in practice. Government directly does not charge the fees in school (less that 11 grade) but schools charges students in different names. Private schools’ fees are really terrible. One interesting fact that Tribhuvan University Master degree course’s fee is cheaper than grade one students’ fee in private school. Middle class people have no alternative to send their children in private school because quality of education in community base government schools is going very low.
6. Investment in Education
Total investment by Nepal government in education is as follows whose most of the share is for salary and other day to day expenses. Because of fewer budgets, ministry cannot focus on other developmental works.
Remedies:
a. Can convince children and their parents about the importance of education and can open many schools nearby village.
b. Can review in examination system to decrease failure/dropout rate and give alternatives if children do not entertain on particular subject.
c. Focus on vocational education, technical education and demand wise man power production to decrease the unemployment rate.
d. Fix the lowest boundary of students’ out come and teachers’ performance.
e. Education must be free for all.
Programs:
Programs:
a. In Dakar convention-2002, Nepal signed in “Education for all” and already in function as interim planning to fulfill this goal.
b. Just two year before, government started “School Sector Reform Project (SSRP)”
c. Admission campaign is going on in different schools in primary level.
d. Girls, Indigenous children, marginalized children are getting some money as scholarship so that they can afford stationary items.
e. Early childhood classes are started in different schools as model.
Education for sustainable development
We are giving food instead of skill to produce rice. Education paralyzed whole agronomy. Agriculture is least chosen profession and no other well-known profession in production area. Most of the educated manpower is used in teaching and administration. In one side, agronomy cannot uplift because of the lack of trained manpower and other side educated people are unemployed. I, in a group of teachers, am starting a campaign to aware people about education and sustainable development. We have a dream to open one model school where children learn skill and produce something to sustain them. So we focus education with some skill.
According to UNESCO,
Education for sustainable development
We are giving food instead of skill to produce rice. Education paralyzed whole agronomy. Agriculture is least chosen profession and no other well-known profession in production area. Most of the educated manpower is used in teaching and administration. In one side, agronomy cannot uplift because of the lack of trained manpower and other side educated people are unemployed. I, in a group of teachers, am starting a campaign to aware people about education and sustainable development. We have a dream to open one model school where children learn skill and produce something to sustain them. So we focus education with some skill.
According to UNESCO,
• What if every person benefited from an education promoting development that is environmentally sound, socially equitable, culturally sensitive and economically just?
• What if learning was about knowledge and also about doing, being, interacting with others and changing the world?
• What if every person benefited from genuine learning opportunities throughout life, in the workplace, and within the community?
I have some concerns:
- Does education need to give skills for better and happy life in local context?
- Can’t we teach children in farm house or elsewhere in their workplace?
- If other concern bodies do not provide sufficient resources then children have to go for that. Does education guide towards it in developing countries?
- Can’t we join our schools with market, land and education?
References:
1. Flash report of education department(2007-08)
2. Statistical year book of Nepal (2007)
3. Education For all and secondary education support program, status report-2005
4. Statistical pocket book Nepal 2006 Governmental of Nepal National planning commission secretariat control Bureau of statistics.
5. http://www.unesco.org/new/en/education/themes/leading-the-international-agenda/education-for-sustainable-development/
Rajendra Kattel
Nepal (kattelr@gmail.com)
Note: This report was presented in ISfTE seminar in Bhutan Paro by Author on May 21-26, 2012.
Economic Sustainability through Mountain Tourism: Trekking Tourism in Mustang, Nepal addressing Climate Change Impacts
Mr. Subash Duwadi
Despite the global nature of tourism industry and its economic contributions, scholars of Climate Change research have hardly acknowledged the threat of climate change to the tourism industry. Tourism scholar have rectified this situation to a certain extent by demonstrating how the industry has become vulnerable to climate change and drawing attention to the need for adaptation and the mitigation strategies specific to this sector.
Mountain regions worldwide are affected by climate change. Indeed, mountain represent unique
e areas for the detection of climate change and the assessment of climate-related impacts. The intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has predicted dramatic impacts on the mountain ecosystem as a result of climate change. Changing climates will potentially alter the seasonal patterns of tourism with consequences on the mountain environments. It is therefore critical to develop adaptation and mitigation strategies specific to mountain environment. Climate change can affect tourism in a variety of ways. It could affect the appeal of a destination, disrupt trans-port and energy-related infrastructures, damage the natural resources base, affect tourist satisfaction, impacts tourists' health and safety and influence the overall sustainability of facilities and destinations. Climate is one of the most important attributes of mountain tourism. Several types of the mountain recreational activities are primarily dependent on climatic conditions, like temperature increases are detrimental for glacier walking, mountain climbing and skiing. Many tourist consider the level of climate- related comfort when making vacation decisions.
While talking about the gaining economic sustainability, tourism has remained a major foreign exchange earner and a source of OFF-FARM EMPLOYMENT in some HKH countries, notably Nepal. The Case of the Jomsom-Marpha area in the Mustang District of Nepal exemplifies how the constraints of the relatives inaccessibility can be turned into opportunities through the growth of a number of the interlinked activities based on comparative advantages. The Jomsom-Marpha area lies in a trans-Himalayan valley north of the Great Himalayan ranges, has insular conditions, and because of the altitudes and the climate has very little cultivable land. Horticulture was introduced in the 1960s through a government extension farm, but the area was losing population due to out-migration.The area is connected by air to Kathmandu and Pokhara but does not have a motorable road and it takes about six to eight days from the nearest urban centres to reach the area. Over the last one and a half decades, the Jomsom- Marpha area has developed as a major destination for the trekking tourists to the Annapurna region. Over 11,000 western tourists visit the Jomsom-Marpha area each year. This has lead to the spontaneous development of a number of off-farm activities that revolve around or are linked with the trekking tourism.
The growth in tourism has provided the impetus for the local people to invest in the new economic activities. Spurred by the growth in tourism, hotel and lodge-keeping have emerged as a major activities in the area. Horticulture and vegetables production received a boost from the trekking tourism as fresh fruits were in demand both the tourists and the hotel/lodges. The increasing demand for the vegetables from the hotels and restaurants catering to the tourists induced the development of the commercial vegetables farming. The need to import food and the fuel for the tourists encouraged porterage as well as mule-based transportation. The rise in household income had created demand for the metal utensils which were fashioned by occupational caste groups out of imported raw materials. One of the innovations introduced in the area was the drying of the apples. This has reduced, to some extent, the imperative for 'disaster sales' during the apple season and has provided employment opportunities on an extended scale in many households. Although tourism had provided the initial push, apple production in the area had been growing annually, thus making the search for the new markets essentials. As a result new and novel ways of the storage, packaging, and transportation were being tried.
