Dial 1919 from a telephone in Sri Lanka and you can get information on 77 different government bodies in three major languages of the country—Sinhala, Tamil, and English. In Sri Lanka, a range of ICT facilities have been introduced to strengthen information management in governance, education, healthcare, industry, agriculture, fisheries, social security and judicial systems, especially at the grassroots level.
The institutional mechanisms of Sri Lanka have been altered for rapid development of society using ICT. Since 2005, the ICT Agency of Sri Lanka (ICTA) has provided leadership in the application of ICT. Its “e-Sri Lanka” program has achieved major economic, developmental, and social improvements.
In 2010, the government set up a separate Ministry for Information & Communication Technology to strengthen ICT leadership, advance the sector, and collaborate with other stakeholders. The country’s national broadband policy aims at narrowing down the digital divide by implementing an island-wide national backbone network that provides low cost and high-speed connectivity through competition among Internet service providers.
According to ICTA, the ICT literacy rate in Sri Lanka has grown from approximately 5 percent in 2004 to almost 40 percent in 2012. The target is 75 percent by 2015. Cellular phone penetration stands at over 100 percent, and broadband technologies are increasingly available in rural areas. The rural telecenter network, or the “Nenasala” Centers (“Wisdom outlets” program), provide an important opportunity for rural population to learn. They promote partnerships among government and private organizations, individual entrepreneurs and civil society organizations to create a knowledgeable society. The Ministry of Technology & Research also operates another island-wide network named “Vidatha.” These multi service centers promote access to scientific and technological applications, including ICT, to rural communities.
apt.int
One of the telecenters established in the periphery of a temple at Udubaddawa of Kurunegala district provides a wide range of facilities. This telecenter primarily focuses on improving local people’s English language and computer skills. During their leisure, young college students take regular English courses and Diplomas in computer courses at the center at subsidized rates. It currently provides a six-month long computer Diploma course. Students can sit for a standardized test after the completion of the course, and can acquire the certificate at a low cost.
The ICT Center not only serves as a learning center but also acts as a business unit. People can pay their utility bills and access internet facility at a nominal cost. It also serves as a coordinating agency for other distance learning units scattered over small villages where young kids are taught English by local teachers. Sometimes, religious centers are used as learning centers, which attracts a lot of people.
Today, more than 300 IT and Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) companies operate in Sri Lanka, serviced by a workforce of over 60,000, and generating US $400 million in exports. Sri Lanka expects to create a 100,000-strong workforce in the ICT sector in the next four to five years.
According to Nepal Telecommunication Authority (NTA), in March 15, 2013, telephone penetration in Nepal had reached 73.88 percent, and internet penetration had reached more than 23 percent. More than 90 percent of them use mobile devices to connect to the internet.
This indicates growing demand for technological knowledge and tools among the general public, a hopeful sign for a country situated next to technological giants like India and China.
The question is: Have we adapted to this need? The answer, in the existing investment scenario and government IT policy, is a bold “NO”. The creation of ICT centers in rural Nepal is the need of the hour. There have been some efforts to create similar centers, but they have not been very successful in generating results because of the absence of strong policy backing and lack of understanding of the needs of local people.
No rural Nepali will reject the opportunity to learn computer skills and English language, if the lessons are available at a reasonable rate at their doorsteps. In this connection, ICT centers with physical resources should be started, through which people can learn computer skills and access the Internet. The telecommunication companies of Nepal should also think of joining hands with the government and social organizations to create a technologically sound workforce.
People are charged for free passport forms, migrant workers are cheated with fake airline tickets, farmers are paid low price for their products by middlemen. Many of these problems, as well as many other social problems, can be easily addressed by incorporating technology in daily life. The growth achieved by Sri Lanka in last 7-8 years is replicable, but only given strong political will. Both top-down and bottom-up approaches are needed to institutionalize technological growth and bring about desired social change.
The author recently won South Asia Regional Grant Competition on ICT and Youth jointly organized by The World Bank and Microsoft® in Colombo, Sri Lanka dipendra@YUWA.org.np Republica
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.
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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
We complain and we argue that there’s nothing much youths can do until and unless they join mainstream politics. But even if we decide to join politics, reaching a position of influence isn´t easy as the older generation is not yet ready to cede the power. It’s a catch-22 situation for the younger generation and most of us have learnt to live with it.
A host of issues concerning younger generation in Nepal have not been addressed by the government. Unemployment, among all other problems, tops the list. Every single day, Nepal is losing its “working age” population to Gulf and other countries. Nothing is being done to tap the youthful energies without which development of a country is impossible.
Implementation of the youth policy, introduced in 2010, has failed to remedy the situation and the youth today are seeking change of the leadership.
On democracy
“We can voice ourselves more openly now compared to the past and I think Maoists are to be credited for this change,” says Dipendra KC, 23, president of YUWA, a youth organization based in Kathmandu.
He added that people are more aware of their rights now and do not keep mum if they feel deprived of their rights. He is of the view that policy makers understand the role young people can play in the development of the country but are still hesitant to let them take the helms.
“If I want to start a business, nobody will finance me. The Yuva Swarojgar Yojana (Youth Self-employment Fund), which was set up to provide loans to young people who want to start a business, is being used for the benefit of cadres of political parties,” KC opines.
On the other hand, Pukar Bam, 25, co-founder of Bibekshil Nepali, a political party founded by the youth, agrees with KC and adds that democracy has been fruitful only for some political leaders and party workers. Bam adds that in the recent five to six years, he has seen youth coming back from abroad seeking opportunities to do things at home. "They are very much willing to step out of their comfort zone to bring about change," he says. “I think that’s the only good thing this whole political instability has brought us,” he says, summing that the youths know if they don’t do something, everything will remain the same.
Change doesn’t come easy and it takes time. In Nepal, however, change is not something that’s welcomed with open arms. You take a step forward and there will be scores of people trying to pull you back. That’s the point Pushpa Gurung, 23, field coordinator at Nepal Mahila Ekata Samaj, wants to make. “Unity has definitely risen since the restoration of democracy but moving forward is still difficult because there is always someone pulling you back. It does not matter even if what you are doing is for the good of the country,” she says.
Prasun Rai, 25, an intern at Actionaid Nepal, also raises the issue of youth in the rural areas not being updated with the whole scenario. “Privileged youths are aware about a lot of things but those in the remote areas are unaware of it.”
Disagreeing with Rai’s statement, Aman Lama, 21, a member of Activista, a youth platform, says, “They are aware about the happenings. What they lack is the opportunity to express themselves. Since they are far from the capital city, they don’t have much exposure in the media and, hence, we assume that they are unaware.” Lama thinks that youth outside the Valley should also get equal space in media so that they are encouraged to do more.
On federalism
The erstwhile kingdom of Nepal was renamed Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal on May 28, 2008 when the Constituent Assembly overwhelmingly favored the abolishment of the monarchy. However, the federal system has yet to be given a complete shape as the political parties cannot decide how to go about it and how the separate states should function.
The Constituent Assembly served its term for four years but was not able to produce the much anticipated “Constitution of Nepal” due to the inability of the parties to resolve some issues.
Rai, who thinks federalism is not suitable for Nepal, shares, “Nepal’s geography is such that federalism doesn’t make sense. People might get services faster and that need not have to travel to Kathmandu to get passports, but the cost of running the country would rise too. And if it’s the development we are talking about, it can still be done without dividing Nepal if we come up with proper plans.”
Lama, however, pointed out another problem. “It would be difficult to put in place a proper taxation system. If one state increases the price of basic commodities, what will happen?” questions Lama. He also expressed that some states might be richer than another and that might invite instability.
Bam, too, thinks that the overall cost would rise and so would corruption. Also, he says, “We need to ask whether federalism is actually wanted by the people or the leaders. I don’t see any problems with the five development zones. It’s just that it’s not functioning very well due to the inability of the government.”
Bam is certain that the elections will take place for a new Constituent Assembly. "We should vote for people only after going through their Curriculum Vitae," he says. “We need to vote for someone who can lead us and not disappoint us and for that to happen, we need to make sure that we vote for the right person.” Republica
We complain and we argue that there’s nothing much youths can do until and unless they join mainstream politics. But even if we decide to join politics, reaching a position of influence isn´t easy as the older generation is not yet ready to cede the power. It’s a catch-22 situation for the younger generation and most of us have learnt to live with it.
A host of issues concerning younger generation in Nepal have not been addressed by the government. Unemployment, among all other problems, tops the list. Every single day, Nepal is losing its “working age” population to Gulf and other countries. Nothing is being done to tap the youthful energies without which development of a country is impossible.
Implementation of the youth policy, introduced in 2010, has failed to remedy the situation and the youth today are seeking change of the leadership.
On democracy
“We can voice ourselves more openly now compared to the past and I think Maoists are to be credited for this change,” says Dipendra KC, 23, president of YUWA, a youth organization based in Kathmandu.
He added that people are more aware of their rights now and do not keep mum if they feel deprived of their rights. He is of the view that policy makers understand the role young people can play in the development of the country but are still hesitant to let them take the helms.
“If I want to start a business, nobody will finance me. The Yuva Swarojgar Yojana (Youth Self-employment Fund), which was set up to provide loans to young people who want to start a business, is being used for the benefit of cadres of political parties,” KC opines.
On the other hand, Pukar Bam, 25, co-founder of Bibekshil Nepali, a political party founded by the youth, agrees with KC and adds that democracy has been fruitful only for some political leaders and party workers. Bam adds that in the recent five to six years, he has seen youth coming back from abroad seeking opportunities to do things at home. "They are very much willing to step out of their comfort zone to bring about change," he says. “I think that’s the only good thing this whole political instability has brought us,” he says, summing that the youths know if they don’t do something, everything will remain the same.
Change doesn’t come easy and it takes time. In Nepal, however, change is not something that’s welcomed with open arms. You take a step forward and there will be scores of people trying to pull you back. That’s the point Pushpa Gurung, 23, field coordinator at Nepal Mahila Ekata Samaj, wants to make. “Unity has definitely risen since the restoration of democracy but moving forward is still difficult because there is always someone pulling you back. It does not matter even if what you are doing is for the good of the country,” she says.
Prasun Rai, 25, an intern at Actionaid Nepal, also raises the issue of youth in the rural areas not being updated with the whole scenario. “Privileged youths are aware about a lot of things but those in the remote areas are unaware of it.”
Disagreeing with Rai’s statement, Aman Lama, 21, a member of Activista, a youth platform, says, “They are aware about the happenings. What they lack is the opportunity to express themselves. Since they are far from the capital city, they don’t have much exposure in the media and, hence, we assume that they are unaware.” Lama thinks that youth outside the Valley should also get equal space in media so that they are encouraged to do more.
On federalism
The erstwhile kingdom of Nepal was renamed Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal on May 28, 2008 when the Constituent Assembly overwhelmingly favored the abolishment of the monarchy. However, the federal system has yet to be given a complete shape as the political parties cannot decide how to go about it and how the separate states should function.
The Constituent Assembly served its term for four years but was not able to produce the much anticipated “Constitution of Nepal” due to the inability of the parties to resolve some issues.
Rai, who thinks federalism is not suitable for Nepal, shares, “Nepal’s geography is such that federalism doesn’t make sense. People might get services faster and that need not have to travel to Kathmandu to get passports, but the cost of running the country would rise too. And if it’s the development we are talking about, it can still be done without dividing Nepal if we come up with proper plans.”
Lama, however, pointed out another problem. “It would be difficult to put in place a proper taxation system. If one state increases the price of basic commodities, what will happen?” questions Lama. He also expressed that some states might be richer than another and that might invite instability.
Bam, too, thinks that the overall cost would rise and so would corruption. Also, he says, “We need to ask whether federalism is actually wanted by the people or the leaders. I don’t see any problems with the five development zones. It’s just that it’s not functioning very well due to the inability of the government.”
Bam is certain that the elections will take place for a new Constituent Assembly. "We should vote for people only after going through their Curriculum Vitae," he says. “We need to vote for someone who can lead us and not disappoint us and for that to happen, we need to make sure that we vote for the right person.”
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
