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Kathmandu Thursday March 29, 2001 Chaitra 16, 2057.
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This is business, pure and
simple ....
By Pradeep Silwal
There is a widespread perception that the
quality of education in government funded public schools is far below than the private
schools. Each year’s SLC results have proved that to be true, if pass percentage is
to be taken as a yardstick. But there is another side of the story, often hidden from the
public. Private schools, in their ploy to demonstrate the pass percentage high, prevent
relatively weaker students from sitting for sent-up exams. One of my friends, whose son
used to study in class ten in such a private school located in Jawalakhel area had to face
a very tricky situation lately.
According to my friend, the principal called
him after his son’s second terminal exams and gave him friendly advice in a round
about way which meant that his son was so weak in Science, Maths, and Accounts that the
boy would not be able to sit for sent-up exams unless he was kept in the school hostel.
Though his son studied in that school since class three, the school teachers had started
showing special interest in the boy’s lagging studies and consequently calling
parents for consultations almost seven years later, at a time when the child was only six
months away from sent-up exams.
My poor journalist friend, who had paid about
900 rupees per month as the boy’s school fee was facing a nasty dilemma—the
message from the school authorities was clear—either keep your son in the hostel or
don’t complain in case your son flunks sent-up exam. With a journalist’s salary,
it was pretty clear he could not afford to keep him in the hostel with a monthly charge of
Rs 4000. But the teen-age-boy’s barren future stared blank on his face. He put him in
the hostel, though his house was in a commutable distance. The hostel warden arranged
tutors for the boy and the monthly bill came to whopping 6,000 rupees per month. He will
be Rs 30,000 poorer till his son sits for SLC exam following Baishakh.
My friend’s story is not unique. I have
met many such parents who have faced similar situation but do not know where to go with
their grievances. Such practice though unethical, doesn’t fall under what law calls
outright "extortion" or "blackmailing". So, this case, if it can be
considered as a case, does not fall under the jurisdiction of the police or the District
Administration Office. The District Education Office, which in theory, supervises and
controls private schools, in practice, sleeps over forgotten dusty files. This apparatus
of modern Nepali state is equally impotent as other organs and I did not like my friend
making himself another laughing stock by going there with complaints. I advised him to
bear with the burden.
The school authorities had not prevented his
son from studying everyday at the school. What responsibility they could possibly have
than informing him in time that his son was probably not making it through pre-sent-up
exams. They had done their duty. It was his fault that he did not regularly, rigorously
taught his son at home. That 900 rupees he paid every month as school fee was for
attending teachers’ lectures, using the class room space, chair, table, playground
etc etc.
There are tens of thousands of disgruntled
guardians but they never raise such trivial issues. If all the students learnt their
lessons in regular classes, how will humble teachers make some 50 thousand to 100,000
rupees per SLC season? It’s just like government doctors and hospitals. If they
treated their patients in government hospitals well who would come to private clinics and
private hospitals. This is simple unscrupulous business and not going to change by your
cries.
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