Social Studies Note for Grade X (Human Development Index and Nepal- Unit- 1)Grade X

Social Studies: UNIT-1(WE AND OUR SOCIETY)

Lesson- 2

Human Development Index and Nepal

Human Development

Development is evaluated not only by economic advancement but also

improvement in human well-being. Development in health, education, food, clothing, housing, skill, freedom, opportunity, etc. for the improvement in human well-being is called human development.
Human Development Index (HDI)
Human Development Index is the indicator that shows the level of achievements of progress in three basic dimensions of human development in a given country. The three basic dimensions of human development are Long and healthy life, knowledge, and decent standard of living.

In other words, the human development index (HDI) is a composite statistic of life expectancy, education and per capita income indicators, which is used to rank countries into four tiers of human development as very high human development, high human development, medium human development and low human development.

The Human Development Index was developed in 1990 AD by Indian economist Amartya Sen and Pakistani economist Mahbub ul Haq. Since 1990 AD, the  UNDP has been continuously publishing annual Human Development Index report.

The three dimensions of human development are measured using the following indicators:

a.    Long and healthy life (Health) is measured by 'Life expectancy at birth',

b.    Knowledge (Education) is measured by 'Average years of schooling in the adult population' and 'Expected years schooling for school-age children',

c.    Decent standard of living (Income) is measured by 'Gross National Income (GNI) per capita (PPP US$)'.

Purposes of measuring human development

Following are the purposes of measuring the human development:

a.    To identify the condition of human development

b.    To compare and rank the social and economic development of different countries of the world

c.    To identify and mark the areas to be improved in human development

d.    To bring improvement in the human development, and

e.    To set the future goals of the country and make plans accordingly.

Calculation of Human Development Index
The method of calculation has been revised from time to time since its inception in 1990 AD. According to the new method published on 4th November 2010 (and updated on 10th June 2011), HDI is calculated with the help of Life Expectancy Index, Education Index and Income Index. The HDI value ranges between 0 to 1, where 0 indicates the lowest HDI and 1 indicates the highest HDI.
Nepal's status in HDI
Nepal's status in HDI is improving gradually. Nepal was in 157th rank in 2012 AD with 0.463 score, 146th rank in 2013 AD and 2014 AD with 0.543 score and 145th rank in 2015 with 0.548 score. Similarly, according to HDI report of 2016, Nepal is in 144th rank with 0.558 score. United Nations Development Programmes (UNDP) had published the Human Development Report of 188 countries in 2015 AD.
Measures to improve in the condition in Human Development:

a.    Expansion in the health services

b.    Focus in the development of education

c.    Modernization in agriculture

d.    Extension in industries and factories

e.    Development in tourism business

f.     Mobilization of local resources and means

g.    Increase in the employment opportunity

Very Short Answer Question

1.    What is meant by Human Development index (HDI)?

Ans: Human Development Index is a statistical measurement of life expectancy, education and per capita income which are principally used to rank socio-economic dimensions of human development of a particular region or country.

2.    Mention any two purposes of calculating Human Development Index.
Ans: The two purposes of calculating Human Development Index are:
a. To know what sorts of progresses/changes our country is making.
b. To know whether our country is going in right direction of development.

3.    Differentiate between HDI and GDI in one point,
Ans: HDI provides measurement of whole population's development of the whereas GDI provides measurement of only women development of the country.

4.    Define mean schooling years and expected schooling years.
Ans: Mean Schooling years (MSY) is the average number of completed years of education by the population of a country which excludes years spent on repeating individua grades.

Expected Schooling years is the number of schooling years that a child of school going age can expect to receive if prevailing patterns of age specific enrolment rates persist throughout life disaggregated by sex.

5.    What is PCI and why it does not represent the actual income of an individual citizen?

Ans: Per Capita Income (PCI) is an average per head income of the citizens within the period of a year. It doesn't represent actual income of an individual because it is a mean value of income of all citizens of a country.

6.    Why PCI is measured in US dollar?

Ans: PCI is measured in US Dollar because it is an international currency commonly by all the countries of the world.

7.    What is GDI? Why it is necessary to measure separately?

Ans: Gender Related Development Index (GDI) is the indicator that measures the socio-economic development of women of a country. It is necessary to measure separately because HDI can't represent the actual development of women as the women's development is much lower than that of men.

8.    What kind of country is Nepal on the basis of HDI? Write in a sentence.
Ans: According to the HDI report of 2017 AD, Nepal is with low status in HDI because of the low- income level of the citizens, low life expectancy and low status of education standing at 144th out of 188 nations with the HDI score of 0.558.

9.    What is human resource?
Ans: Human resource is the skilled, qualified, knowledgeable, healthy, and prosperous individual of developed society.

10.  Write one characteristics of human resource management.
Ans: The main characteristic of human resource management is to make worker accountable towards work focusing on the overall development of worker as well as organization.

11.  Why is human resource development essential?
Ans: Human resource development is essential in the country for social, economic, cultural, science and technological development.

12.  How can be skilled manpower developed?
Ans: Skilled manpower can be developed by providing quality education and training.

13.  Write one objective of calculating human development index?
Ans: The major objective of calculating human development index is to measure the social, economical, and educational development of the country.

14.  Why is Human Development Index necessary? Write your opinion in a sentence.
Ans: Human Development Index is necessary to know about the social, economical and educational development of the country.