Prof. Dr. Sriram Bhagut Mathe is an accomplished name in the education field in Nepal. He is the chairperson at Xavier Academy (XA) and Kathmandu Don Bosco College (KDBC). Prof. Mathe believes in imparting an integrated and holistic education through student-oriented teaching learning activities. College Readers has caught up with him for his short insights. Excerpts:

What inspired you to pursue a career in education, and how did you reach this position?

The famous American philosopher, psychologist and social reformer, Mr. John Dewey, famously stated “Education is not preparation for life; education is life itself”. The famous anti-apartheid activist and first president of South Africa, Mr. Nelson Mandela, described education as “the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world”. The charismatic 35th American President, John F. Kennedy, stated “Let us think of education as the means of developing our greatest abilities…Our progress as a nation can be no swifter than our progress in education. The human mind is our fundamental resource."

Motivated by the above quotations and inspired by my teachers in St Xavier’s School (KG to Senior Cambridge “O” level), Amrit Science College (I. Sc.), M. S University of Baroda (B. Arch), Gujerat, India and University of Strathclyde (Ph.D.), Glasgow, UK, I worked hard and focused on getting the best out of the very committed and dedicated teachers, who were instrumental in my getting excellent results in all the examinations.

Passionate about education from my early childhood and desirous of making a positive impact in society by teaching and playing my part in producing qualified and knowledgeable human resources, I decided to pursue a career in education, after a short stint working as an architect in Shanker Nath Rimal, Architects and Engineers (P) Ltd. I took up a teaching position in Pulchowk Campus, Institute of Engineering (IoE), Tribhuvan University (TU) in 1975 and advanced to managerial positions as the first Program Officer of Department of Architecture, the Assistant Dean/Campus Chief of Pulchowk Campus, IoE, TU, the 1st Campus Chief/Principal of St Xavier’s College and then Dean of IoE, TU.

With the aim of opening a private University, I, along with a group of friends established Nepal Education Foundation (NEF), of which I was the founding Chairperson and I am the current Chairperson. We also founded Xavier Academy, of which, I was the founding Chairman, and I am current Chairperson.    

Besides teaching and managing education institutions, I was professionally active as an architect, within the country, from 1974 till 1997. After 1997, I have successfully completed 8 education/TVET projects financed by ADB and WB in Cambodia as the International Team Leader and have also worked as a consultant in a number of countries in S.E. Asia and East Africa. I am currently the International Team Leader of ADB and AFD financed $88.23 million Skills for Competitiveness (S4C) project in Cambodia.

Can you describe the vision and mission of Xavier Academy (XA), and how do you plan to achieve them?

The vision of XA is “to produce skilled, qualified, morally upright and socially responsible graduates with analytical skills, creative and innovative thinking."

The mission of XA is “to offer the students a caring and learning-enabling environment that enhances learning, enlightens their minds and molds their personalities."

For the past 25 years since XA opened its academic portals to 48 students on 1st of August 1997, Xavier Academy has focused on “academic excellence and total personality development” in a caring and learning-enabling environment through quality teaching in the classrooms and complementary co-curricular activities (CCA) such as essay writing, debating, model united nations (MUN), career talk programs, as well as extra-curricular activities (ECA), such as singing, dancing, drama, photography, painting, sports, cooking as well as social service and various fun activities. There are various intra and inter-NEF competitions throughout the year.

How has your experience evolved over the years, and what have been some of XA’s most significant achievements?

I have always enjoyed working with young people. I feel rejuvenated interacting with young students. I believe in lifelong learning and enjoy learning by interacting with my students.

The most significant achievements of XA are as follows:

• XA has completed 25 years of service to the country by imparting quality education to the students and molding their personalities in a very caring and learning-inducive environment. On 1st August 2023, XA will be celebrating its 26th anniversary. We have and will always be focused on producing qualified students with character and integrity.
• Starting with 48 students in 1997, over 6,000 students have chosen and completed their +2 courses from XA. Almost all of our graduates are working in very prestigious positions in Nepal and all over the world.
• Our exam results have been exceptionally good and we have been consistently recognized as one of the top ten “+2” institutions in Nepal.
• Just recently, we have invested a lot of resources to convert all our classrooms into “smart classrooms” by introducing interactive TV screens to improve the quality of teaching and learning.
• XA complements its core teaching with a wide variety of CCA and ECA activities as well as social service and intra and inter-NEF competitions.
• XA has been successfully organizing international editions of XAMUN and Mahasangram (debating) from 2017 onwards except during covid. XA is organizing the 5th International edition of XAMUN from 18 to 20 July 2023 in Club Himalaya, Nagarkot and the 5th international edition of Mahasangram from 4 to 7 August 2023.

How do you prepare students to meet the demands of the 21st century workforce, and what skills and competencies do you believe are most essential for success?

The world is changing very fast. We are experiencing the 4th Industrial Revolution (4 IR), characterized by smart and autonomous systems fueled by data and machine learning, cyber-physical systems, the Internet of Things and the Internet of Systems. Many of the jobs that exist today may not exist in a decade or so. We have to prepare our students to cope with the many challenges which will come their way. They will have to learn, unlearn and relearn continuously. Research has shown that people tend to change jobs 4 or 5 times during their working lives. Regardless of the nature of the job, our students, will have to deal with 2 “P's”, namely “people” and “problems”.  To deal with the 2 P's, they must possess “4 C's”, collaboration and communication skills to work with other people and creativity and critical thinking skills to solve problems. Education should no longer focus on facts and information but rather on developing the 21st century skills. These skills along with commitment, dedication and integrity will ensure success. We are determined to inculcate 21st century skills in our students.

In your opinion, what role does technology play in modern education, and how do you ensure its effective integration in your school/college?

Technology is playing an increasing role in education. From the “chalk and duster” modality, classroom teaching has changed dramatically with the use of whiteboards, overhead projectors, LED projectors to the present use of interactive TV screens. Classrooms have transitioned from the traditional “chalk and duster” classroom to modern “smart” classrooms. Students these days have access to more and more powerful technological tools. Mobiles, desktops and laptops have become more powerful and smarter and have helped students to learn in smarter and more efficient ways.

During the covid-19 pandemic, the education sector had to quickly adapt to “online teaching”. Even though the covid situation has normalized, “online teaching-learning” is here to stay in one form or other.

XA has always believed in keeping pace with the technological changes to ensure that both our teachers and students are tech savvy. XA was one of the first institution to change from “chalk and duster” modality to whiteboard, to LED. It is now one of the first private institutions in Nepal to become a “smart” institution, with the use of interactive TVs in all the classrooms.

What strategies do you employ to promote effective communication and collaboration among students, parents, and staff members?

XA may be one of very few institutions to conduct orientation programs not only for the fresh students but also for the parents of the fresh students. In these orientation programs, both the students and parents are sensitized to the core values and beliefs of XA.

Every year, parents are invited three times to XA to pick up the term results and to discuss with the teachers about the strengths and weaknesses of the students in terms of their academic performance during the term and what needs to be done in future to improve the academic performance. There is also Parent Teacher Association (PTA) to foster discussion between the teachers and parents in the presence of the senior management.

XA has a very active Student Council comprising of representatives from each class. The Student Council provides the forum for the students to develop their leadership and organizations skills.

Class teachers have the responsibility to maintain continuous contact with the students and their Parents.

Our receptionists are also in continuous contact with the parents.

Every five years, XA celebrates its anniversary in a grand manner. Parents are invited to these anniversary celebrations. These five-yearly events are occasions to honor and award are distinguished alumni.

XA prides itself in maintaining a very collegial and family environment where all important stakeholders, students, parents/guardians, administrative staff, senior management, work together for the betterment of the students. 

What do you think would decrease the trend of students going abroad for studies and encourage them to study in Nepal?

It has been reported that some 416,364 students obtained “no objection certificates” (NoC) from 2008 to 2021. According to UNESCO (2018), 49,451 Nepali students were studying overseas (increasing from 24,000 in 2010). Over 600 young Nepalis apply for “no objection certificates” (NoC) every day to go overseas for higher studies.

Between January-June 2022, the Ministry of Education in Kathmandu approved 82,000 NOC for students going to Australia, Canada, UK, Japan, and the US. Many of them may never come back. Within 7 months of current fiscal year, NRs 44 billion worth of foreign currency flowed out of the country in the name of higher education.

To address this outward flow of students, a number of private colleges are offering a few courses of foreign higher education institutions through affiliation. Out of 88 such institutions (colleges and schools), only 45 offer a higher education catering to about 20,000 students a year.

The major reason for the increasing outflow of Nepali students is because of the deteriorating quality of education within the country because our public universities are highly politicized. The senior most officers, Vice-Chancellors, Rectors, Registrars, and Deans appointed on the basis of political affiliation and considerations rather than on meritocracy. Therefore, these political appointees are more focused on pleasing their political masters and busy advancing their political agenda rather than focusing on systemic academic, including curricular, reforms. When they do try to initiate academic reforms, all the teachers’, students’ and staff unions usually resort to “gheraos” and “lock-downs”, and the academic reforms are either postponed or never implemented. Therefore, the curricula are not keeping pace with the changes occurring in the world. There is very little investment in research and development (R&D), which is a necessary prerequisite to be a reputable institution. The government financing is very limited so the public universities resort to generating income through affiliation fees levied on private colleges, affiliating with the universities.

If the outward flow of students is to be decreased, the government has to focus on imparting quality education, so that students do not have to go abroad to get quality education. This can be done by reforming the public universities and promoting the establishment of private “deemed to be universities”. Since the public universities are highly politicized, politics have to be uprooted from the public universities by restructuring these Universities so that they are governed by a Board of Trustees, drawn from distinguished apolitical alumni representing different fields, and all the important positions should be filled up through open, transparent selection process so that the best candidates are chosen on the basis of a very rigorous competitive selection process. All unions - teachers, students and staff – affiliated to political parties should be banned.

The Government must allow private education institutions, which have been operating for more than 20 years, have a very good academic track record, have their own buildings and other infrastructure, and have adequate human resources, and have more than 1,000 students, to upgrade to “deemed to be universities”.  Out of 1440 campuses as of UGC’s EMIS of 2020/21, there are 753 (53.29%) private campuses with over 158,544 students out of a total enrollment of 460,826.  If the Government is serious about reforming the education sector, the Government must lay down very strict criteria for private colleges to become “deemed to be universities”, and allow those institutions, which meet these criteria, to be “deemed to be universities”, on the basis of a very rigorous vetting process. As “deemed to be universities”, these entities cannot affiliate other private colleges; therefore, they can focus on designing demand-oriented curricula, responsive to the needs of the market, and award degrees.

Once good, private universities start operating, the public universities will either have to shape up or ship out.

What would you suggest to the SEE graduates on which subject to study and which +2 school to enroll?

Students should choose the subject of their interest. When we were young, there was tremendous parental and social pressure to study science so as to be engineers and doctors. Over the last decade, parents have realized that they should not impose their desires and dreams on their children as children have their own dreams. They may suggest but should be happy with the decisions of their children.

SEE graduates should seriously consider the pros and cons of the different subjects, vis-à-vis future careers and employment prospects, discuss with their parents and guardians and then make a decision on which subject to take up. Once decided, the students must be happy with the decision taken and study well to achieve their dreams.

With respect the school/institution, they should search the websites of the schools/colleges which are reputable, make a short list, visit the schools/colleges in the short list with their parents/guardians, talk with the senior management and teachers, discuss with the alumni of the colleges, if possible, discuss with their school teachers on the schools/colleges visited and decide on which school/college to apply.

Since both the choice of subject and the choice of +2 school are very important, the decisions should be taken after a lot of discussion and thought. There are a lot of good +2 schools. I would like to wish all of the students the very best in making the right choice of subject and +2 school.