Participant list — Education sector

1. A. J. Wild/Nepal

2. Alliance Franciase de Kathmandu

3. AIMS Nepal

4. Alliance International

5. Air Hostess Training Institute

6. Allied Career Education/ Nepal

7. American Edu Consultancy

8. Apex College

9. Aptech Computer Edu/ Nepal

10. BrainHeart Education Foundation & Research Centre

11. Brindavan College

12. The British Council

13. Budanilkantha Int’l Academy

14. Cambridge Institute

15. Career Consult Nepal

16. Career Search Pvt Ltd/ Nepal

17. Chartered Academics/ Nepal

18. Criss Cross Pvt Ltd

19. Dayananda Sagar Edu Institute

20. Dolphin Edu Consultancy Centre

21. Doon International School, Dehradun

22. East-West College

23. Ec-Mod Study Abroad

24. Ecortc Education Consultancy

25. Edinburgh Telford College

26. Educational Consultants India Ltd

27. Eminent Education Institute

28. Everest Engineering College

29. Global Edu Counselling Centre

30. GM Inst of Technology

31. Gomathy School, India

32. Himalayan Infosys Pvt Ltd

33. HKBK College of Engineering

34. Icon College of Technology

& Mgmt

35. Indira Gandhi National Open

University (IGNOU)

36. Informatics Computer School

37. International School of Tourism

& Hotel Mgmt

38. Int’l English Language House

39. INTI Intl’ Group of College

40. Intl’ School of Business & Media

41. Kaktiya Public School

42. Kantipur City College

43. Kathmandu Bernhardt College

44. Kathmandu Don Bosco HS School

45. Kathmandu Engineering

College

46. King’s College

47. Landmark Education

Consultant/Nepal

48. Laxmi Memorial Educational Trust

49. Lord Buddha Education Foundation/Nepal

50. Mgmt Development Institute, S’pore

51. Manipal Academy of Higher

Education

52. The Memorex Group

53. Mercantile Solutions P. Ltd

54. MIT Group of Institutions

55. Nepal College of Hospitality & Tourism Mgmt

56. Nepal Engineering College

57. Nepal International Education Consultancy

58. Nobel Institute Nepal

59. Netco Technology Pvt Ltd

60. Orbit International Education/ Nepal

61. Padmashree Group of

Institutions

62. Pathfinder Inc. Nepal

63. Presidency College

64. Professional Edu Consultancy

65. Reliance Training Consultancy

66. Raffles Education Network

67. Rajkarnicar & Associates

68. Rastriya Banijya Bank

69. Sann Research Institute

70. Silver Mountain School of

Hotel Mgmt

71. Speed International

72. SSDG Pvt Ltd

73. SRN Adarsh College

74. Stamford Student Group

75. Thames Business School/Nepal

76. Universal College

77. Universal Language &

Computer Institute

78. University of Central Lancashire Preston

79. VS Niketan Education

Foundation

80. Vishwakarma Institute, Pune

81. Xavier Intl’ College/ Nepal

82. Zee Network Education Group

Publishing sector posts slow progress

Himalayan News Service

Kathmandu, May 19:

A relatively small market in Nepal and a low level of literacy have been constraints in the advancement of the publication industry. Despite having a long history of publication, its growth has been happening at a snail’s pace. A rather small number of English-speaking readership has also been a hindrance, not making it viable to reprint many English books from abroad.

The restoration of democracy in 1990 gave a new hope for the prosperity of this industry, as Article 13 of the Constitution of Nepal spelled out ‘press and publication rights’. The number of publication houses registered in the early 90’s was remarkable. “When there is democracy and freedom of speech, it encourages writers to write more, which naturally boosts the publishing industry,” said Deepak Aryal, managing director at Jagadamba Press.

After 1990, the publication industry witnessed radical changes. “Compared to the Panchayat period, the publication industry is multiplying very fast now,” he added.

The Copyrights Act amended in 2004 was an affirmative step by the government to promote the industry, but its implementation has not yet been quite effective, Aryal said.

Despite such odds, publication continues to be a very profitable business. The lack of a regulating body to fix prices of books has led to unfair practices and competition. It is up to a publisher to fix the price and to earn higher profits, often by compromising on quality, said Khagendra Bhattarai, proprietor of Pairavi Prakashan. The publication industry in Nepal is more or less confined to literature and textbooks. Books translated in Nepali holds a small chunk of the pie. Besides, other kinds of publications are almost negligible, he said.

Bhattarai was also of the opinion that promulgation of the Copyright Act is not sufficient. Its implementation and monitoring should be done in a manner to render competition hale and hearty. Lately, the prolonged crisis and political instability, have also affected the publication industry. The marketing of books outside the valley has become a very difficult task with the increasing insurgency, said Bhattarai.

Though we can buy copyrights from Indian publishers and publish books here, the low demand of books does not make it feasible for publishers, said Bhattarai. Moreover, paper produced in Nepal only meets about 35 per cent of the total demand. Papers being imported increases the cost of production. Besides these challenges, an unfavou-rable scale of economy makes it almost unrealistic to print books, he added.

Suresh Shrestha, coordinator of publishing and marketing at Ratna Pustak Bhandar said that books published in Nepal only make up around 20 per cent of the total market. Indian publishers are the major stakeholders in the Nepali book market, he added. Previously there was a trend that people used to go to India for publishing books, but now most of the books written by Nepali writers are being published in Nepal itself. We gained technology and experience with time and are now more matured about publishing books, he added.

“Our reading habit is pres-ently quite low which needs to be increased. Though we are embracing modern tec-hnologies for publication, we remain confined to publishing textbooks and literature only,” Shrestha added.