Tribhuvan University, Open and Distance Education Center (ODEC) Nepal is a partner institution among three Nepali, four European, and five Indian institutions collaborating project entitled Alliance of Universities to Reinforce Teacher Training Curricula to Outcast Radicalism and Promote Equality in Asian Societies – AURORA (Grant no. 610297-EPP-1-20 l 9-l -IN-EPPKA2-CB H E-JP) under the Erasmus + Program of the European Commission and co-funded by European Education and Culture Executive Agency. Banasthali Vidyapith is the main coordinating partner (lead partner) of this AURORA project.
The Aurora project focuses on curriculum development and education as a priority for Asia, with the knowledge and practices of the European Higher Education Area (EHEA) to provide quality and inclusive education for all. The project has the plan to develop three pedagogical courses and integrate them into teacher training programs, with the aim of promoting democratic values, non-discrimination, gender equality, and research measures for combating different forms of radicalism that are hindering humanity and preparing pedagogical courses for education and training to the teachers.
Within its planned activities, the AURORA Project Second Study Visits were held from April 24th to April 29th, 2023, at Tribhuvan University, Kathmandu, Nepal.
The aim of the study visit was to share the progress made in planned activities among the partner institutions, and cultures of the partner country, and create a platform for strengthening the networking among participating institutions.
In this study visit, the participants were from twelve universities from six countries viz Nepal, India, Romania, Czech Republic, Ireland, and Spain. Tribhuvan University was the host of this study visit.
The Rector of the Tribhuvan University, Prof. Dr. Shivlal Bhusal, was the chief guest, the Former Director of ODEC, TU, Dr. Ganga Ram Gautam, and senior teachers of TU as the guests and teachers involved in the project were the participants from TU in the meeting. In the inaugural speech, the Rector expressed the importance of the project and highlighted its relevance for developing the most equitable, fair, and justice society through teacher education and training curricula. He congratulated the project team for organizing staff and students’ mobility and international cooperation. He further added that this program has provided a good opportunity to share experiences among the partners and promote quality education in the country. Furthermore, He said, “We are pleased to contribute to this program and collaborate with other institutions in order to enhance social inclusion and democratic values in Nepalese society through the pedagogical transformation in the education sector contextualizing the European experiences on education”.
During this visit, progress on planned project activities was shared, and coordination meetings were held. Likewise, the meeting served as a platform to review the activities so far accomplished and plan for future activities promoting a culture of collaboration and the exchange of ideas among the participants.
The AURORA project ensures that teachers have the necessary skills and competencies to transform new knowledge effectively. In addition, the AURORA Consortium Centers will disseminate the project’s results to the whole of society for the promotion of democratic values and practices in it. The Centers will focus on transforming this knowledge in different environments and with the participation of various people. Within the project period “Aurora clubs” were created where activities were developed to expand the project’s outputs to the students’ community to inculcate democratic values and practices in them against extremist and radical thoughts and actions.
A wonderful and enthusiastic pilot training was launched by Open and Distance Education under Aurora Project on the topic Inclusive Education and Gender Equality from 10-12 April 2023.The aim of the training was to promote gender equality and respect for diversity. Also to develop strategies for promoting inclusive practices in the classroom and for addressing issues related to gender and diversity.This training will equip students with the knowledge and skills they need to promote social justice and equity in education, and to help all students succeed regardless of their background, identity or ability.Finally a very positive response has been forwarded by the participants and they were expecting for such more training.
Schedule for trainingstudents Participating in trainingProf.Dr sushan Acharya giving classesStudents participating in trainingstudent’s participation in trainingStudents participating in trainingStudents participating in trainingStudents and Teachers getting involved in trainingFeedback from participants
On March 24th, 2023, KNOU hosted the UNESCO UNITWIN Kick-off Webinar with UNITWIN Network members: Hanoi Open University (Vietnam), Tribhuvan University (Nepal), Open University Malaysia (Malaysia) and Mongolian University of Science and Technology (Mongolia).
A total of 23 members attended the webinar including Prof. Sohn Kyoung Woo, Director of Office of Int’l Affairs, 7 of the project leaders and co-leaders from KNOU, 11 of the UNITWIN Network members, Dr. Yang Chang Yeul, Team Head of Office of Int’l Affairs and 3 staff members from the Office of Int’l Affairs at KNOU.
Beginning with the 2023 UNESCO-UNITWIN workshop for the KNOU researchers in the morning, Dr. Yang, Chang Yeul, Head of Team in the Office of Int’l Affairs at KNOU, shared an annual plan for UNESCO UNITWIN projects in 2023 focusing on invited trainings at KNOU, students’ trainings in each network institution, 2023 Working Group Seminar and gave further details for the year.
Followed by the 2023 plan, a country report on 2022 UNITIWN activities were presented by researchers from UNITWIN network institutions; Prof. Dinh Tuan Long (HOU), Prof. Harvinder K. D. Singh (OUM), Prof. Ganga Ram Gautam (TU) and Prof. Narantsetseg Yadmaa (MUST).
After the presentations, each project team separately had a group discussion session during the webinar to discuss the plan for the year. As a continuation from the previous session, each project leader gave presentations on this year’s plan for each project.
To conclude, Dr. Yang, Chang Yeul, Head of Team in the Office of Int’l Affairs at KNOU, wrapped up the webinar by inviting the UNITWIN Network cooperation with 3 main things: to participate the 2023 Invited Training at KNOU, to host 2023 Working Group Seminar among the UNITWIN Network members and to extend the onsite trainings at each institution successfully.
The University Twinning and Networking (UNITWIN) program was launched in 1992 at the 26th session of UNESCO General Conference with the aim of promoting international inter-university cooperation and networking to enhance institutional capacities through knowledge sharing and collaborative work. In 2017, KNOU was appointed as the host institution. The network aims at sharing knowledge and experiences of distance education in higher education.
The 21st CS Workshop was held from 22-26 February in Kathmandu, Nepal is regarded as one of the successful meetings on improving the pedagogical skills where the pedagogue experts discussed with the experts of HAMK and JAMK to update their subject curriculum with skills needed for the 21st century. The workshop was held online for 3 days and physically for two days 24-25 February at Summit Hotel, Kathmandu.
21st Century Skills in Action – To teach something you have to be able to do it yourself
Creating a master’s degree programme that includes 21st-century skills that qualify successful graduates to work as a teacher is a complex matter. We first have to define what we mean by 21st-century skills and then decide how to produce concrete learning tasks so that the ideas can be integrated into the educational programme in order for student teachers to learn. Such skills are defined as, but not limited to, for example, critical thinking & problem-solving skills, innovation & creativity, learning to learn, metacognition, collaboration skills, communication skills, social and cross-cultural skills, and global citizenship. A complex mix indeed. Now, add to that degree of complexity that such creation has to be conducted remotely between Finland and Nepal, and you are beginning to understand the basis of the project’s first week-long co-creation workshop that took place on 22-26 February 2021. Teacher educators from JAMK University of Applied Sciences and HAMK University of Applied Sciences sitting in various home offices in Finland joined colleagues online from Tribhuvan University and Nepal Open University in their respective home offices and other such places across Nepal.
Working remotely but collaboratively.
Co-creation is one of the fundamentals of the human rights-based approach to development upon which our project is founded. In essence, by requiring that all participants are seen as equal; none in more or less important that the others, it supports the development of respect and equity of possibility. From the holistic project perspective this in accord with the requirement to engage with marginalised elements of the Nepalese community to increase the equity of access to education of those peoples.
This approach was also evident in our workshop as we worked together to build a new qualifying programme of education for teachers. Ideas were explored and developed through participatory decision-making in a learning community environment, which of course, supports teacher agency – that all-important driver of change in education.
Working remotely but collaboratively
The experiences gained during this workshop by all participants in applying 21st century skills in their everyday work will ensure that the valuable lessons learned are transferred into the courses that will form Output 1 of the project, a newly designed master’s programme focusing on digital pedagogy, guidance and counselling, and the development of 21st century skills required of workers in changing societies. The co-creation process involved in developing Output 1 will also inform work required in Output 2, a guidance and counselling module that will include one face-to-face taught study module and a MOOC, both designed for teachers and teacher students to support the HRB approach, to promote equity in education, and to prevent dropouts among girls and representatives of excluded (marginalized and disadvantaged) communities.
By the same token, Output 3, creating increased capacity of TU and NOU to promote integration of ICT and 21st century skills into existing education programmes of all levels of education through workshop and training for educational personnel at provincial and local governments will benefit accordingly.
A good week’s work by all participants. We all had such a positive and enjoyable experience during this week. So much so that we are looking forward to our next workshop week in early April with eager anticipation.
In the picture at the top of the blog post are TU and NOU co-creation teams in Nepal.
Text by
Graham Burns, project manager, firstname.lastname@jamk.fi
Photographs by
Dr Bed Prasad Dhakal, Tribuhvan University, Kathmandu, Nepal
A glimpse of 24th and 25th Feb workshop held at Summit Hotel, Kathmandu
Venue: Summit Hotel, Nepal
Date and Time: 24th-25th Feb
The 21st CS Workshop was held from 22-26 February in Kathmandu, Nepal is regarded as one of the successful meetings on improving the pedagogical skills where the pedagogue experts discussed with the experts of HAMK and JAMK to update their subject curriculum with skills needed for the 21st century. The workshop was held online for 3 days and physically for two days 24-25 February at Summit Hotel, Kathmandu.
21st Century Skills in Action – To teach something you have to be able to do it yourself
Creating a master’s degree programme that includes 21st-century skills that qualify successful graduates to work as a teacher is a complex matter. We first have to define what we mean by 21st-century skills and then decide how to produce concrete learning tasks so that the ideas can be integrated into the educational programme in order for student teachers to learn. Such skills are defined as, but not limited to, for example, critical thinking & problem-solving skills, innovation & creativity, learning to learn, metacognition, collaboration skills, communication skills, social and cross-cultural skills, and global citizenship. A complex mix indeed. Now, add to that degree of complexity that such creation has to be conducted remotely between Finland and Nepal, and you are beginning to understand the basis of the project’s first week-long co-creation workshop that took place on 22-26 February 2021. Teacher educators from JAMK University of Applied Sciences and HAMK University of Applied Sciences sitting in various home offices in Finland joined colleagues online from Tribhuvan University and Nepal Open University in their respective home offices and other such places across Nepal.
Working remotely but collaboratively.
Co-creation is one of the fundamentals of the human rights-based approach to development upon which our project is founded. In essence, by requiring that all participants are seen as equal; none in more or less important that the others, it supports the development of respect and equity of possibility. From the holistic project perspective this in accord with the requirement to engage with marginalised elements of the Nepalese community to increase the equity of access to education of those peoples.
This approach was also evident in our workshop as we worked together to build a new qualifying programme of education for teachers. Ideas were explored and developed through participatory decision-making in a learning community environment, which of course, supports teacher agency – that all-important driver of change in education.
Working remotely but collaboratively
The experiences gained during this workshop by all participants in applying 21st century skills in their everyday work will ensure that the valuable lessons learned are transferred into the courses that will form Output 1 of the project, a newly designed master’s programme focusing on digital pedagogy, guidance and counselling, and the development of 21st century skills required of workers in changing societies. The co-creation process involved in developing Output 1 will also inform work required in Output 2, a guidance and counselling module that will include one face-to-face taught study module and a MOOC, both designed for teachers and teacher students to support the HRB approach, to promote equity in education, and to prevent dropouts among girls and representatives of excluded (marginalized and disadvantaged) communities.
By the same token, Output 3, creating increased capacity of TU and NOU to promote integration of ICT and 21st century skills into existing education programmes of all levels of education through workshop and training for educational personnel at provincial and local governments will benefit accordingly.
A good week’s work by all participants. We all had such a positive and enjoyable experience during this week. So much so that we are looking forward to our next workshop week in early April with eager anticipation.
In the picture at the top of the blog post are TU and NOU co-creation teams in Nepal.
Text by
Graham Burns, project manager, firstname.lastname@jamk.fi
Photographs by
Dr Bed Prasad Dhakal, Tribuhvan University, Kathmandu, Nepal
A glimpse of 24th and 25th Feb workshop held at Summit Hotel, Kathmandu
Dr.Ganga Ram Gautam, Director of ODEC/TU and Dr. Bishnu Khanal, Member of ODEC Management Committee participated in the UNESCO-UNITWIN Working Group Seminar at Korea National Open University in Seoul, Korea held on October 25, 2019. The seminar was organized by a UNESCO-UNITWIN network which brings together Korea National Open University (KNOU), Open University Malaysia (OUM), Honoi Open University (HOU), Mongolian University of Science and Technology (MUST) and Tribhuvan University (TU) Nepal.
During the seminar, representatives of different universities presented their best practices in online learning and discussed the possibilities of collaboration among them in the future. On behalf of ODEC/TU, Dr. Ganga Ram Gautam presented a paper on UNESCO-UNITWIN Collaboration Between TU and KNOU: Mid-Term Plan and Expected Results. In his presentation, Dr. Gautam highlighted how the ongoing collaboration between TU and KNOU will help develop the capacity of the faculty members of TU in integrating ICT in their pedagogy. Under this collaboration, KNOU team will run faculty development training for the 40 faculty members of TU in 2020 on online learning pedagogy.
Similarly, Dr. Bishnu Khanal made a presentation on Open and Distance Education in Tribhuvan University: Policy, Programs, Challenges and Future Plan. In his presentation, Dr. Khanal presented a brief overview of the history of open and distance education in Nepal and the current scenario of it.
Dr. Ganga Ram Gautam, Director of Open and Distance Education Center, Tribhuvan University (ODEC/TU) and Dr. Bishnu Khanal, Member of the ODEC Management Committee attended a Working Group meeting at Korea National Open University (KNOU) in Seoul on October 24, 2019. During the meeting, discussion was held on the on-going research collaboration between ODEC/TU and KNOU. On the same occasion, Dr. Gautam also video recorded a Guest Lecture for the KNOU students on E-learning in Nepal. Dr. Gautam and Dr. Khanal are also attending the UNESCO-UNITWIN Working Group Seminar on October 25, 2019. The seminar is organized by KNOU. UNESCO-UNITWIN is a network of the universities that are offering higher educaiton through open and distance learning. Tribhuvan University joined the UNESCO-UNITWIN network last April.
