This thesis sets out to examine the planning and practice of the goals for the development of initial education in Nepal between 1950 and 1995. Firstly the thesis sets out to explore the historical, religious and cultural background of the development of initial education in Nepal against
which the modernization of Nepali education was attempted. The thesis elaborates on the profusion and confusion of educational aims of Nepali government planners and foreign aid workers, and the ways in which these plans impact on Nepali classroom practice and conditions, teacher training
programs and the teaching of English as a foreign language.