Teaching License

Teaching is a profession. Like medicine, engineering or law, it needs special knowledge and skill. But teaching has one feature that sets it apart: it is a blend of science and art. The science side is organised knowledge about how children learn, which teaching method works when, and how to assess learning. The art side is what brings that knowledge alive in a real classroom: reading the mood of the class, choosing an example that clicks, and drawing every student in.

This is why not just anyone can become a skilled teacher. Knowing a subject well, or having plenty of theoretical knowledge, is not enough on its own. Imagine someone with a university degree in science. They know every law and formula. Yet when they must explain photosynthesis to forty eleven year olds, subject knowledge alone does not tell them where to begin, which example to use, or what to do when half the class is lost. Those skills come from training. A skilled teacher needs training.

Taking a training course is one thing. Actually learning the skills from it is another. Not everyone who sits through training is ready to teach. So a person is tested to find out how much of the skill they really gained from training and whether they are fit to be a teacher. The certificate given to someone who passes this test is the teaching license. It is sometimes simply called a license to teach.

Think of a driving license. Going to driving classes is not enough; you are allowed on the road only after you pass the driving test. Teaching works the same way. Only a licensed teacher can run the teaching and learning process in a skilled, orderly way. For this reason, the Government of Nepal has made the license compulsory for every teacher who teaches in a school.

Nepal's first rule on teaching licenses came into force in 2023 BS. It did not cover the whole country. It applied only to 20 districts in the Bagmati, Narayani and Gandaki zones. In those districts, anyone who wanted to become a primary school teacher now had to obtain a teaching license. Under this rule, licenses were issued in three kinds:

• Short-term license
• Regular license
• Lifelong license

As the names suggest, a short-term license was for a short period, a regular license for the normal term, and a lifelong license for a teacher's whole life. It was a small start, limited to a few districts, but it was the first time Nepal formally accepted the idea that a teacher's fitness should be checked before they are sent into a classroom.

To see why the 2023 BS rule mattered, look at what came before it. Formal education in Nepal began after the Durbar School was set up in 1910 BS. Yet for many years after that, there was no system of licensing teachers at all.

Training for teachers started in 2004 BS. Even then, no licenses were given. In those days the training certificate itself was treated as the mark of a skilled, trained teacher, and teachers who held one were respected for it.

The 2023 BS rule covered only a few districts. Two education commissions did most to make the license compulsory for every teacher in the country. The report of the National Education Commission, 2049 BS, made training compulsory for teachers. Then the report of the High Level National Education Commission, 2055 BS, recommended that a license be made compulsory for all teachers working in schools.

A commission's recommendation is not a law by itself. To put it into effect, the law had to change. So, following that recommendation, the Education Act, 2028 BS was amended for the seventh time, and the amendment was completed in 2058 BS. From then on the teaching license was compulsory.

The Teacher Service Commission issues licenses according to the level of school. So far in Nepal it has issued primary teacher licenses, lower secondary teaching licenses and secondary level teaching licenses. This means that someone found fit to teach primary classes is not automatically fit to teach secondary classes. Each level has its own test of fitness.

The eighth amendment of the Education Act, 2028 BS, made in 2073 BS, changed the structure of schools itself. It divided school education into two levels: the basic level and the secondary level. Once the school levels changed, the license levels had to follow. So today the Teacher Service Commission manages two licenses: the basic level teaching license and the secondary level teaching license.

A license granted this way helps a teacher in three ways. It builds self-confidence, because the teacher holds proof of being qualified. It gives a feeling of security. And it encourages the teacher to stay honest and committed to the profession. The license is not handed out easily, though. It is given only to a person who passes an examination based on the qualification, capability, personality and conduct that the teaching profession requires.

The license does not only benefit teachers. It benefits students, schools and the whole education system. Its importance can be understood in eight points:

• It makes sure that classes are taught only by qualified and capable teachers.
• It discourages people who are not up to the job from entering teaching.
• It builds teachers' self-confidence and raises their standing in society.
• It builds the professional prestige of teachers.
• It helps attract highly skilled and able people into teaching.
• It allows uniform service, benefits and conditions for all teachers.
• It helps improve the quality of education.
• It helps in selecting suitable teachers.

Put in order of time, the events above show how the license developed step by step: