National Objectives of Education

Before builders start on a house, they study a plan. The plan already shows where each room goes, where the doors sit and how much material is needed. Teaching in a school also needs a plan before it begins. That plan says what children will learn, why they will learn it, how it will be taught and how their learning will be checked. This plan is the curriculum. Because it holds so much, the curriculum is described as a broad action plan for the development of education.

The four parts of a curriculum depend on one another. The objectives point the way, the content says what is studied along that way, the teaching method says how it is taught, and evaluation checks whether the destination has been reached.

• Objectives of education: the goals, meaning the knowledge, skills and behaviour a student should have after learning
• Content: the matter a student reads and learns
• Teaching method: the way a teacher helps students learn, such as discussion, experiment or project work
• Evaluation: checking how much a student has actually learned

A curriculum is shaped by the world around it. Its makers look at the global environment and at the present social, cultural, economic, political and technological situation of the country. They give equal weight to children themselves: their interests, their psychology and what they are able to do. Mobile phones, computers and the internet are now used all over the world, so information technology finds a place in the curriculum. Yet a grade 1 child is not given the same hard lessons as a grade 10 student, because the two differ in age, interest and ability.

A curriculum does not stop at the classroom door. What a student learns from sport, a cleanliness campaign, an educational tour or a project done at home is also part of it. Nepal's present curriculum takes all of these aspects on board. As time passes, the needs of society change, so the school level curriculum has been developed and revised to suit each period. It contains the national objectives of education, the level-wise competencies, the level-wise structure of education and the curriculum framework.

Every country pictures the kind of citizens it hopes to have. If it wants people who are honest, skilled, proud of their country, careful with the environment and respectful of others, then the teaching in its schools has to lead in that direction. These large goals that a nation wants education to achieve are called the national objectives of education. The teaching in every school, every grade and every subject across the country moves towards them.

Five things are considered when the national objectives are prepared:

• The political situation of the country: the kind of system by which the country is governed
• The international environment: the changes and competition happening around the world
• Society: its diversity, its culture and its problems
• The individual: each person's talent, interests and needs
• The needs of the nation: what the country requires for development, jobs and prosperity

An example shows why these bases matter. Once a country becomes a federal democratic republic, it needs citizens who understand and respect the values of that system, so this appears among the aims of education. Because the country has to compete with other nations, the aims speak of people who can use modern technology. Because Nepali society has many ethnic groups, languages and cultures, the aims ask students to respect diversity.

Since the political situation is the first basis of the national objectives, a big political change in the country also changes the aims of education. In Nepal, the People's Movement of 2062/063 BS brought political change. That change had a direct effect on education too. Afterwards, the National Curriculum Framework, 2063 was prepared to put the curriculum in order. On its basis, in 2064 BS the Government of Nepal changed the national objectives of education and set eleven objectives. Later came the National Curriculum Framework, 2076, and the national objectives in force today are the ones it lays down.

Under the National Curriculum Framework, 2076, Nepal's education now has twelve national objectives. They are:

• To develop each person's personality by bringing out the talent that lies within them
• To prepare citizens who are loyal to the nation and to nationality, committed to the values of a federal democratic republic, self-respecting, respectful of social and cultural diversity, of good character, moral and responsible
• To prepare citizens who respect labour and think positively, who look towards employment and self-employment, and who are productive, enterprising and skilled
• To support the socialisation of each individual and help strengthen social harmony, tolerance and national unity
• To prepare aware citizens who conserve, promote and make good use of natural and national heritage and the environment, and so contribute to sustainable development
• To help build an equal, inclusive, just and socialism-oriented nation by developing in each person conduct that follows the values of peace, human rights, equality, inclusion and social justice
• To prepare skilled human resources fit for the global environment, able to compete nationally and internationally and to use modern information and communication technology
• To prepare research-minded human resources with scientific understanding, able to apply scientific concepts, facts, skills, theories and technology
• To prepare tolerant citizens who think creatively and critically, have life skills and are proficient in language
• To prepare citizens who know Nepal's history and geography, who are motivated to conserve, promote and spread Nepal's original art, culture, beauty, ideals and special features, and who are proud of Nepali identity and way of life
• To prepare citizens who stay alert to climate change and to natural and human-made disasters, and who are able to reduce likely risks and manage disasters
• To develop the human resources needed to build a prosperous nation founded on social justice

Twelve long sentences are hard to learn in one go. Read carefully, though, they fall into a few main ideas. Some are about the growth of the individual, some about love of the nation, some about work and skills, some about the environment. Grouping them this way makes them easier both to understand and to recall.

These objectives show up in ordinary school life. When students grow vegetables in the school garden, they learn to respect labour and to care for the environment. An earthquake safety drill serves the objective on disaster management. Taking part in a debate builds critical thinking and language ability. Celebrating a festival with classmates of different ethnic groups and languages teaches social harmony and respect for diversity.

The national objectives of education have changed over time. Earlier objectives have been revised to make them broader and more practical. To reach the national objectives, every level of schooling must do its own share, so separate objectives are set for each level. To make these level-wise objectives practical as well, they have been renamed level-wise competencies. The level-wise structure of education has also been changed in the same way.

Take one example. The national objective of producing citizens proficient in language is the same for every level. A child finishing grade 3 may only need to read a short story and say what they think clearly, while a student finishing the secondary level should be able to write an essay and argue a point. One national objective becomes different competencies at different levels.

Present-day school education is divided into two levels: basic and secondary. School education is taken to run from early childhood education up to grade 12. Before basic education there is one year of early childhood development and education, which means children spend one year there before they join grade 1.

Basic education is divided into three stages:

• First stage: grades 1 to 3
• Second stage: grades 4 and 5
• Third stage: grades 6 to 8

Secondary education is divided into two stages:

• First stage: grades 9 and 10
• Second stage: grades 11 and 12

Anyone can find their own place in this structure. A student in grade 10 is in the first stage of the secondary level. A younger brother or sister in grade 6 is in the third stage of the basic level, and a small child in grade 2 is in the first stage of the basic level.