noted that: ‘The teaching and learning situation in primary schools is rather
depressing. ... Students are encouraged to learn by rote, and assessments are
made on the same basis’ (NEC, 1992, p. 24).
A coordinated and concerted effort to improve the quality of education at the
primary level was initiated in 1984 with the Primary Education Project (PEP).
The PEP was succeeded by the Basic and Primary Education Project 1992–
1996 (BPEP-I), BPEP-II 1997–2002, Education for All 2004–2009 (EFA) and the
School Sector Reform Programme (SSRP) (2009–2016). The reforms introduced
through these projects brought about improvements in the curriculum,
curricular materials, teacher preparation and physical infrastructure.
Reports have also asserted that, though slow, classroom teaching and
learning practices improved as a result of the various projects. For example,
the PEP, which was piloted in six districts, allowed for the greater use of role
playing, demonstrations and group work. While both the PEP and non-PEP
school teachers were observed to have used mainly direct teaching methods
such as lectures, questions and demonstration, studies found that the PEP
teachers prepared lesson plans more often than non-PEP teachers. Still,
teachers of both groups were found to rely mainly on their textbooks for
teaching purposes (CERID, 1989).
The achievements of students during the BPEP were not impressive. The
BPEP-II Master Plan 1997–2002 offered two possibilities to explain the lack
of improvement of students, noting that, ‘either the new curriculum has not
been appropriately delivered, or it has not been delivered to the required
extent’ (MOE, 1997, p. 281). The master plan also observed that the mechanism
of curricular transaction in the classroom environment was one of the major
issues. The document emphasized that learning on the part of children
becomes meaningful if an integrated approach of delivery is adopted.
It noted that child learning does not occur simply as an accumulation of
discrete bits and pieces of information or course contents. Learning should
be an assimilation of knowledge into the existing cognitive structure to form
an integrated whole of new learning.
Focusing on improving the quality of education by improving classroom
teaching-learning, the Concept Paper for Further Support on Basic and
Primary Education in Nepal 2004–2009 pointed out a need to de-emphasize
rote learning and to move away from treating the students as homogeneous
units (MOES, 2002).