Education Sector : Mess Has To Be Cleared
Yuba Nath Lamsal
THE education sector in Nepal seems to be in a mess at present. The recent developments and events have shown that the situation is getting worse every day. This is the sector that has been hardest hit by the ten years of Maoist insurgency and armed conflict. The other sectors have heaved a sigh of relief after the political settlement with the Maoists, establishment of peace and democratic restoration. However, the education sector continues to suffer even after the political change and establishment of peace. New ProblemsNew forms of conflicts and problems have cropped up in the education sector. The education?both higher and school education?has been the hostage of indecision of the government on the one hand; the new series of protests have seriously hampered the teaching and learning atmosphere in schools and other academic institutions, on the other. The protests have been regular with new and old demands. Firstly, temporary teachers working in the public schools demanded automatic permanency in their current posts. The government agreed to meet the demand and assured immediate measures to make temporary teachers permanent. It brought about cheers to the temporary teachers in the public school, who had been working for long time and most of them had not been able to pass the competitive tests conducted at different periods for the purpose of appointing permanent teachers in public schools. On humanitarian grounds, their demand was valid. But it was against the basic spirit of education and competitive system. Moreover, the decision denied the fresh graduates to compete, which is against the basic principle of law. This decision could not be implemented, as the students and other people protested against it.This problem came up because of the politicization in the education sector. Firstly, the recruitment process of teachers is faulty. Even if temporary teachers are to be hired, it should be done on competitive basis. When temporary teachers are hired on competitive and merit basis, they would also pass the examinations conduced for the permanent positions. Thus, there would not be any problem. But most of the temporary teachers were recruited on recommendations and pressure from the politicians and political parties. When one is recruited on recommendation and political pressure, he or she may not be necessarily qualified and competent enough. Moreover, these teachers do not believe in competitive system and also do not concentrate to improve their efficiency. Also they are less committed to their professional duty than serving their political bosses. This is why the quality of education in public schools is not satisfactory, which has been clearly reflected in the school leaving certificate (SLC) examinations every year. The quality of education is better in private schools. However, private schools are also not free from problems. There are unique and serious problems in the private schools as well. Recently, the teachers in the private schools were in the streets pressing for meeting their series of demands. Most of their demands were valid and justified. According to the agitating teachers in the private schools, they are exploited a lot. Some of their demands include the salary at par with the teachers in public schools. The other demand is that they be given appointment letter when they are hired for the post. It is true that most private schools, except a few reputed ones, neither give appointment letters when they hire teachers nor do they provide other facilities as per the government's rule and other national and international labour laws. It is a violation of national and international laws and norms. Schools are making money and running school is a lucrative business in Nepal at present. Schools charge exorbitant fees on students while most teachers working there are exploited and underpaid.It is the job of the government to monitor and ensure that the laws be properly observed by the private schools. But it has not happened so. As a result, the teachers in the private schools have to hit the street to make their voice and demands heard. Now the government has twin challenges. One is to raise quality of education in public schools and properly manage the schools. For this, the first and the foremost job would be to keep politics and political interference away from the education sector in general and public schools in particular. The other job is to regulate the private schools. There must be transparent procedures in hiring and other activities in the private sectors. There is another issue that has to be looked into very seriously and sincerely by the authorities in public schools. High tuition and others fees are charged on the students. Neither the teachers are getting adequate salary in accordance with the tuition fees charged on the students nor are the pupils provided proper facilities. For instance, children are charged library, sports, computer and other fees. However, students hardly get the opportunities to use these facilities. It has been found that schools without library also charge library fees while there are cases that students have not even touched a computer although they have already paid the computer fees. This is the case of school education. The higher education in Nepal is also in a mess, which needs to be cleaned and cleared. The higher education has been a hostage of indecision of the government. The public universities are headless for almost a year. The government has not been able to appoint the officials at the top positions of the universities. As a result, academic activities have been disturbed and disrupted. This is because of the wrangling among the ruling political parties for the share in the top positions of the universities. Nothing can be a greater worse than this incident as political parties are more interested in appointing their cadres in the academic institutions and rather than giving the professionals and academicians responsibility to run the universities. Sorry StateThese developments portray a very bleak future of our education sector. Nepal has expressed its commitment at the international arena to meet the millennium development goals, one of which is the universal primary education. Given the miss-management, poor performance and continued conflict, Nepal is less likely to meet this goal. Although the political conflict has been resolved, the conflict and problems in education sector must be resolved as early as possible. So far, ad hoc decisions and measures have been taken to solve the problem. Now holistic approach and strategies must be adopted in order to clear the mess in the education sector, properly manage the public schools, strictly monitor the private schools and free education sector from politics. This alone would help raise the quality of education and meet the millennium development goals in education.
THE education sector in Nepal seems to be in a mess at present. The recent developments and events have shown that the situation is getting worse every day. This is the sector that has been hardest hit by the ten years of Maoist insurgency and armed conflict. The other sectors have heaved a sigh of relief after the political settlement with the Maoists, establishment of peace and democratic restoration. However, the education sector continues to suffer even after the political change and establishment of peace. New ProblemsNew forms of conflicts and problems have cropped up in the education sector. The education?both higher and school education?has been the hostage of indecision of the government on the one hand; the new series of protests have seriously hampered the teaching and learning atmosphere in schools and other academic institutions, on the other. The protests have been regular with new and old demands. Firstly, temporary teachers working in the public schools demanded automatic permanency in their current posts. The government agreed to meet the demand and assured immediate measures to make temporary teachers permanent. It brought about cheers to the temporary teachers in the public school, who had been working for long time and most of them had not been able to pass the competitive tests conducted at different periods for the purpose of appointing permanent teachers in public schools. On humanitarian grounds, their demand was valid. But it was against the basic spirit of education and competitive system. Moreover, the decision denied the fresh graduates to compete, which is against the basic principle of law. This decision could not be implemented, as the students and other people protested against it.This problem came up because of the politicization in the education sector. Firstly, the recruitment process of teachers is faulty. Even if temporary teachers are to be hired, it should be done on competitive basis. When temporary teachers are hired on competitive and merit basis, they would also pass the examinations conduced for the permanent positions. Thus, there would not be any problem. But most of the temporary teachers were recruited on recommendations and pressure from the politicians and political parties. When one is recruited on recommendation and political pressure, he or she may not be necessarily qualified and competent enough. Moreover, these teachers do not believe in competitive system and also do not concentrate to improve their efficiency. Also they are less committed to their professional duty than serving their political bosses. This is why the quality of education in public schools is not satisfactory, which has been clearly reflected in the school leaving certificate (SLC) examinations every year. The quality of education is better in private schools. However, private schools are also not free from problems. There are unique and serious problems in the private schools as well. Recently, the teachers in the private schools were in the streets pressing for meeting their series of demands. Most of their demands were valid and justified. According to the agitating teachers in the private schools, they are exploited a lot. Some of their demands include the salary at par with the teachers in public schools. The other demand is that they be given appointment letter when they are hired for the post. It is true that most private schools, except a few reputed ones, neither give appointment letters when they hire teachers nor do they provide other facilities as per the government's rule and other national and international labour laws. It is a violation of national and international laws and norms. Schools are making money and running school is a lucrative business in Nepal at present. Schools charge exorbitant fees on students while most teachers working there are exploited and underpaid.It is the job of the government to monitor and ensure that the laws be properly observed by the private schools. But it has not happened so. As a result, the teachers in the private schools have to hit the street to make their voice and demands heard. Now the government has twin challenges. One is to raise quality of education in public schools and properly manage the schools. For this, the first and the foremost job would be to keep politics and political interference away from the education sector in general and public schools in particular. The other job is to regulate the private schools. There must be transparent procedures in hiring and other activities in the private sectors. There is another issue that has to be looked into very seriously and sincerely by the authorities in public schools. High tuition and others fees are charged on the students. Neither the teachers are getting adequate salary in accordance with the tuition fees charged on the students nor are the pupils provided proper facilities. For instance, children are charged library, sports, computer and other fees. However, students hardly get the opportunities to use these facilities. It has been found that schools without library also charge library fees while there are cases that students have not even touched a computer although they have already paid the computer fees. This is the case of school education. The higher education in Nepal is also in a mess, which needs to be cleaned and cleared. The higher education has been a hostage of indecision of the government. The public universities are headless for almost a year. The government has not been able to appoint the officials at the top positions of the universities. As a result, academic activities have been disturbed and disrupted. This is because of the wrangling among the ruling political parties for the share in the top positions of the universities. Nothing can be a greater worse than this incident as political parties are more interested in appointing their cadres in the academic institutions and rather than giving the professionals and academicians responsibility to run the universities. Sorry StateThese developments portray a very bleak future of our education sector. Nepal has expressed its commitment at the international arena to meet the millennium development goals, one of which is the universal primary education. Given the miss-management, poor performance and continued conflict, Nepal is less likely to meet this goal. Although the political conflict has been resolved, the conflict and problems in education sector must be resolved as early as possible. So far, ad hoc decisions and measures have been taken to solve the problem. Now holistic approach and strategies must be adopted in order to clear the mess in the education sector, properly manage the public schools, strictly monitor the private schools and free education sector from politics. This alone would help raise the quality of education and meet the millennium development goals in education.
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