Essay: Differences experienced between childhood education in USA and Nepal

“If someone wrongs me, I’ll find a way to get revenge” (L).
My friend and I were sprawled on the open grass, enjoying the view of the tranquil water in the University of California, Davis, Arboretum, as he casually informed his strong philosophy to me. Although most people would have kept such outwardly straightforward commentary to themselves, my friend was honest.
Most of his childhood memories had shaped his ideology today. Born in the tropical southern region of Nepal, my friend faced complications that his current classmates would never imagine.
My friend grew up not knowing his parents. When he was a young boy, his parents left him in his home country to seek asylum in the United States. Growing up, my friend lived in a hostel and attended boarding school. At his boarding school, my friend endured through his boarding school’s seemingly normal teaching methods, reminiscent of the United States’ 75 years ago.
Unforgiving. Impactive. Cruel. These characteristics described my friend’s educational experience in Nepal perfectly. My friend had recounted the story of his educational experiences to our group of friends once before when we were all sharing our origin stories. His normally translucent eyes clouded, as he was transported to older memories of his adolescent days in boarding school.
“The teachers in Nepal were cruel: they decided everyone’s future,” he started. “Out of spite, teachers can fail students or pass students with bribery from the students’ parents. Many did not have teaching credentials nor an educational level higher than sixth grade, so they were ill-equipped to teach. And it was pretty common for physical abuse to happen in school” (L).
A deep silence resonated throughout the room, as my friends and I would warily stare in astonishment. “If we did not pass their classes with a 40% mark, the teachers would prohibit us from sleeping at our regular sleep schedule,” my friend continued. “And, sometimes, they would beat us with plastic, metal, or bamboo sticks” (L).
Upon hearing this for the first time, my friends and I shuddered at the thought of our friend experiencing these terrible educational practices. After gathering our thoughts, we assured him that that what he experienced was not morally sound and that we would always be available to talk to about any concerning personal issues.
One personal issue that he expanded further was his tendency of studying only enough to pass the class. Gone was the importance of education, and the image of teachers brandishing students with bamboo sticks and plastic rods was ingrained in his and his classmates’ minds. As a result, my friend and his Nepali classmates purposely earned grades slightly better than the minimum passing grade to oppose the current standards of their education system.
Currently, according to Colleen Moore of The Borgen Project, the education system in Nepal has unequal attendance “across income and gender groups, due to poverty and lack of value on education” (Moore). My friend had experienced a private education in his home country, but some have dropped out of school after completing primary school; others have not attended school at all. Moore reported, “As of 2006, 76 percent of the Terai Dalits, 62 percent of Muslims and 45 percent of the Hill ethnic groups had not been to school. The Dalits have the lowest rate for completing primary school, trailed by Muslims” (Moore). This dropout rate continues to advance due to the poor quality of the education system. Hardly any learning nor teaching happens at rural public schools in Nepal; even private boarding schools have difficulty in nurturing their students to aspire for a higher education.
Although ridiculed with poor quality and old-fashioned teaching methods, the contemporary Nepali education system has made considerable progress. Before the 1950s, the wealthy elites only had access to education, the literacy rate was five percent, and women were deterred from attending school due to their religious beliefs. Now, there is a modern education system providing basic education, and 35,222 elementary and secondary schools and 1,400 colleges are spread throughout Nepal (“Education in Nepal”).
Nevertheless, while a student in the Nepali education system, my friend’s academic journey inspired him to become a farmer. Traversing every row of crops, planting seeds, and grooming the crops was his ideal self-image in his adult life. Though he had experienced the highest level of education in Nepal, my friend would rather live the simple life, one without constant governance from higher authorities. He wanted to break from societal confines and reach absolute freedom: this was the only way he saw fit to live while residing in Nepal.
In light of my friend’s dream of being a farmer, farmers have limited opportunities to improve seed quality, technology, and market opportunities. Nepal does have 66 percent of its population in agriculture (“FAO in Nepal | Nepal at a Glance”), and it does provide food for 68% of the Nepali population. However, it still does not produce sufficient supplies of food for its population. Under the cooperation of the U.S. Government’s Feed the Future Initiative (USAID), the government of Nepal, and local development partners, they seek to “increase agricultural productivity, facilitate access to markets, and improve nutrition by enhancing both the production and consumption of more nutritious foods” (“Education | Nepal”) So far, their collaboration has helped poverty drop by 36 percent from 2013 to 2015 and increased average farmer sales from $250 to $700 per year (“Education | Nepal”). Needless to say, my friend’s dream would not fully be realized, as he would never reach absolute freedom.
A second reason behind my friend’s dream in agriculture was its stability in the Nepali job market. Farming is one of the four main occupations in the Nepali job market. The other three main occupations are to (1) join the military in the United Kingdom or India, (2) travel to foreign countries and do labor work, and (3) be a student in a foreign country.
As a whole, my friend and his family have either joined the military in the United Kingdom or became students in a foreign country. Joining the military was my friend’s grandparents’ plan of action. In their younger days, his grandparents joined the British army, served for several years, and are currently receiving pension from the British army. Becoming a student in a foreign country is my friend’s current situation. Similar to many other Nepali students studying at a U.S. university, my friend hopes to work in the U.S. job market, specifically Silicon Valley, in the future.
Becoming a student in the United States began with his departure from Nepal the year before his high school career commenced. His parents had just gotten him a green card to guarantee passageway and residence in the United States. The months before his departure from Nepal were marked with happiness and uncertainty. He felt happy for leaving the Nepali education system but uncertain for saying farewell to his childhood home and experiencing a brand-new environment.
Once he grew accustomed to the United States, he enjoyed the kindness present in the United States education system. While the teachers in Nepal brandish students with bamboo sticks as punishment, the teachers in the United States are willing to help students. They have a genuine concern in their students’ education and allocate time outside of class to help students learn and retain the course material. During his high school years, my friend slowly erased his relation of education to potential physical punishment and developed an intellectual curiosity. His intellectual curiosity was carried to his university studies, and now he is pursuing a computer science degree at the University of California, Davis.
My friend is a product of a different world; his philosophies and eccentricities show this.
He is honest and open. When he went to the professor’s office hours for a computer science class for the first time, his life story was broached in discussion. Instead of halting the storytelling of a profoundly personal anecdote, he openly divulged his life story without constraints. My professor was very emotional and confused about his openness, and he is forever known to her as the student who made her teary-eyed.
He is intellectually curious. When our friend group and we were sitting in our computer science class lecture, my professor would ask questions for students to answer, and his hand would be the first one up. Other times, my professor would ask rhetorical questions; my friend would answer her questions out loud.
He is kind. When our group of friends was confused about the sorting algorithm Merge Sort for our computer science class, he explained the complicated concept carefully and verified that everyone understood the sorting algorithm concept completely.
Whenever I reflect on our time at the University of California, Davis, Arboretum, enjoying the view of the tranquil water and lounging on the open grass, his strong philosophy, “If someone wrongs me, I’ll get revenge,” becomes more untrue every passing day. He is not vengeful in nature. He is honest and open. He is intellectually curious. He is kind. Above all, he is brave to face complications in his home country that neither me nor our friend group can conceive.
2019-4-23-1556060266