Nepal wants high-paying careers. Its humanities classrooms are paying the price
Summary
Humanities streams in Nepal’s high schools are losing students as science and management continue to dominate perceptions of success. Educators say an income-centric education system is pushing schools to drop subjects like sociology, psychology and mass communication.
Key Points
- Grade 12 enrollment in humanities subjects such as sociology, psychology and mass communication has fallen sharply in Nepal, while science, management and economics subjects have grown.
- Schools offering humanities streams are also declining, with some subjects now available in far fewer institutions than before.
- Educators say families, schools and the wider system increasingly value education mainly for income and job security, sidelining social sciences and the humanities.
- Students like Jigisha Ranjit and Prashna Bista show that interest in humanities still exists, but many schools have removed the stream because of low enrollment.
