Abstract
In a multicultural society, education can both foster the value of ‘celebrating diversity’ and thereby the social harmony but it can also foster social tensions and fuel conflicts by promoting cultural homogenisation. Using content analysis of education policies, curriculum and textbooks this study examined the way Nepal’s historical education system shifted from monocultural education towards a multicultural peace education approach. This study revealed that, by including the contents that promote multicultural values, the critical peace education initiative contributes to redressing the socio-political tensions that the monocultural education system fuelled historically. However, the local ownership, longer term commitment of the stakeholders, and regular consultations with the representatives of different cultural groups in curricular reform are essential for a successful peace education initiative.
Highlights
Nepal is a multicultural country of over 26.5 million inhabitants spread across 125 castes or ethnic groups speaking 123 languages and following 10 religions (Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), 2012)
The population group can be classified into two broad categories: about 50 per cent of the population lives in the hills or high mountains including valleys, and the remaining half of the population lives in Terai or the southern plain part of Nepal
Nepal’s new peace education initiative laid the foundation for multicultural education by integrating curricular objectives, lessons and other teaching tools related to peace, human rights, and democracy in education
Summary
Nepal is a multicultural country of over 26.5 million inhabitants spread across 125 castes or ethnic groups speaking 123 languages and following 10 religions (Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), 2012). From 1950 until the recent past, the Nepali political and education system presented multiculturalism as one of the major threats to its national unity (Nepal National Education Planning Commission (NNEPC), 1956). Education has both positive and negative faces as education both mitigates and contributes to violence and conflicts (Bush & Saltarelli, 2000; Smith & Vaux, 2003; Davies, 2010; Dhungana, 2020). Considering diversity as a threat to national unity, solidarity, and sovereignty, the NNEPC (1956) and the National Education Commission (NEC) (MoE, 1971) set ‘unity in diversity’ as one of the major goals of education to unite the Nepali society through one language (Nepali), one political system (Monarchy) and one religion (Hinduism). This system provided Nepal an opportunity to revisit its state ideology ‘unity in diversity’ and monocultural education
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