Opportunities and challenges for Social Work Trainees in Nepal - Major Finding 1

This study titled “Opportunities and challenges for Social Work Trainees in Nepal” is the bonafide research carried out by me (Amit Kumar Yadav) at School of Social Work, Roshni Nilaya, Mangalore, as a partial fulfillment of the requirement for the award of Master of Social Work. 

 

Place: Mangalore                                                 

Date:  25-10-1024                                                         Amit Kumar Yadav   

5.1 MAJOR FINDINGS

5.1.1 Personal Characteristics

·        A vast majority of 62 per cent of the respondents are 20-23 years of age and 38 per cent of them are 24-27 years of age.

·        A large majority of 94 per cent of the respondents are Hindus, the others being Muslims and Christians.

·        A large majority of 84 per cent of the respondents have opted for social work with a purpose and focus such as own/family interest, desire to be a social work professional or to work in I/NGOs.

·        A majority of 60 per cent of the respondents have desire to work either with communities or with non-governmental organisations reflecting the commitment of social work students who are trained for social change to get involved in developmental activities.

5.1.2 Opportunities and challenges faced by social work trainees in class room learning process

·        A vast majority of 64 per cent of the respondents opine that all the papers taught in classroom help to develop knowledge about social work indicating the relevance of the syllabus covered.  However, the fact that 36 per cent of them do not have the same opinion also points towards the need for strengthening the process of curriculum development and revision of syllabus.

·        A vast majority 73 per cent of the BASW learners feel that all the papers help to develop knowledge of social work whereas only 57 per cent of the BSW learners feel in the same way indicating a slightly higher relevance of papers taught for BASW than BSW.

·        A vast majority of 64 per cent of the respondents like practical papers and 50 per cent of them do not like certain papers because of the teaching methodology and theoretical stuff.

·        A vast majority of 64 per cent of the respondents are not satisfied with assignments. They prefer to have assignments because: a) it helps to gain knowledge (64 per cent), b) it develop creativity (9 per cent).  The main reasons behind dissatisfaction with assignments are: a) Not interested to do assignments (50 per cent), b) No assignments (26 per cent), c) not relevant assignments (20 per cent)

·        A majority of 56 per cent respondents are satisfied with the classroom learning. The main reasons behind satisfaction with classroom learning are: a) Sharing of learners’ perspectives (53%), b) To know subject matter (20%).   The main reasons behind dissatisfaction with classroom learning are: a) Less experienced lecturers (40 per cent), b) Notes based classes (30 per cent), c) Not suitable environment (20 per cent).

·        A large majority of 80 per cent of the respondents are satisfied with the group discussions. The main reasons behind satisfaction with the Group discussions are: a) To gain knowledge (38 per cent), b) to know others’ perspectives (30 per cent), c) to discover new things (13 per cent), d) to find solution. All the respondents who are not satisfied with the group discussion felt that there is not enough group discussion.

·        A large majority of 80 per cent of the respondents are satisfied with the learners’ presentations. The main reasons to be satisfied with the learners’ presentations are: a) it helps to develop skills (55 per cent), b) it helps to build confidence (30 per cent, and c) enhances knowledge (15 per cent). All the respondents who are not satisfied with the learners’ presentation felt that they are not getting opportunities for presentations.

·        A vast majority of 60 per cent of the respondents are satisfied with the organizing seminars and conferences. The main reasons behind satisfied with organizing seminars and conferences are: a) to learn new things (33 per cent), b) to build professional network (30 per cent), c) to update the ideas (27 per cent). The main reasons behind dissatisfaction with organizing seminars and conferences are: a) not getting opportunities (55 per cent), b) not interested (40 per cent).

·        The activities that help to develop skills on campus are: a) Program Participation (70 per cent), b) Group discussions (56 per cent), c) Assignments and presentations (54 per cent).

·        The activities help to develop social work values are: a) Field work and exposure camp (50 per cent), b) Event organization (44 per cent), c) active participation of trainees (42 per cent), following social work norms and values (38 per cent).

·        A relative majority of 36 per cent of the respondents say that all the lecturers are fulltime lecturers but 32 per cent respondents also reveal that there is not even a single fulltime lecturer in social work department.

·        A majority of 52 per cent of the respondents respond that all the lecturers hold social work degree.

·        All the respondents state that there is an established social work department in the institutes.

·        With regard to educational process the levels of satisfaction of learners of  social work in Nepal are observed as follows:

Ø  The learners of social work in Nepal have a good level of satisfaction with regard to use of participatory teaching methods as a vast majority of 68 per cent of them have rated it good/excellent.

Ø  An average level of satisfaction is observed with regard to lecturers, and co-curricular activities as 52 per cent of them have rated lecturers as good/excellent, and 54 per cent of them consider co-curricular activities as good/excellent.

Ø  A poor level of satisfaction is observed with regard to library as only 40 per cent of them rated it excellent/good and 32 per cent of them rated it poor/very poor.

·        With regard to professional involvement the learners have diverse opinions as given below:

Ø  A majority of 54 per cent and 56 per cent of respondents consider interaction with practitioners and network with NGOs as good/excellent respectively.

Ø  A relative majority of 44 per cent of the respondents have rated involvement in social issues as poor. A majority of 54 percent of the respondents also show their dissatisfaction with Network with Associations of Social Work as poor. With regard to social involvement networking with Government organizations a vast majority of 64 per cent respondent rated it as poor/very poor.

·        A relative majority of 40 per cent and a majority of 54 per cent of the respondents rated library and infrastructure in classroom as excellent/good.

·        The main challenges faced by social work trainees are a) less resources and not suitable environment (60 per cent), b) less students participation (48 per cent), c) difficult to understand (36 per cent).

·        The main opportunities accessed by social work trainees in classrooms are: a) good rapport with friends (40 per cent), b) better group practice (34 per cent).

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