About

Early Life and Education in Okhaldhunga

Arjun Ghimire, also known as TukArjun Ghimire, was born and raised in a remote Himalayan village near the banks of the Dudh Koshi River in Okhaldhunga, Nepal. His formative years were spent amidst the serene yet challenging landscapes of eastern Nepal. He swam in mountain streams, walked long distances to attend the local government school, and grew up experiencing the struggles of rural life balanced by a profound eagerness for knowledge. Despite facing infrastructural limitations, his early experiences nurtured a passion for education, social justice, and developmental issues, setting the foundation for his lifelong academic and public contributions.

Academic Excellence Across Disciplines and Borders

Arjun Ghimire’s academic journey is distinguished by remarkable interdisciplinary achievement. He pursued PhD studies in Economics, Education, Development, Planning, and Research Methodology at the Australian National University, where he completed coursework and dissertation proposal development. Additionally, he accomplished advanced doctoral coursework in Economics of Education; Education, Society and Development; Professional Development, Supervision, and Planning; Psychology; and Research Methodology at NOVA University, a collaborative doctoral program with NOVA FCT and ISPA in Portugal. He earned an MPhil in Development Studies from Kathmandu University. His international postgraduation education and training includes in Economics (with specialization in Sustainable Economy and Corporate Social Responsibility) at Humboldt University in Germany, and in Regional and Economic Planning at the Toulouse School of Economics in France. At the master’s level, he earned degrees in Geography, Economics, History Education, and English Literature from Nepal. At the undergraduate level, he holds separate bachelor’s degrees in Geography Education and Economics Education from Mahendra Ratna Campus, Tahachal; a B.A. in English Literature privately; and an LL.B. in Law, all from Nepal. At the intermediate level, he completed an I.Ed. in Geography and Economics from Mahendra Ratna Campus, Tahachal, and an I.A. in English Literature privately from Nepal. His formal schooling began at Shree Jan Chetan Primary School and continued through Shree Himalaya Secondary School; both located in the Okhaldhunga District.

Prolific Author and Curriculum Developer

Arjun Ghimire has authored or co-authored over fifty textbooks and more than one hundred research articles and essays, contributing significantly to Nepal’s educational literature from primary to postgraduate levels. His scholarly and pedagogical works span Social Studies, Population Studies and Education, Microeconomics, Macroeconomics, Development Economics, Economics of Education, Geography, Environment and Education, Professional Adaptability, Resilience, Development, Planning and Supervision, and Research Methodology. His books are published by prominent institutions including Allied Publications, Ekta Books, Asmita Prakashan, Budhipuran Prakashan, Readmore Publication, Pragyan Publication, Molung Publication, Curriculum Development Centre Nepal, and McGraw-Hill in the United States. His work has also played a crucial role in shaping Nepal’s national curriculum to ensure inclusive representation of the country’s rich social, cultural, geographic, and political diversity.

Teaching, Training, and Academic Leadership

Arjun Ghimire has served in multiple academic leadership positions across national and international institutions. He served as the Academic Coordinator and Lecturer at SOS Hermann Gmeiner Higher Secondary School in Banepa. He taught Managerial, Micro- and Macroeconomics, and Public Finance at Baneshwor Campus for many years. He has worked as a Curriculum Developer at Kathmandu University, contributing to programs in Community Development and Development Economics. He served as Assistant Lecturer at the Australian National University. Furthermore, he has trained thousands of Nepali teachers as a Master Trainer in Geography, Economics, Social Studies, Professional Adaptability, Resilience, Development, Planning, Supervision, and Research Methodology, significantly enhancing pedagogical practices across the country and abroad.

International Research and Public Scholarship

Ghimire’s research spans a broad array of economics, education, and development topics. He has undertaken extensive research on resource allocation and cost analysis in school education, economies of scale in schooling systems, the use of GIS and remote sensing in regional planning, and the professional adaptability, resilience, development, supervision, and planning of teachers. Arjun Ghimire is also recognized for his expertise in research methodology, having authored detailed works on research design. His methodological expertise includes statistical and spatial software such as SPSS, jamovi, JASP, GIS, MPlus (e.g., advanced multilevel SEM), OLS IOD function, multiple hierarchical regression, and SAE. He is an expert in historical and case study research. Having studied and applied cash flow analysis during his MPhil program, he has cultivated strong competence in this methodological area. He is a veteran in qualitative approaches such as phenomenology, ethnography, narrative inquiry, participatory research, and grounded theory. Furthermore, he demonstrates outstanding mastery in the use of mixed methods and multi-method research designs, even with quasi-experimental and longitudinal methods. These skills not only supported his various levels’ academic endeavors but also empower Nepali and other scholars and educators to adopt rigorous, evidence-based approaches to development and policy. He has presented his work in academic conferences across Europe, Australia, and Asia, and published in both national and international peer-reviewed journals.

Leadership, Activism, and Social Thought

Beyond academia, Arjun Ghimire is widely recognized for his leadership in civic and political domains. He is the Founder and President of the International Nepali Society (INS), a global platform spread across 123 countries. Founder and President of INS’ International Nepal Think Tank and INS’ World PhD Association. He has held advisory role in NRNA Portugal. He has served as the founding consultant of Voluntary Initiative Nepal. From 1996 to the present, he has been actively engaged with the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist Centre), working at various levels.

Educational Philosophy and Commitment to Equity

Ghimire holds a progressive and inclusive philosophy of education, emphasizing that excellence is not only determined by elite institutions but mainly by communities that cultivate integrity, discipline, and purpose. He firmly believes that students from rural and economically challenged backgrounds can outperform graduates from prestigious institutions through self-discipline and systemic thinking. He critiques residential and elite schooling systems for alienating learners from their local knowledge systems and community values, asserting that education must nurture emotional resilience, cultural identity, and collective belonging.

Recognition and Global Impact

Throughout his career, Arjun Ghimire has received widespread recognition for his academic and educational contributions. His textbooks have been used by millions of students across Nepal and world. He is regarded as one of Nepal’s foremost educational intellectuals, a regular speaker in global academic forums, and a thought leader in the domains of education, development, and economic policy. His life story exemplifies how rural perseverance can transform into global scholarship.

Contributions to Social Studies and Economics Education

As a writer and educator, Ghimire has significantly enriched the teaching of Social Studies and Economics in Nepal. His textbooks and academic writing address core topics in Micro and Macroeconomics, Development Economics, Economics of Education, Population and Environmental Studies, Professional Adaptability, Resilience, Development, Planning and Supervision, and Research Methodology, while also integrating critical perspectives from Marxist, post-colonial, and indigenous frameworks. His ability to bridge theoretical frameworks with grassroots realities has made his texts highly effective in classrooms across diverse regions of the country and abroad.

Literary Contributions
Arjun Ghimire is the author of two novels and has compiled a collection of unpublished short stories, poems, ghazals, and muktaks in both English and Nepali. In his role as President of the International Nepali Society (INS), he exercises strategic leadership in the planning, coordination, and evaluation of literary initiatives in partnership with the INS Language and Literature Committee. These initiatives encompass international literary gatherings involving writers from across the globe; thematic workshops on the composition of short stories, muktaks, ghazals, and poetry; and high-profile conferences such as the World Nepali Literary Conferences held in 2021 and 2024. Collectively, these efforts are dedicated to fostering creative expression in Nepali as well as in Nepal’s rich array of indigenous languages.