खुमबहादुर, धर्मको राजनीति गर्नु अघि तथ्यांक त सही बोल!

तस्वीर: सेतोपाटि.कम 

कहिलेकाँहीं म नेपालमा तथ्यांकको प्रयोगको दूर्दशा देखेर हैरान हुनेगर्छु। भर्खरै भ्रस्टाचारको मुद्दा खेपेर राजनीतिमा फर्कने ठाउँ खोज्दै गरेका नेपाली कांग्रेसका नेता खुमबहादुर खडकाले प्रयोग गरेको तथ्यांक देख्दा भने म नलेखी बस्नै सकिन।

हाम्रा नेताज्यूहरु तथ्यांकको मनपरी प्रयोग गर्नुहुन्छ, यो भर्खरैको घटना एउटा ज्वलन्त उदाहरण मात्र हो।

सेतोपाटीको साउण्ड क्लाउडमा भएको अडियो रेकर्डको ५ औं मिनेटमा नेता खड्काले प्रयोग गरेको तथ्यांक आंशिक रूपमा सहि छैन। उनले भने जस्तो नेपालमा हिन्दु धर्मावलम्बीको जनसंख्या ९४ प्रतिशत नभई ८१.३४ छ। 

हिन्दु धर्मको आडमा धेरै अघिदेखि राजनीति गर्दै आएका राप्रपा-नेपालका नेता कमल थापाले पनि ९४ प्रतिशत नेपालीको हिन्दु धर्म भनेको मैले सुनेको छु। थापाकै पदचाँप पछ्याएका खड्काले सायद धर्मको तथ्यांक पनि उनीबाटै लिएका होलान। धर्मको नाममा राजनीति गर्नेले पहिले तथ्यांक त सहि बोलुन्।  कम्तिमा त्यति धर्म त नछोडुन्। 

केन्द्रीय तथ्यांक विभागले प्रकाशित गरेको राष्ट्रिय जनगणना २०६८ को नतिजामा प्रस्ट उल्लेख गरिएको कुरा हो। सोहि प्रतिवेदनको पृष्ठ ४ पढे पनि नेपालमा कुन धर्ममा आस्था भएका व्यक्ति कति छन भन्ने स्पस्ट हुन्छ र सोहि प्रतिवेदनको पृष्ठ १४४ मा विस्तृत रूपमा तथ्यांक प्रस्तुत गरिएको छ।

यदि उनको ज्ञान अलि पुरानो भयो होला सायद २०५८ को तथ्यांक पो सम्झिए कि भन्दा समेत हिन्दु धर्मावलम्बीको जनसंख्या ८१.०८ मात्रै छ।

सार्वजनिक स्थानमा सार्वजनिक महत्वको र रास्ट्रिय राजनीतिमा तरंग ल्याउने मुद्दाको तथ्यांकीय आधार नै गलत छ। म तथ्यांक केलाउने तथ्यांककार होइन र मलाई यहाँ मेरो ज्ञान प्रस्तुत गर्न मन लागेको पनि होइन।

यो देशको सामान्य र सचेत नागरिकको हैसियतले म केन्द्रीय तथ्यांक विभागको धर्म सम्बन्धि तथ्यांक यहाँ प्रस्तुत गर्दैछु ता कि खड्काजस्ता कुनै नेता फेरि आएर सम्पूर्ण जनतालाई उल्लु बनाउन नसकुन।

२०६८ को जनगणनामा १० धर्महरुको रिपोर्ट गरिएको छ। जस बमोजिम कुल जनसंख्याको ८१.३ प्रतिशतले हिन्दु धर्म मान्छन भने, ९ प्रतिशत बौद्ध धर्म, ४.४ प्रतिशतले इस्लाम, ३.१ प्रतिशतले किराँत, १.४ प्रतिशतले इसाई, ०.५ प्रतिशतले प्रकृति धर्म मान्ने गरेका छन भने बोन, जैन, सिख, बहाई धर्मावलम्वीहरुको प्रतिशत न्यून रहेको छ।

  

कुरा यहाँ तथ्यांकको मात्रै छैन। कुरा यहाँ कस्ता व्यक्तिहरुले कस्तो मुद्दाको उठान गर्दै छन् भन्ने हो। जुन व्यक्तिलाई आफूले उठान गर्न लागेको मुद्दाका वा समुदाय कति छन भन्ने थाहा छैन ती व्यक्तिले कसरी त्यो समुदाय र जनसंख्याको उचित नेतृत्व गर्न सक्छन भन्ने पनि हो।

राजनीतिका नाममा गलत तथ्यांक प्रस्तुत गरेर मुद्दा उठान गर्नु आफैँमा एक बेइमानी हो। त्यसमाथि नेतृत्व भनेको सर्व स्वीकार्य हुनुपर्छ।

यहाँ बुझ्नुपर्ने कुरा के छ भने खुमबहादुर खड्काले आफूलाई रास्ट्रको नेताको रूपमा उभ्याउन खोज्दै छैनन्। उनले आफूलाई केवल एक धर्मको नेताका रूपमा उभ्याउन खोजेका छन्।

यदि उनलाई यस मुद्दाले धेरै सताउदो हो त उनले आफ्नै पार्टी नेपाली कांग्रेस भित्र यसको बहस गर्न सक्थे, पार्टी नेतृत्वलाई दवाव दिन सक्थे। तर, त्यसको विपरित उनि पार्टीभित्रका बिभिन्न कारणले असन्तुस्ट पक्षसँग मिलेर पार्टी बाहिर धर्मको विषय उठाउदै हिडेका छन्।

राजनीति प्रति चरम आशक्ति भएको एउटा व्यक्तिले आफ्नो आशक्ति लुकाउन नसकेको कुरा उदांगो भएको छ यति बेला। 

भ्रस्टाचारका कारण मुलधारको राजनीतिमा पुनः आउन निकै कठिनाई हुनु, नेपाली कांग्रेस पार्टी भित्र विस्तारै आफ्नो प्रभाव कम हुदै जानु, तथा विगतका चुनावमा हार्नुले कम हुँदै गरेको आफ्नो राजनैतिक शक्तिलाई पुनः प्राप्त गर्ने मौकाका रूपमा यस मुद्दालाई खड्काले हेरेका होलान्।

खड्का एक कुशल राजनैतिक खेलाडी हुन् र उनले राजनीतिमा पुनरागमन गर्ने उपायका रूपमा यस मुद्दालाई छानेको हुनुपर्छ। आखिर यो मुद्दाले उनलाई कहिँ नपुर्‍याए पनि उनलाई घाटा त केहि छैन। एक पटक बाजी मारी हेर्ने, दाउ परे ठिकै छ नत्र नोक्सानी त केहि छैन उनलाई।

यस मुद्दाले खड्कालाई कहाँ पुर्‍याउने हो त्यो त समयले भन्ला तर, उनले उठान गरेको मुद्दालाई जनताले संबिधानसभाको चुनावमा हराएको सर्व विदितै छ।

जो व्यक्तिसँग केहि छ उसलाई केहि गुमाउने डर हुन्छ तर जो व्यक्तिसँग अब गुमाउन बाँकी केहि छैन त्यो व्यक्तिले केहि गुमाउन सक्दैन तर आफूले पहिले गुमाएको कुरा प्राप्त गर्न जे पनि गर्न सक्छ।

हिन्दु धर्मका नाममा राजनीति गर्नुको साटो हिन्दु धर्मका नाममा स्वच्छ मनले समाजसेवामा लाग्दा खड्का जस्ता नेतालाई जनताले पत्याउने थिए र बिगतमा केहि पाप गरेको भए पुण्य समेत मिल्ने थियो।

यति बेला कसैले केहि अतिवादी सोच ल्याएर संक्रमणकालीन अवस्थाको फाइदा लिन खोज्छ भने त्यसको प्रतिकार सचेत नागरिकहरुको दायित्व हो आवश्यक पर्दा गर्नुपर्छ।

म न कुनै धर्मको समर्थक वा कुनै धर्मको विरोधी हो। म विरोधी हुँ भने केवल त्यो सोचको जसले देशमा एकै बोल्ने, एकै धर्म मान्ने, एकै देखिने व्यक्ति हुनुपर्छ भनी सोच्छन्। 

(सेतोपाटि.कम )

Hear us too

In the recent Constituent Assembly (CA) election, eight percent youth were elected as CA members under the First Past the Post (FPTP) System.

The percentage of youth candidates in this election was even more impressive: 41 percent of total candidates were below the age of 40. 

There were many new parties which fielded new candidates. However, the number of young candidates nominated by major political parties was not so exciting. If we are to refer to the National Youth Policy, it defines “youth” as those aged 16-40.

Zakaria Zainal

This age group accounts for 42 percent of the population, but constitutes only eight percent of FPTP winners in the CA. The figures are not going to get better anytime soon, if recent activities of political parties are anything to go by. This means that the agendas and voices of young people are likely to go unheard in the new CA.

The unhealthy tussle in the major parties to finalize their PR candidates does not indicate their seriousness about youth representation. The PR list CPN-UML submitted to Election Commission, for example, sidelined prominent young faces like Ramkumari Jhankri who was at the forefront of second Jana Andolan and has since been consistently advocating for youth friendly policies. 

Other parties don’t seem very different. This practice will continue as long as our parties continue to be ruled by a few dictatorial heads. 

Most of our political parties are undemocratic and hierarchical. 

Lack of intraparty democracy is one of the major reasons. Be it student union, trade union or any other sister organization of mainstream political parties, they all lack intra-organizational democracy. These unions are as fragmented as their mother parties. As a result, they are not strong enough to challenge malpractices in the mother party.

Tokenism trumps meritocracy in most parties, while making political appointments or selecting candidates for CA election. Political leaders look for the people who buy into their school of thought and who belong to their faction. Unfortunately, the youth fall behind when they fail to follow these unwritten rules.

The youth are in no way free of blame. When they are at the forefront of political movements, they dare to challenge their leaders. But when the movements end, they forget their power and surrender before the same leaders. They have enough courage to challenge the autocratic system of the country, but are afraid to challenge a similar situation within their parties. They can come together to bargain when fuel price is hiked, but not to ask for respect for their opinion in their parties.

One of the reasons youth are being sidelined is because the interest groups working on youth are not active. When it comes to the representation of female and marginalized communities, several interest groups working for the benefit of these sections put pressure on the parties for meaningful representation. This is not the case with our youth. Representation of female and marginalized groups is mandated by law. This has forced political parties to make sure they are well represented, which, again, is not the case for the youth.

The time has come for the youth to be considered partners of today, not only of the future. It doesn’t look like the representation of youth will increase in this CA. Despite the lack of numerical strength, the aspirations and issues of youth shouldn’t be ignored in this CA. For this, present CA members should be sensitized about the issues, challenges and aspirations of youth. This in turn will call for youth wings of political parties and non-political youth organizations teaming up to serve as watchdogs.

Time will test both political and non-political youth organizations. The need of the hour is the implementation of the dormant National Youth Policy (NYP). One of the first tasks of youth organizations is to build pressure on elected representatives to do so. 

Representation of youth in CA is necessary to ensure that the aspirations of younger generation are addressed. The youth are the best persons to raise their own issues. Furthermore, the future of the nation belongs to the youth, and this is a moment when the future of the nation is being written. To ensure youth ownership of these changes, it is necessary to make them a part of the system.

Creating a special working group on youth within the CA can be a viable way to compensate for their poor numerical representation in CA. The working group should be assigned with bringing up the agendas concerning youth which shouldn’t be missed in the constitution. Furthermore, both political and non-political youth organizations should assist the committee.

(This article was published on Republica op-ed on December 31, 2013)

CA Election 2013- FPTP Results Infographics

Youth Representation in the Constituent Assembly Elections (CA), 2013 from Dipendra K.C.

This infographics was published in Nepal Magazine in Nepali language: http://www.ekantipur.com/nepal/article/?id=6158

Age of Candidates of CA Election, 2070 (FPTP)

The age of Youth in Nepal is heavily contested issue. The national Youth policy of the country defines “Youth” as the people who are in the age bracket of 15-40 whereas several NGOs and INGOs operating in the country have their own version of definition. YUWA defines the age youth as 15-29. United Nations defines the age bracket for youth as 15-24.

The Constitutional Assembly Election of Nepal which is all set to happen November this year will see 40.75% youth candidates competing. A recent analysis done jointly by me and one of my colleague, Sumit portrays an interesting picture of the trend of age of the candidates of the political parties.

The lowest age of the candidates is 25 and this extends till 85. 249 candidates are aged 42. The top 5 weight of candidates is in between 35-43. The national average age of the candidates is 53.

The graph below should be self-explanatory.

Out with Old

Despite the uncertainty surrounding Free Students Union (FSU) elections, political parties are going all out to strengthen their position ahead of the upcoming student election. Extravagant promotional materials inside college premises hint of a celebratory mood. But rumors of fake admissions and extravagance in campaigning definitely raise a big question about the source of money that is being pumped into these elections. The FSU election is supposed to elect a body that addresses the concerns of college-going students. However, the effectiveness of the FSUs is highly questionable. Over the years, political agendas have been put on the frontline rather than academic agendas. The FSUs have become a metastasizing tumor.
Over last few weeks, FSUs have been vehemently criticized in the media, but FSUs have turned deaf ear to the comments and suggestions coming their way. Ideologically blindfolded leaders see nothing except what serves their narrow interests. Hence they openly flout election guidelines they themselves created. Apart from FSUs, the silence of academic and administrative leaders of Tribhuvan University and students is also to be blamed for this unruliness. 

Time has come we started to question the rationale behind political FSUs and to look for an alternative to FSUs, which routinely fail to raise academic and other issues faced by students. Rather than invest millions for election of student body, it would be wise to invest in welfare of students. But this can happen only when university authorities and students partner for promotion of quality education rather than petty politics.
The alternative is a new system for formation of FSUs in colleges. The new system of students union should incorporate the concept of clubs and other sub-divisions under the leadership and supervision of the union. Elections should start in the classroom. This can be in the form of electing class representatives (CRs) or class captain every year. To make election inclusive, one male and one female can be elected from a class for representation in the student’s union where all CRs meet. The executive team can be elected from among them. For instance, if a college has 15 different classrooms, there will be 30 elected CRs in the council and the executive team can be elected from among them. The size of the executive team can be need-based. 


Republica

Furthermore, multiple student clubs addressing the varied interests of students must exist in colleges under the supervision and leadership of the union. The clubs should have a democratic system where members of a particular club are free to choose their desired leadership. Students should be free to open a new club under student union after getting enough members and after making a strong case that their need is not being met by existing clubs.

The student’s union should act as an umbrella body that guides and governs the plans and activities of all other clubs in the college. The student’s union thus formed can sit with college administration with plans of the union and clubs and try to fit the activities in the academic calendar. This way, student’s union will essentially be a student’s body. Exams, results and other academic activities start happening according to the calendar and everybody benefits.

There should be clear demarcation of roles and responsibilities of student union and college administration. Student union should not be provided the right to hamper academic programs and college administration should not be allowed to meddle in the activities of students.
This model has multiple advantages for universities, students and the nation as a whole. The academic calendar comes back on track. Large number of students will directly benefit as several kinds of activities will occur at the college and they can participate in the one they feel meets their interest.

Furthermore, a large chunk of students get the opportunity to practice leadership. They can organize programs under different clubs or they can take charge of any club or student union itself. The model further helps in actualization of student’s issues as they can directly be carried to the student’s union by CRs.
The model is already in place at few private colleges of Kathmandu and is serving pretty well. The KCM Student Council is a case in point. The council started in 2003 and is independent from college management and political parties, yet its annual financial transactions exceed Rs 1,500,000, which is essentially student earned money for student council. Ultimately, the amount is invested in various student activities.
This is a viable alternative to the existing FSU system. As time passes, traditional institutions need to be reviewed and updated. If the FSUs are not ready to mend their ways, students and the universities should be ready to adopt the new model.
Republica

Ringing in change

The recent amendment in the 1980 TU regulation on Organization and Educational Administration regarding the age of candidacy on Free Student Union (FSU) election has initiated a fresh discussion on the age of youth politicians. The Supreme Court (SC) order has further provided legitimacy to the amendment made by TU. At the aftermath of the amendment, the 2015 FSU elections will see only candidates aged below 28 competing for the elections. The recent amendments have been widely acclaimed by students, academia, society, and some student unions.

The age bar levied thus will end the deeply rooted culture of old leaders competing in FSU elections. The average fresher at a college is 18, while the leaders of FSUs are generally a couple decades older than these freshers. The huge age gap not only creates frustration among students, but to some extent contributes to the failure of the leaders to address students’ issues properly. The age bar will hopefully end the culture of student leaders looking for political shortcuts through FSUs. 

It is not only the FSU that requires an age bar. Age bar is also much needed in the youth social sector. The count of umbrella organizations of non-political Youth organizations has reached three. The Association of Youth organization of Nepal (AYON) has listed more than 90 registered member youth organizations in its website, while the website of Youth NGO Federation Nepal claims that it has united more than 2,000 youth-led organizations of Nepal. Apart from that, several other unaffiliated youth-led organizations and youth clubs exist in Nepal. The promising number of youth led organizations becomes a matter of concern when it comes to the age of the leaders of these organizations.

Over the last couple of years, youth-led organizations have criticized the leaders of political youth organizations, calling them undemocratic and age-insensitive. To some extent, the blame for the situation goes to the country’s National Youth Policy, which is almost nonfunctional. The national youth policy defines 16-40 as the age of youth. This naïvely paves the way for the presence of older leadership at political as well as social youth organizations. The guiding document itself is not free from controversy, and lacks serious workout towards its implementation.

irnustian.com

Youth-led social organizations should also practice intra-organizational democracy, and create enough space and mechanism for the younger generation to lead. There are youth organizations which are led by individuals rather than by a team of young people. The faces of the leaderships have not changed for several years. Rather than creating space and opportunity for young people, several youth-led organizations have been heavily dominated by a handful of older people.

Until and unless the leadership is handed over from a handful people to fresh talents, youth-led social organizations will not be able to make remarkable or sustainable impacts on society, and do not hold the moral authority to condemn political parties. The change should start from within. Furthermore, youth-led social organizations are heavily dependent on donor agencies, and leadership tends not to change due to heavy budgeted projects and long project durations. 

A change in the leadership at youth-led NGOs is required for them to be able to raise burning social issues related to youth. Issues faced by a 25-year-old female can be better raised by a 25-year-old female than a 35-year-old male. Besides, the issues that were relevant ten years ago may not be of concern now, and this change in priorities can only be mainstreamed when youth organizations are led by fresh leaders.

There are models of youth-led social organizations like Rotary Club and Leo Club where the leadership transfers every year, providing leadership practice to several young people. However, the trend is not carried over in other youth-led NGOs of Nepal. Asking all the youth led NGOs to follow the same model will again be impractical, considering the nature of activities that they carry out. However, youth led NGOs can certainly practice a model where the leadership changes every 2-3 years.

Both bottom-up and top-to-bottom approaches must be adopted to address the issue of leadership stagnancy in youth-led social organizations. These organizations need to adopt a clear democratic process in practice rather than in paper to promote leadership transformation. To aid that, the national youth policy must be updated to meet the changed expectations of young people, and the age bar for a person to be considered “youth” must be reduced to 30. 

Republica

Secret Window

Social Media trends offer some unique experiences to the users. Confession pages, a new social media fad, are mushrooming these days. Though there is no actual evidence of how and where the global trend of confession pages started, the trend in Nepal is seen to be influenced by confessions pages in educational institutions of the US and India.

Over the last month, several confession pages have been started by anonymous users in the name of various educational institutions in Kathmandu. The anonymity of these pages is their core appeal. Lively anonymous posts collected from online forums are posted in facebook pages, which have become the new hangout destinations for a large number of youngsters.


CARDINALNEWMANSOCIETY.ORG
Page visitors wait for the mysterious admin to post new content. Their interest in reading more confessions is evident on the walls of such pages. The deluge of comments requesting the admin to post new content is an example of the craze. These kinds of pages provide students both the opportunity and the risk of expressing things they would not share with otherwise.

The use of technology as tool to raise a voice of protest is not new. Several political changes including the Arab Spring used technology as a powerful tool. In Nepal too, we have witnessed the positive use of technology for social causes. However, the recent trend is very new to the education sector. Such pages not only provide a platform to confess personal feelings but also act as a podium for students to express their views publicly on diverse issues. 

Out of 80 randomly chosen confession posts from 8 different confession pages based in Kathmandu, 38 percent were related to love and liking, 22 percent complained about teachers and schools, 19 percent were negative statements of hatred while another 19 percent were alumni who talked about their memories, and two percent were about other subjects.

The trend clearly shows us that love and mismanagement of educational institutions are not the only issues discussed. These pages also contain information that could ruin the image of a person in a single moment. Statements of hatred and negativity can be found all over the pages. This kind of negativity is establishing itself as a new way of bullying. The pages could also easily damage the hard-earned reputation of educators and educational institutions. 

These pages do not violate the rules of Facebook so long as the contents remain within the bounds of civility. Students who set up confessional pages must do so under their real names, as per Facebook policy. But they can choose to cloak their identity as page administrators. Tackling these confession pages is likely to be a challenge to the regulatory authorities due to their anonymity.

On a different note, these pages have empowered students with a unique and powerful tool which never existed in the past. Students have been using the tool to raise a voice against the malpractices at their institutions. Their posts range from complaining about the teaching-learning style at their educational institution to making fun of a particular teacher’s teaching style. But in the big picture, these forums not only provide a platform for students to express their dissatisfaction, but also point out the urgent need to understand students’ perspective in education. This will also democratize educational institutions and increase their accountability.

The power not only resides with students, this tool equally serves as a window for educators and educational institutions. It creates an opportunity to the educators to review their own activities from the perspective of the students and understand their psychology. Hence, it serves as a learning opportunity for educators and educational institutions as well.
Republica

MOOCs for global audiences

The Year 2012 was the year of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs). Several leading platforms for learning, including Coursera, Udacity and EdX Online launched their services during February to April 2013. With these three startups in the technology market, education has somehow been “democratized.” The course content that was available to a handful of people is now available to the global audience.

Today, Coursera has a user base of more than 2.8 million and offers 313 courses from 62 different universities from around the globe while Udacity offers 22 courses in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) and EdX offers 32 different courses from universities like Harvard and MIT. Also, EdX on its blog on March 3, 2013 announced that its system will be available open source to ease the usage of technology for education from June 1, 2013. 

These MOOCs can be very beneficial to all those who seek to learn in the true sense. A few courses do offer the certificate of completion; however, most of the courses don’t provide the credentials. The contents that are delivered through these sites are outstanding and the discussion forums and quizzes aid the learning process. In a normal course, students from more than 150 countries sign up and express their opinions over the forums, and these virtual study groups give a unique sense of learning and expand the horizon of the applicability of the contents.

Over the last 11 months, universities in the US have been heavily debating on the new trend of education. At one end of the world, technology is growing rapidly and the debate is on whether the courses should be open and free while, unfortunately, guess papers and guidebooks are all sold out in the market as exams approach.
There are countless points which could be discussed and scrutinized to see how outdated a teaching/learning mechanism we have. Even when we compare the two leading universities of the country, Tribhuvan University (TU) and Kathmandu University (KU), there is huge gap between their teaching and learning methodologies.
All universities, professors and students must feel the urgency of sensing the global educational trends. Everybody cannot afford Ivy Leagues but they can afford to sit in front of a computer and taste the way teaching/learning is done.

However, initiatives from universities alone are not capable enough for the change that we want to see. Students should also, at least, try the subjects of their interest. Since these courses are generally shorter in length, students can give it a try.

There are also constraints to this new option. With only 19% of Nepal’s population having access to Internet, language and with other barriers, it might seem difficult to attend the virtual classrooms. However, a few measures can be taken to give this new taste not only to students, colleges or universities but to all those who opt for broadening their horizon.

The government’s Youth Information Centers (YIC) and Information Centers at the VDC level could also be used as strategic learning centers for many young people. This could foster the rural learners’ accessibility to the world-class education. Furthermore, different learning centers and libraries established by several organizations in the country can be established as strategic learning centers and attract students to use their resources to learn.

Colleges and universities can arrange a learning environment for their students in their respective colleges and universities. This will provide platforms to students who don’t regularly access computer and Internet. In addition, Internet Service Providers (ISPs) can also be encouraged to provide access to these learning portals at subsidized rates.

It’s never too late to start. It has not even been a year but these MOOCs are booming. You can start your own learning experience at www.coursera.org, www.udacity.com or www.edx.org today.

Republica

अनलाइन आइकन

प्रदीप बस्याल 

पाँच महिनाअघि दीपेन्द्र केसी, २३, अमेरिकाको पि्रन्स्टन युनिभर्सिटीमा थिए। त्यहाँका डिनले एउटा सामूहिक बहसको मध्यस्थता गररिहेका थिए। बहसका लागि युनिभर्सिटीका प्राध्यापक, अनलाइन अध्ययन वेबसाइट कोर्सेराडटओआरजीका सहसंस्थापक र त्यहीँ

का एक विद्यार्थीसँगै दीपेन्द्रलाई निम्त्याइएको थियो।

विश्वविद्यालयका थुप्रै प्राध्यापक, टिचिङ् एसिस्टेन्ट (अध्यापन सहयोगी) एवं विद्यार्थीहरूले त्यो बहस निकै चाख लिएर सुने, प्रश्न-प्रतिप्रश्नहरू गरे। खासमा त्यो बहस 'अनलाइन लर्निङ्'बारे थियो । एक उत्कृष्ट विद्यार्थीका हैसियतले काठमाडौँदेखि अमेरिकाको न्युजर्सीसम्म दीपेन्द्रको यात्रा तय भएको थियो।

नेपालबाटै 'भर्चुअल' कक्षा लिइरहेका उनले पि्रन्स्टनका केही कक्षामा प्रत्यक्ष सहभागी हुने अवसर मात्र पाएनन्, प्राध्यापककै आग्रहमा एउटा कक्षामा आफ्नो अनुभवसमेत सुनाए।

 एक वर्षअघि त्रिचन्द्र कलेजमा समाजशास्त्रमा स्नातक दोस्रो वर्ष अध्ययन गररिहेका दीपेन्द्रलाई कसैले अनलाइन कोर्सबारे सुनाएका रहेछन् । त्यसैले जन्माएको उत्सुकता अनुरूप कोर्सेराडटओआरजीमा पि्रन्स्टन युनिभर्सिटीको 'समाजशास्त्रको परचिय' अध्ययन सुरु गरिहाले।

विश्वका चर्चित विश्वविद्यालयले यस्ता थुप्रै कोर्स जोकोहीले निःशुल्क पढ्न मिल्ने गरी राख्छन्। केही विश्वविद्यालयले कोर्स सफलतापूर्वक सक्नेलाई प्रमाणपत्रसमेत दिन्छन्। भन्छन्, "धेरै हदसम्म यो आफ्ना लागि चाहिने ज्ञानका लागि हुन्छ।"

त्यो कोर्समा विश्वभरबाट ४० हजार विद्यार्थीले अध्ययन गररिहेका थिए। साताको कुनै एक दिन प्राध्यापकले अध्ययन सामग्री दिन्थे भने अर्को दिन भिडियो लेक्चर। त्यसबाहेक तिनै विद्यार्थीबीच चौबीसै घन्टा विभिन्न समूह बनाएर बहस चलिरहन्थ्यो, जसलाई विश्वविद्यालयको अध्यापन सहयोगीहरूले सघाउँथे।

एक दिन प्राध्यापकले आफूसँग सीधा सम्पर्कमा रहेर छलफल गर्ने अवसर सार्वजनिक गरे। इच्छुकले सहभागिताको कारणसहित इमेल लेख्नुपथ्र्यो। त्यसअघिको सक्रियताले पनि अवसरको सुनिश्चितता निर्धारण गथ्र्यो। ६ साताका लागि डिजाइन गरएिको उक्त अध्ययनमा 'गुगल प्लस ह्याङ्आउट' सुविधामार्फत विश्वभरका प्राध्यापकसहित ६ जना सहभागी हुन मिल्थ्यो। र, सहभागीहरू पनि तयारी र उत्सुकताका आधारमा सातैपिच्छे फेरिन्थे। दीपेन्द्र भाग्यमानी निस्के। उनले लगातार पढ्ने मौका पाए। भन्छन्, "त्यहाँ हामीले समाजशास्त्रलाई स्थानीय परिवेशका आधारमा छलफल गथ्र्यौं।" कोर्स सकिएपछि प्राध्यापकले उनलाई उत्कृष्ट विद्यार्थीका रूपमा अमेरिका जाने अवसर प्रदान गरे।

नेपालजस्तो विकासोन्मुख मुलुक, जहाँ दिनको आधा समय बिजुली हुँदैन, इन्टरनेटमा १३ प्रतिशतको मात्र पहुँच छ, त्यसमाथि इन्टरनेटको गति निकै सुस्त। यस्तो ठाउँबाट अनलाइन कोर्स पढेर दीपेन्द्र सफलताको त्यो हदसम्म पुगेको देखेर सबै दंग परे। विश्वविद्यालयले उनलाई उपहार स्वरूप अझै पढ्ने माहोल बनोस् भनेर आइप्याड उपहार दियो। उनलाई उद्धृत गर्दै अमेरिकी सञ्चारमाध्यमहरू दी न्युयोर्क टाइम्स र सीएनएनले समेत सामग्री तयार पारे।

अहिलेसम्म उनले त्यसबाहेक 'सोसल नेटवर्क एनलाइसिस', 'इकोनोमिक फर म्यानेजर्स', 'मोडल थिंकिङ्'जस्ता कोर्स अनलाइनमै पढेर सकेका छन्। "विश्वका शीर्ष विश्वविद्यालयमा पढ्न चाहने सबैको इच्छा पूरा नहुन सक्छ तर अब त्यहाँको शैक्षिक सामग्रीबाट भने वञ्चित भइँदैन," दीपेन्द्र सुनाउँछन्, "त्यसरी नै पढ्नेहरूको स-साना भर्चुअल गु्रपमा सहभागी भएर समेत कलेजको जस्तै अनुभव लिन सकिन्छ।"

पि्रन्स्टनमा गएसँगै उनको चर्चा भर्चुअल विद्यार्थीमाझ चुलिएको छ। विभिन्न देशका भर्चुअल गु्रपमा उनी अतिथि वक्ताका रूपमा निम्त्याइन्छन्। भन्छन्, "सम्बन्धलाई परिभाषित गर्ने मेरो सोचाइमा अहिले परविर्तन आइसकेको छ।"

कलेजमै पनि समाजशास्त्रलाई उनी स्वयंले हेर्ने शैली बदलेका छन्। "हामी सधैँ एकोहोरो सैद्धान्तिक कुराकै पछाडि लाग्छौँ तर समाजशास्त्रलाई निकै कम स्थानीयकरण गरेर हेर्छौं," उनी भन्छन्, "दाङको थारू बस्ती र काठमाडौँको सम्पन्न बस्तीलाई एउटै सामाजिक संरचनामा हेरेर समाजशास्त्र बुझिँदैन।"

नेपाल साप्ताहिक