OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES OF SOCIAL WORK LEARNERS IN NEPAL- Methodology

                   METHODOLOGY

The objectives of the study were:

• To find out the opportunities and challenges faced by social work trainees in class room learning process.
• To explore the opportunities and challenges faced by social work trainees in field work practice.
• To find out the importance and relevance of contextualized social work practice in Nepal with special reference to the methods of social work

An explorative research design was chosen for the study undertaken on “Opportunities and challenges for Social Work Trainees in Nepal”. So far no research studies have been conducted in Nepal on social work trainees.

A 53-item Questionnaire designed as per the objectives of the study was used the major tool of data collection. The Questionnaire had both open ended and close ended questions. 

All the Social work learners of Nepal, who are getting formal education from recognized institutions of Nepal Government, constitute the universe of this study and the sample comprised 50 respondents. Non-probability sampling (snowball sampling) method was used for the research, which helped to get the respondents easily. In the beginning researcher identified a few respondents by himself and later he requested each and every respondent to forward the questionnaire to their BSW/BASW friends. When researcher sent questionnaire through email, the respondents had queries regarding the topic and its uses which the researcher clarified.

The raw data collected were edited, classified and coded and then entered into Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) after which they were analyzed.

MAJOR FINDINGS

• 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 vast majority of 64 per cent of the respondents like practical papers.
• A majority of 56 per cent of the 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.
• A large majority of 80 per cent of the respondents are satisfied with the learners’ presentations.
• 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 that 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.
• With regard to educational process the levels of satisfaction of learners of  social work in Nepal are observed as follows:

  A good level of satisfaction with regard to use of participatory teaching methods ( 68 per cent).

  An average level of satisfaction with regard to lecturers, and co-curricular activities (52 per cent and 54 per cent respectively)

  A poor level of satisfaction is observed with regard to library as 32 per cent of them rated it poor/very poor.

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

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

  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 state that Network with Associations of Social Work is poor and a vast majority of 64 per cent of the respondents rated networking with Government organizations it as poor/very poor.
• 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).
• A large majority of 92 per cent of the respondents are placed in Non governmental agencies for field work.
• All of the respondents are involved in administrative work. A large majority of 82 per cent of the respondents are practicing social group work regularly in field work and a vast majority of 60 per cent respondents are also practicing social case work regularly during field work.
• A majority of 56 per cent of the respondents rated excellent/good for the individual conferences; but 32 per cent of the respondents also rated it as very poor.
• A relative majority of 48 per cent of the respondents rated group conference as excellent/good whereas 46 per cent of the respondents also rated it as very poor/poor.
• A relative majority of 46 per cent of the respondents rated excellent/good for the professional guidance from field supervisor and a majority of 56 per cent of the respondents rated excellent/good to the professional guidance from faculty supervisor.
• A vast majority of 60 per cent of the respondents rated good/excellent for the opportunities to practice social work methods during field work.
• A vast majority of 74 per cent of the respondents rated for opportunities to program planning and implementation as good/excellent.
• The main challenges faced by social work trainees during field are a) not recognized as social work trainees (34 per cent), b) difficult to implement ideas (28 per cent), and c) not clear what to do (20 per cent).
• The main opportunities gained during field work are a) enhancing knowledge about administration work, b) platform to show creativity.
• A majority of 52 per cent of the respondents do not consider NGO employees as social workers.
• A majority of 58 per cent of the respondents considered social work degree holders as social workers.
• A majority of 56 per cent of the respondents consider volunteers for social service as a social workers.
• A relative majority of 48 per cent respondents do not consider politicians as social worker.
• A vast majority of 60 per cent respondents do not agree that social work is a profession.
• The main reason behind social work is not a profession are a) Lack of recognition (70 per cent), b) lack of social work knowledge (30 per cent).
•  The most important social work methods in Nepal are considered to be social case work (76 per cent: 1^st and 2^nd ranks), social work research(50 per cent: 1^st and 2^nd ranks), social group work (28 per cent: 1^st and 2^nd Ranks),  social welfare administration (24 per cent: 1^st and 2^nd ranks), Community organization (20 per cent: 1^st and 2^nd ranks) and social action (4 per cent: 1^st and 2^nd ranks) respectively.
• The uniqueness of social work is: a) the role in community itself is unique (46 per cent), action against social issues and problems (42 per cent), social workers work by heart (34 per cent).

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