2017S1 – 2 – ETEC520 – 66A – Planning and Managing Learning Technologies

in Higher Education

Dr. Bullen

Assignment #3 Analysis and Comparison of Approaches to E-Learning

Option 3 – Comparing Government e-learning plans

Ka Wai (Alice) Wong & Zain Yousaf Ali

Word Count: 2088 words

Introduction

This paper reviews national e-learning plans from the Nepalese and Bhutanese
government. This written piece closely examines how the documents addresses e-
learning issues outlined by Bates (2001). In particular, this paper inspects how the
government plans to assuage access issues for underserved groups, to establish
accountability, to connect to the wider industries and to prepare for international
competitiveness in digital learning. While both countries are making strong efforts to
support disadvantaged groups, Bhutan documents a more detailed outline about
following next steps in integrating e-learning.

Background

In Nepal, the Ministry of education is responsible of assessing and monitoring

educational institutions (Ministry of Education, 2011). Only grades 1-8 are
compulsory. Student’s admission to higher education is dependent on students’ mark
in their School Leaving Certificate (i.e. grade 10). While most primary education is
government funded, secondary education is tuition based (Ministry of Education,
2011). Curriculum is developed via continuous conversations between the national
curriculum development and assessment council, stakeholders, regional curriculum
and textbooks co-ordination committee, subject committee and Curriculum
development centre (Ministry of Education and Sports, 2004).

Before 1950s, Bhutanese schools are generally monastic (Ministry of

Education, 2014). Students attend 11 years of basic schooling in English. Unlike
Nepal, education in Bhutan is free, even for students receiving secondary education.
Similar to Nepal, Bhutan also has a national curriculum. Centrally, the Curriculum
and Professional Support division is in charge of reviewing and updating the
curriculum (UNESCO, 2004). However, only one national college (i.e. Royal
University of Bhutan) is available for students to pursue higher education.

Both Nepal and Bhutan harbor positive outlook about the effects of ICT. In
particular, “[a]n ICT-enabled, knowledge-based society [serves] as a foundation for
Gross National Happiness.” (Royal Government of Bhutan, 2014, p.1) More
importantly, they believe that the efficient use of ICT can help enhance the quality of
teaching and learning (Ministry of Education, 2011). Bates & Sangrà (2011) supports
that using ICT to enrich learning a major rationale employed by schools to justify
developing ICT plans. Comparatively, Bhutan has a more social outlook about ICT.
Bhutan envisions that integrating ICT in education has strong economic and social
impact. Nonetheless, the two governments also share the same view as Bates &
Sangrà (2011) about e-learning fostering lifelong learning opportunities. The
Bhutanese government claims “ICT can serve as the key enabler by making education
more accessible and engaging for learners of all ages so as to foster a culture of
lifelong learning in Bhutan” (Royal Government of Bhutan, 2014, p. 3-4).

It is visible that both governing bodies are aware of the cost of implementing
digital learning measures. They are actively reorganizing financial resources in order
to accomplish ICT educational goals. Currently, Nepal budgets over Nu 833.33
million (i.e. 16.5 million CAD) to enhance infrastructure. Bhutan also allocates about
5 Billion to improve infrastructure (i.e. 62 million CAD).

Both Nepal and Bhutan are in the early stages of e-learning integration. For
these countries, one of their top priorities is to enhance its infrastructure. Nepal states
that “[t]he vision of the Master Plan is to ensure extensive use of ICT in education
sector and contribute for access to and quality of education for all.” (Government of
Nepal, 2013, p.13) Moreover, the two nations recognize the need to set standards for
information communicative technology (ICT) tools in education.

Underserved Groups

It is important to observe how national plans address the needs of underserved

groups. Citizens should have equal access to education and training opportunities
(Bates, 2001). Previous national plans (i.e. Bhutan eGov Masterplan 2012; School
Sector Reform Plan /SSRP (2009-2015) etc.) from both countries demonstrate that
strong and explicit measures have been employed to satisfy digital infrastructural
demands. In these current plans, both governments have taken defined measures to
update and expand its infrastructure. For example, they are working with
telecommunication companies to expand and strengthen internet connection. They are
also increasing the amount of physical tools allotted per educational institution.
Bhutan is creating learning laboratories, encouraging virtual learning environment at
their local university (i.e. RUB) and is establishing a national e-learning platform. In a
smaller scale, Nepal is setting up similar learning centres. However, their primary
focus is on developing a more comprehensive infrastructure to enhance Internet
access and connectivity.

Bhutan dedicates projects to support infrastructural needs of underserved

groups. For example, their computerization program ensures all “[a]ll schools in
Bhutan provided with computers at a ratio of 1:30 for primary schools and 1:10 for
secondary schools” (Royal Government of Bhutan, 2014, p.41). Additionally, Bhutan
plans that “100% of students at higher learning institutions [will] have email accounts
and access to online learning” (Royal Government of Bhutan, 2014, p.41). These
specific goals make the idea of enhancing infrastructure more realistic.

Likewise, one strategy Nepal states “[a]ll teachers training centres, schools
and higher education institutions will have equal access to resource centres, libraries
and Internet based teaching learning practices” (Government of Nepal, 2013, p.14).
Nepal also wishes to update its infrastructure by collaborating with national telecom
company to ensure economical sufficient internet connectivity in educational
institutions. Also, Nepal simply aims to provide “focused support to disadvantaged
schools in remote areas” (Government of Nepal, 2013, p.16). To better achieve this
goal, Nepal will have to set support standards and define disadvantaged schools.

Unique from Nepal’s plan, the Bhutanese government identifies key outcomes
and detail specific indicators in areas of concern. For example, they identify a key
indicator for enhancing teaching quality is the “[n]umber of training courses to be
delivered to teachers on use of ICT-driven lesson plans” (Royal Government of
Bhutan, 2014, p.40). However, whether all of these indicators truly reflect the
progress of their goal warrens additionally analysis.
Articulated System

When the government plays a key role in regulating e-learning processes,

there are more efficient and radical changes (Bates, 2001). For these nations, while
visions and goals are set centrally, management responsibilities are divided amongst
divisions. Both nations are establishing governing committees to supervise operations
at various levels of the governing body. Bhutan created the steering committee and an
Education Technology Division to monitor ICT programs. Nepal plans to establish
functional national, district and ICT unit steering committees.

Also, multileveled representation is present in these purposed committees. In

particular, in the Bhutanese government steering committee, there is a mixed
representation of senior positions from telecom, ICT and local educational
institutions. Notably, Nepal’s steering committee differs from Bhutan’s team because
their committee features honorable policy member from National Planning
Commission. Nepal claims “[n]ecessary laws shall be enacted to regulate the use of
ICT in education and services to be carried out through the use information and
communication technology.” (Government of Nepal, 2013, p.35) Nepal recognizes
the need for legal actions to help effectively implement the digital learning strategies.
This is reflective of Bates & Sangra’s (2011) recommendation about the importance
of including administrative members in strategic planning. Government members
should participate in the discussion about regional digital learning needs.

Another important aspect of accountability embedded in the plans is related to

reporting. For Nepal, “during the planning phase specific indicators on ICT in
Education will be incorporated in the regular reporting system.” (Government of
Nepal, 2013, p.43) The Nepalese government feels the need to integrating regular
reporting as part of their monitoring routines.

Private Sector Involvement

Both governments appear to use conservative strategies such as funding

special projects, establishing partnerships to support and promote e-learning practices.
Bhutan plans to motivate the private sector with grants, sponsorship and other types
of one-time funding. Bhutan has already planned guidelines for obtaining government
financial support. However, it is also important to note that one-time grants will not
be a long-term solution for successful programs (Bates, 2001). Hence, increasing
baseline funding will be a better long-term solution for both countries in order to
entice private interest to invest in digital learning. Yet, it is likely that current
financial conditions in these nations may not yet be ready to commit to these
responsibilities.

Nepal appears to follow Bates’ (2001) belief that the government’s role “in
planning and managing e-learning in a free-market policy framework is minimal once
national standards have been set and performance measures put in place.” (p.49)
Nepal has ambiguously outlined the need to create e-learning demand and
competition. However, unlike Bhutan, there is no specific monetary incentives
strategy to encourage the public and private sector to utilize open source programs
and to create interactive digital content.

Additionally, Nepal is reliant on collaborations. Vaguely stated, Nepal is

aiming to “stimulate long- term collaboration between the sectors and address the
perceived or real barriers which inhibit movement of researchers between the public
and private research domains.”(Government of Nepal, 2013, p.38) To strengthen
these plans, both countries can follow Bates (2001) suggestion to further entice
private sectors by providing tax breaks and or developing open and corruption-free
licensing practices. Licensing will be suitable for both Nepal and Bhutan since it will
help create consolidate standards for ICT development projects.

International Competitiveness

Seemingly, these national plans were developed with the help of international
partners. For example, Bhutan recognizes the support from Swiss partners. Nepal also
acknowledges support from UNESCO representatives. Moreover, these governments
are willing to accept international financial support. Bhutan claims that
“[s]ponsorships from private conglomerate or from overseas can be secured to drive
some of the grants.” (Royal Government of Bhutan, 2014, p.26) International support
is necessary for nations planning for digital learning. Nepal is “[e]stablishing network
among the global educational institutions for easy access to the digital contents”
(Government of Nepal, 2013, p.26). Nepal is also “[e]ndorsing the available relevant
global resources” (Government of Nepal, 2013, p.26).

In these documents, there is a clear calling of using current, freely available

open source resources. This is an appropriate for nations early in their digital learning
integration. David, Little & Stewart (2014) supports that open source systems will
allow users to take advantage of the collaborative knowledge base and the continuing
stream of development. Moreover, both planning teams are encouraging their
educators to create, expand and share content. These plans speak at length about
increasing professional development opportunities in order encourage appropriate use
of ICT skills for education. Bhutan’s project ‘iBuild’ details strategies to “enables
content and tools to become pervasive across the education sector to support teaching
and learning in effective ways”(Royal Government of Bhutan, 2014, p.7).
Consequently, with individualized ICT learning materials, it can enhance the nation’s
global competitiveness on digital learning markets.

Moreover, amongst its e-learning efforts, Bhutan is also aiming to establish

national e-learning platform (i.e. national learning management system) to share
developed content. This is also a clear response to Bates’ (2001) suggestions that
“[g]overnments can and should play a major role in creating local, national and
indigenous learning materials, and making them available through some form of
national or regional archive.” (p.80) Despite the fact that Nepal may not be ready to
handle the high backend technical demands of developing a LMS, they should
consider establishing a LMS. Bates (2001) claims that nations with limited resources
should focus on a single national resource.

Bates (2001) argues “some governments may feel that they too have a
responsibility both to protect their own institutions from external and possibly unfair
competition, and to protect the public from exploitation from foreign operations”
(p.71). Between the two nations, Nepal is actively preparing for global competition.
Nepal is aware of this danger and is “[d]eveloping new policies to address the
innovations in the global context in ICT sector” (Government of Nepal, 2013, p.30)
They further state that “[i]n the development of grant programmes, it is important that
eligibility requirements for the applications are designed to benefit local enterprises
and local citizens” (p.26). This is an appropriate measure because both Nepal and
Bhutan may not have attained a specific level of technical capacity or global
reputation to compete internationally.

Conclusion

Due to the lack of quality infrastructure, both Bhutanese and Nepalese

government plans focused on expanding connectivity and accessibility.
Comparatively, Bhutan’s plan details specific and tangible action-based strategies to
ratify e-learning needs of underserved groups. Both plans make strong efforts to
establish a multileveled regulatory system to develop and manage digital learning
processes. These countries also hold an optimistic outlook about the contributions
from the private sectors. The Nepalese government is yet to clarify concrete
procedures to collaborate with the private sector. Vague directions can make it
difficult to accurately assess the effectiveness of the strategies. The Nepalese also
responds more positively to Bates’ (2001) concern about protecting its nation from
global competitors. Nonetheless, both plans highlights e-learning issues Bates (2001)
states.
References

Bates, A.W. (2001). National strategies for e-learning in post-secondary education

and training. Paris: UNESCO/International Institute for Educational Planning.

Bates, A.W. & Sangrà, A. (2011). Managing Technology in Higher Education:

Strategies for Transforming Teaching & Learning. San Francisco: Jossey Bass.

Davis, A., Little, P. & Stewart, B. (2004) Developing an infrastructure for online
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learning. (p.122-142). Athabasca University Press.

Government of Nepal. (2013). Information & Communication Technology(ICT) in

Education Master Plan 2013-2017. Retrieved from
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Guri-Rosenblit, S. (2005). ‘Distance education’ and ‘e-learning’: Not the same thing.
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Ministry of Education. (2011). Education in Nepal. Retrieved from

http://www.moe.gov.np/assets/uploads/files/2011_English.pdf

Ministry of Education. (2014). About us. Retrieved from

http://www.education.gov.bt/about-us

Royal Government of Bhutan.(2014). iSherig Education ICT Master Plan 2014 -

2018. Retrieved from
http://www.education.gov.bt/documents/10180/10994/Education+ICT+Master+
Plan+2014-18.pdf/00392bc0-0ed2-47c9-9e2e-ed30e23ccf8f?version=1.0

UNESCO. (2004). National Report on the Development of Education. Retrieved

from http://www.ibe.unesco.org/National_Reports/ICE_2004/bhutan.pdf