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Boris and Guarav are former MA International Education and Development students, currently working on a research project focussed on curriculum development in Nepal. Join us for this seminar where they will share their findings. 

When: 17 March, 3-4:30PM

Where: Fulton 112/ Zoom

Over the past decade, public awareness and political engagement with Nepal's climate vulnerability has risen in correlation with the increasing frequency and severity of environmental disasters within Nepal. Despite growing recognition that a long-term educational approach is required to prepare Nepal’s population for an uncertain future, in 2020, the secondary-level school subject ‘Health, Population and Environment’ was removed from the compulsory curriculum and made an optional module available for Grades 9-12. This decision can be understood as part of Nepal’s current national education strategy, as outlined in the 2015 Constitution, which emphasises decentralisation of education policy. In theory, this gives local schools and municipal governments scope to develop their own curricula emphasising local environmental factors. This presentation explores how decentralisation has led to the reproduction of inequalities within education provision, particularly within the field of environment education, and tentatively suggests steps towards a more equitable approach.

This research is based on a series of semi-structured interviews and focus groups with principals and teachers working at a range of nineteen public and private schools within Panauti Municipality, conducted within a three-month period. It presents findings from an ongoing independent participatory research project aimed at developing practices and collaborations for use by local schools to support local teachers and schools. It explores the forms by which environmental education is currently practiced within schools in Panauti, as well as how effective these practices are, in order to make recommendations . It engages with Panauti’s rich tradition of environmental NGO projects, and considers how this history is incorporated into formal education. In the process, it explores possibilities for future collaborations that might deepen democratic processes of local knowledge conservation within schools.

Centre for International Education (Sussex Centre of Excellence)

cie@sussex.ac.uk /  / 

By: Eve Wilcox
Last updated: Wednesday, 4 March 2026