Ukesh Raj Bhuju is the Dean at School of Development Studies & Applied Sciences of Lumbini Buddhist University. This school has been established to practically connect and contextualize the teachings of Buddha with the contemporary issues and development needs. The school offers three master programs on agroforestry, development & environmental studies that have been designed within the framework of Buddhist concepts of Tapovana (meditation grove) and the notions of Ahimsa (non-violence). With these programs, the school offers experiential learning opportunities such as monastic experience, internship, and outreach services for the learners. Prof. Bhuju has caught up with College Readers for his short interview. Excerpts:

Would you be willing to recount your academic path?

As far as I remember, I got my first education at home with my mother who encouraged me to practice self-learning process.  Later, I joined school at Grade VII in the Vidyarthi Niketan High School in my hometown of Bhaktapur where I completed my School Leaving Certificate in 1969.  With my quest for studying science, I got admission to Amrit Science College (ASCOL) in Kathmandu through an entrance test.  I completed both Intermediate and Bachelor of Sciences at ASCOL in 1970-74.  For one semester, I joined Master of Science in Physics at the Tribhuvan University in 1974, and I eventually opted for Diploma in Forestry at the Indian Forest College (renamed as Indira Gandhi National Forest Academy in 1987) in Dehradun, India under the Colombo Plan scholarship in 1975-77.

Upon serving the government Department of Soil Conservation and Watershed Management for over six years, I got admission to Michigan State University, USA under the scholarship of Food and Agriculture Organization for studying Master of Science in Agricultural and Extension Education in 1983-84.

My education continued with a number of training in environment related field, and the specialization course of Certificate in Environmental Education at the Jordanhill College, Glasgow, Scotland in 1991.

Could you provide a concise overview of the Development Studies & Applied Sciences programs offered at Lumbini Buddhist University?

As per the mandate of the Lumbini Buddhist University (LBU) for promoting Buddhist philosophy, the School of Development Studies & Applied Sciences (SDSAS) was established in 2019 for the purposes of promoting teaching, learning, research and practice in development studies & applied sciences.  However, we also link the contemporary subjects with Buddhist philosophy as per our mandate. 

In order to expand academic and research programs, the government of Nepal has granted LBU with 61.25 hectares of forests land in Devdaha, the birthplace of three prominent women in Buddha's life.  They are Maha Mayadevi, who gave him birth, Prajapati Gautami, who raised him, and Yashodhara, who gave birth to his son.  LBU has drafted a master plan in the granted forests for accommodating academic buildings, demonstration farms, entrepreneurship hubs, meditation center, stadium, visitors' centers and other learning centers.  

Accordingly, within the overall framework of higher education as formulated by the University Grants Commission, SDSAS developed three academic programs a) Master in Environmental Studies (MDS), b) Master in Development Studies (MES), and c) Master in Agroforestry (MAF).  Recently, Master in Buddhist Architecture and Planning is under preparation.  Of these programs, LBU has offered MAF and MDS since 2020 and 2021 respectively.

More specifically, MAF focuses on developing economically viable tapovana (meditation grove) in line with Buddhist philosophy and the universal goals of sustainable development. 

Similarly, MDS focuses on sustainable development in line with Buddhist concepts of Sheela sampanna sangha and shared prosperity with maitri (amity), karuna (compassion) and mudita (joy); and MES focuses on environmental management as reflected in the Buddhist landscapes such as the birthplace of Shakyamuni Buddha and sustainable development.

SDSAS also supervises three affiliated programs, such as MSc in Construction Engineering Management and MSc in Disaster Risk Engineering Management in Lalitpur, and Bachelor of Sowa Rigpa Medicine and Surgery in Kathmandu.

Have you envisaged the prospects of Development Studies & Applied Sciences in Nepal?

The very purpose of the LBU-SDSAS programs is to link applied sciences with the legacy of Buddha's birth and life, intent of the LBU Act and the spirits of the World Buddhist Summits held in 1998 and 2004.

As mentioned earlier, SDSAS has developed programs in agroforestry, development and environmental studies that meet the present development needs of the country especially at the provincial and municipality levels. 

These programs equip our learners with the updated knowledge and skill of contemporary applied sciences along with Buddhist philosophy making them competent in their respective professional fields especially in innovative planning, action research, participatory monitoring and evaluation at the municipal, provincial and national levels.

Appreciating the inherent values of the programs, several municipalities have shown keen interest to launch SDSAS programs in their areas.  In fact, we have envisioned expansion of our programs at the municipality levels.

Why should one study these programs at LBU?

LBU-SDSAS offers a dual advantage of both contemporary knowledge and skill along with spiritual attitudes based on Buddhism.

The programs have been tailor-made to meet the specific professional requirements of learners.

The programs fulfill the criteria of higher education as formulated by the University Grants Commission. 

Learners may simply opt for the programs of SDSAS as per their interests.  However, some aspects that they might look into for considerations include followings:

Academic programs
Master programs of agroforestry, development and environmental studies are unique in their course contents.  They include experiential courses such as monastic experience, field project experience and outreach programs in which learners get first-hand knowledge, skill and attitude of the subject matter,.

The courses of SDSAS programs blend up-to-date contemporary studies and Nepal's indigenous knowledge in the given subject matter for real life applications.

Legacy

LBU's legacy connects with Buddha' life and, thus, the World Buddhist Summits had unanimously pledged for its promotion worldwide.  

Academically, LBU is ranked 7th among the other universities in Nepal in terms of academic excellence and other criteria.

Entrance

In general, Bachelor learners having minimum CGPA 2.5 or 50% in aggregate are qualified for entrance.  More specifically, bachelors of agriculture, forestry or science are eligible for MAF, those of humanities or management or science for MDS, and of Law or Humanities or Science for MES.

Resources

LBU-SDSAS has mobilized a number of experts from Nepal and abroad for conducting its courses.  It has established a network of over 50 experts engaged in subject committees, resource materials production, teachers, researchers and scientists. 

Location

Presently, we are located at Shitalnagar about 15 km east of Butwal.  In the future, we will move to the LBU forest land about 1.5 km south.

Costs and scholarships

LBU-SDSAS programs are of medium expenses compared to similar program offered by the universities in Nepal.

Some learners are already enjoying scholarships from the Sainamaina Municipality.

Work opportunities

LBU-SDSAS has a provision of work opportunities for the learners in research and community development projects. 

How do you maintain and retain quality in education?

First of all, we make sure that our learners would be self-motivated for giving their individual and collective efforts towards learning.  For this to happen, our teaching faculties and resource persons give learners ways and means of learning, rather than sharing only information.

Since we follow the higher education framework formulated by the University Grants Commission, we ensure that the courses and syllabus are based on the state-of-the-art of the given subject.

In the case of course delivery, our teaching faculties deliver their courses by using various pedagogical approaches as they fit in the professional career.  For example, the sessions are generally a seminar type, and the assignments are designed to explore in the field and real life situations.

Similarly, there is a constant monitoring and evaluation, and continued interface with learners and faculties on a regular basis as per the principles of the semester system.

Along with the internal evaluation of learners, we also perform end-semester examinations to test the comprehensive knowledge and skill of learners in the given subject.

In the case of experiential courses, learners deliver their knowledge and skill through field works, presentation and report writing.

Do you set priorities for research-based education or philosophy-based education?

We believe that, in academia, philosophy and research are two sides of a coin.  Hence, we ensure that learners become critical analysts of philosophy, and scientists of action research. 

In each course, learners have been exposed to conceptual, theoretical and philosophical perspectives of the subjects, and at the same time they are encouraged to conduct field based action research for their assignments.

What are the challenges of the successful implementation of this curriculum?

In the beginning, when we initiated this school, we faced challenges of confinement due to COVID-19 pandemic.  However, we utilized the 'locked-down' situation to concentrate in program and syllabus development for which we optimally utilized the online technology.  Accordingly, we formed subject committees, developed courses and syllabus, and managed to conduct our regular sessions online.  During openings between locked-downs, we conducted field studies.

Since, our programs are new arrivals in the academia; we faced challenges in finding course instructors and gathering appropriate resource materials.  There are limited resource materials as required for the courses.  But our instructors started developing tailor-made materials along with their session plans. 

Limited financial resource is also an obstacle for program implementation.  As per our vision, we plan to establish demonstration farms & nurseries and entrepreneurship hubs that would complement research works for community development and nature conservation.  Recently, LBU has signed Memorandum of Understandings with like-minded organizations for collaborative works towards this end.  For example, LBU and WWF have launched a project of Sarus-Human Harmony in which our teaching faculties and learners are engaged.

Could you possibly tell us about the possible gateways to those barriers?

Our efforts have been in two major fronts, such as admission of motivated learners who would contribute for the society, and generation of funds for action research and demonstration farms.  For example, we have worked with World Wildlife Fund in nature conservation, indigenous knowledge and outreach programs.  The activities include field research works that would generate income generation for the local people.  One area is to explore on indigenous knowledge on Kala Namak rice for better income generation. 

Similarly, we have approached municipalities for their support in terms of scholarships and sponsorships.  As mentioned above, the Sainamaina Municipality has provided scholarships to our learners, and in return they (learners) would contribute for smart planning implementation of development programs of the municipality.  Already, the learners have made cordial contacts with community women and youths who would work for income generation under the expert guidance of learners.

What is your message to those learners willing to plunge into Buddhist philosophy through modern education? 

Upon attaining enlightenment, Buddha spent rest of his life for the welfare of the society.  Inspired by his deeds, I have two messages to be shared with you and the readers.

Firstly, I urge all qualified persons to join in our programs that provide you with the state-or-the-art of the subjects required for the successful professional career along with spiritual values to make life happier.

Secondly, education should not only individually satisfy ourselves but also be useful to the society to which we belong.  So, let us serve the society with our full strengths professionally and spiritually.