Rabindra is giving a lecture about special education

Changwon University has been carrying out the LUPIC project with the International Cooperation Leading University Project and Nepal Tribhuvan National University for fifth year, having started in 2014. The project has been supporting the training of specialists by establishing a special education department in the undergraduate and master's courses at Tribhuvan University. In addition, Nepal has been developing a history of special education by actively supporting the administration of special education policies such as the development of a master plan for special education in Nepal and the introduction of a special teacher qualification system. As a result, Nepal is in the process of establishing a system capable of nurturing special education specialists necessary for its own country. In this process, Tribhuvan University Rabindra Shiwakoti, who holds a Masters in Special Education, is supporting this program in Korea. Let's hear the story of his three years here.

Q: Please introduce yourself

A: Good morning. I am 48 years old, and my name is Rabindra Shiwakoti. I am a professor of special education and have taught at Nepal University for 21 years and live in Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal. I have been in Korea since August 2006 and I am currently completing my doctoral program at the Graduate School of Special Education and finishing my final semester with my dissertation. The current title of the paper for educational innovation research is "Special Education Policy in Nepal: A Critical Review from Policy Theory". I came to Changwon University because of ODA which is a project related to national policy and Korea Ministry of Education, Nepal Tribhuvan National University and Changwon National University in order to help their special education field through the LUPIC project. I was a professor at Tribhuvan and was invited to the project team as a member of the professor training course.

Q: Introduce about the LUPIC program.

A: One of the national policy projects, ODA Industry LUPIC program, is linked to more than 10 universities in Korea. Changwon University is the only school in the field of education. The Leading University Project for International Co-operation is a project that fully supports a system to train the special education experts needed in its own country(Nepal) and help guarantee the educational rights of disabled students and promote the development of related policies. It is a project of Changwon University and it is linked to special education. Professor Jung Dae-young and I are working on this project together. The head of the Nepal Cooperation Center has goals and expected effects on the project's performance. Firstly, higher education aims to cultivate special education higher talent. Another goal is the development and system of higher education models for the cultivation of special education experts in Nepal through remodeling of special education departments. It also aims to strengthen Nepal's ability to train special education experts and faculty members, develop education programs for field teachers and improve their ability to apply them. Basic education supports children, teenagers, and disabled students in order to universalize educational benefits. It seeks to advance after-school education through basic education through ICT education programs. The education of parents is also expanded to improve the sense of educational equity and the awareness of health and hygiene and disability.

Q: Is there a difference between Nepal and Korea's special education?

A: Nepal's special education system is not practical. Instead of being practical, there are more theoretical parts. However, it is a good experience to learn in Korea because here they carry out theory and practice together. Nepal has a lot of content but does not use new programs, but Korea has suitable content for special education. In Nepal, they also meet with the International Community to receive data because they do not have basic Nepalese content. We receive and use data from various countries. But Korean students have high level deep content. Nepal has a little bit of a field content and is lacking in specifics. The reason why I chose special education is because there are many disabled students in the social center, social service in Nepal, so I want to help them overcome their disabilities.

Q: What is your final goal before returning to your country?

A: The final goal is to develop Nepal's special education before returning to Nepal. The Korean Special Education Society is established already but Nepal is not. So I want to establish an "NSAES (Nepal Special Education Society)" building. Currently, Nepal does not have a Ph.D. professor for disabled students. We're here for the first teaching training program for disabled students. The goal is to improve awareness of special education and to develop gradually in terms of level and literacy. There are many poor and disabled people in Nepal who have not received social services due to natural disasters such as earthquakes. I am very interested in social services for poor people, so my goal is to build this business. Now that Nepal has recently started special education, its last goal is to expand it nationwide. I want to do special education developed with long-term vision through master's and doctorate courses and write papers on Nepal policy and strive for social development.

Q: Is there anything else you want to say to our readers?

A: It is sad that I will be leaving soon. I will continue to study and try to achieve my goals while working as a professor in Nepal. I deeply appreciate the support of Changwon National University and the Korea Research Foundation, and I hope that research cooperation and exchange between universities will be further expanded. We will do our best to foster and supply Nepalese special education experts.

By Lee Yeon-ju, reporter  rosielee@kakao.com

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