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Kathmandu Saturday June 30, 2001 Ashadh 16, 2058.
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Well-reasoned article
This refers to article entitled
"Regulated education sector is bad" by Alok K Bohara, published recently in your
daily.
That is the best piece of writing on private
education I have read so far. It was a sober and well-reasoned analysis. We need, at this
juncture, more of such articles to know how the government should actually read about
private schools.
Voices of reason should prevail in democracy,
unless if the people desire the "dictatorship of the proletariat". Bohara’s
comment about supply and demand (market forces), quality, the proximity of India and the
part it plays on the dynamics of Nepal’s education sector should be food for thought
to our educational planners and government formed committees. Reinforcing Bohara’s
arguments is "choice of education and choice of school is a liberty enjoyed in a
liberal democratic country only".
However, like everything else in this world,
private schools are not perfect and they could do with many improvements, but regulation
is not the answer, as Bohara has rightly pointed out. I agree with him when he says that
there should be a non-governmental mechanism to provide a guide to good schools by
evaluating them according to well-thought out and realistic criteria which is
non-partisan. The rest can be left to the public’s judgment and choice. They can
always vote with their feet (and wallets) when they come across a badly run school! As for
the public schools, it is for the government to increase investment and, more importantly,
to make sure that such expenditures are not wasted through corrupt practices. Pointing
fingers at private schools is not the answer to improving public schools.
Pasang Yangchen Lama
Kathmandu |
