This paper discusses the evolution of social work education in Nepal. The history of social work education and training in Nepal is relatively nascent. Imparting social work education and training is a challenging task in Nepal due to the ongoing political instability, multi-cultural issues, lack of social work educators, and the lack of a professional association, in addition to the lack of government recognition for the social work profession in the country. The paper is divided into four sections. After a general introduction, Section 2 discusses the evolution of social work education in the context of the development of higher education in Nepal. The paper describes Nepal and its changing social context, the challenges for social work, and how social work education meets these challenges. Nepal’s efforts to realize indigenous and international practices of social work education are discussed in the third section. The paper identifies these gaps and presents a Nepalese social work model in Section 4. The paper is written based on the author’s narrative of many years’ work in Nepal to start a discussion on indigenous and international social work perspectives, along with challenges for social work education in the context of the current global climate of social, political, and economic changes to draw lessons for Nepal and South Asia. This paper discusses the evolution of social work education in Nepal. The history of social work education and training in Nepal is relatively nascent. Imparting social work education and training is a challenging task in Nepal due to the ongoing political instability, multi-cultural issues, lack of social work educators, and the lack of a professional association, in addition to the lack of government recognition for the social work profession in the country. The paper is divided into four sections. After a general introduction, Section 2 discusses the evolution of social work education in the context of the development of higher education in Nepal. The paper describes Nepal and its changing social context, the challenges for social work, and how social work education meets these challenges. Nepal’s efforts to realize indigenous and international practices of social work education are discussed in the third section. The paper identifies these gaps and presents a Nepalese social work model in Section 4. The paper is written based on the author’s narrative of many years’ work in Nepal to start a discussion on indigenous and international social work perspectives, along with challenges for social work education in the context of the current global climate of social, political, and economic changes to draw lessons for Nepal and South Asia.
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