Education for Empowerment

As a renowned academician, Dr. Madhav Prasad Baral has a long–standing experience and established credentials as a forerunner in the area of providing both high school and higher education in the country. Having established National School of Science (NSS) as the Founder Principal back in 1993 AD, the journey of more than twenty-six years has seen the NSS firmly established in the academic firmament as an educational institute of repute. Dr. Baral completed his MS in Biochemistry and Ph.D. in Food Chemistry from the University of the Philippines, one of the most popular universities in the world. Upon his return, he served as a Senior Scientific Officer for 18 years at NAST, Kathmandu, previously known as RONAST.

He was also associated with the Central Department of Microbiology, Tribhuvan University and more than 50 students pursuing Microbiology in the Master’s degree completed their dissertation under his supervision. He has published several scientific articles in the national and the international journals. Currently, he is the Founder Chairman of the NIST Foundation, and under its umbrella, there are nine academic institutions viz. (a) National College, National College of Food Technology and National Model College of Advanced Learning affiliated to Tribhuvan University, (b) National College for Advanced Learning affiliated to Pokhara University, (c) School of Medical Sciences affiliated to CTEVT and (d) Millennium International High School now Bhaktapur NIST School and National Model Science School.

Under the leadership of Dr. Baral as Chairperson, all these academic institutions are providing academic courses from high school to higher education i.e. Diploma, Bachelors and Masters programmes in Microbiology, Biochemistry, Business, Pharmacy and Lab Technician among others. Dr. Baral is dedicated, and has remarkably contributed to the development of quality education in the country. He has a strong passion in science and technology, and agriculture. He is focused, and highly values his profession.

Mrs. Pranita S. Baral is a dedicated, resourceful and goal-driven professional educator with a strong commitment to the social and academic development of every student. With over twenty-eight years of experience as an educator in addition to her academic prowess, she is recognized for her superior interpersonal and communication skills to foster meaningful relationships with students, staff and parents.

Mrs. Baral earned a Master’s Degree in Botany from Tribhuvan University, and worked for a brief period as Junior Scientific Officer at RONAST (now NAST) before joining St. Xavier’s College, Maitighar as a full-time faculty in 1992. She joined National School of Sciences (NSS) in 2000 as a teacher, and assumed the role of Vice-Principal in 2007. Apart from the responsibilities at the workplace, Mrs. Baral dons different hats – she has been a member of the Lions Clubs International Multiple 325 A2 since 2009, and holds the distinction of serving as the District Chairperson – Youth Camp during which she was awarded the prestigious Region Chairperson Leadership award by the International President, Berry Palmer Ly. She was also presented with the Best Area-Coordinator Award for the year 2018-19. In addition, she is also a Life Member of the Amnesty International, Nepal Chapter. She has attended various workshops and trainings locally and internationally, such as ‘Pedagogy, Peer coaching and Counselling’ and ‘Good Teacher-Good School’ to name a few. She has visited many countries for participation in International conventions such as Germany, Italy, UAE, Lebanon, South Korea, Japan, Thailand, France, Spain, China and India.

Currently, she holds the post of the Executive Director at NSS and Founder Principal of Bhaktapur NIST School. She is also a Founder Member of the NIST Foundation, the umbrella organization of other academic institutions, of which the NSS is one constituent member.

Dr. Rajendra K. Ghising currently serves as Executive Director of NIST Foundation, a not–for–profit organization dedicated to providing education institutions with support to reform in today’s changed context. He has more than two decades of experience in the management and operation of academic institutions. Prior to joining the NIST Foundation, he served as Chief Executive of GEMS School and Kathmandu World School, and during his association with these two institutions, he played an instrumental role in developing vision, strategies and policies to provide students with high quality education as well as positioning the schools in the industry.

He earned an MBA from Ace Institute of Management, Pokhara University, Nepal and Ph. D. in Management from Angeles University, the Philippines. He has attended several executive educations abroad that include Advanced Strategic Management, IMD Business School, Switzerland, one of the leading business schools in the world, Developing Strategy for Successful Execution, Kaplan–Norton Master Class and How to Develop Strategy Maps among others. He has also participated in international conferences organized by Cambridge and IB World. Recently, he completed courses on Leading Schools and Leading Change offered by Harvard Graduate School of Education, the United States of America.

He has considerable expertise in creating vision, mission and goals for academic and non–academic institutions, and developing strategies to achieve the vision and goals with primary focus on empowering teachers / staff and leaders thereby improving the learning outcomes for students and achieving sustainable growth of corporations. He has a wealth of experience in operation and financial management of academic institutions and corporations. In addition, he served on the board of a bank for more than eight years, and worked as the Coordinator in the Audit Committee, Risk Committee and Credit Committee of the bank, and the Merger Committee. He strongly believes in lifelong learning and innovation, and stick to the core values of honesty, respect, integrity and professionalism.