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| Kathmandu, Sunday February 23, 2003 Falgun 11, 2059. |
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Between the devil and the deep
sea
By YUVRAJ ACHARYA & NITYANANDA
TIMSINA
Most of the political uprisings in South Asia
erupted from schools or colleges. Nepal is probably ranked the top-most country in Asia in
terms of disturbances in schools in the last few years. Schools have become victims of
political battle and an easy bargaining point for the political parties. The latest
politicisers are the Maoists.
Nepal has witnessed several political
movements since the advent of democracy in 1950. We find that most of them erupted as the
students’ campaigns on educational issues but ended up causing significant political
changes. Whether it was Jayatu Samskritam and Chhatra Sangh’s movement in the early
days of the people’s movement or the joint movement of the Nepal Students’ Union
and ANNFSU in 1979, all brought significant changes in the political scenario of the
country.
The Maoist insurgency that broke seven years
ago has resulted now in the closure of more than 700 English-medium schools (out of some
8,500 countrywide) most of them in the rural areas. There are 26,000 public secondary
schools across the country, most of them running in a vulnerable state.
What could be a more terrifying scene for
young minds than the brutal killing of their teachers before their eyes in broad daylight?
The Maoists have killed more than 60 teachers so far. The number of the teachers killed by
the state is yet to be calculated. What is known is that hundreds of teachers have been
arrested by the state for allegedly assisting the Maoist cadres. In some of the rural
areas, teachers appear to be the representatives of the state. So they are one of the main
targets of the rebels. They are trapped between the Maoists and the security forces.
It does appear that the 13-point demand for
radical reforms in education put forward by the Maoist students are genuine. They are
pressurising the government for striking a balance between the quality of public and
private education. Even the student unions like the Nepal Students’ Union (NSU) and
ANNFSU, have labelled their demands "just" and "genuine". Their
demands, if at all fulfilled by the government, would amount to educational opportunities
to larger segments of disadvantaged and poor.
Thousands of public educational institutions
are doomed to failure as a result of steep competition from the private educational
institutions. But the private educational institutions can accommodate only a few
bourgeoisie and are beyond the reach of the poor comprising over 80 percent of the total
population in the country.
Government itself has accepted that the
education system of the country has been commercialized. The education system has failed
to meet the national requirements and schools are like factories producing the unemployed
mass.
The political motive behind the Maoists’
demands for changes has ended the study culture in the country. The Maoists wanted to
increase their militant force through the creation of unemployment and illiteracy.
Reports from some eastern and western hills
reveal that the drop out rate of the high school students rose in the last few years.
Similarly, almost 700 schools run by the private sector have been closed. In Gorkha
district, the birthplace of Maoist leader Dr. Babauram Bhattarai, there are just three
(two of them Christian missionary) private primary schools running currently, compared to
57 a couple of years ago. The same number of schools has been closed down in Salyan, and
another dozens in Rolpa.
The conflict has led to the destruction of
over 70 private schools, 30 school busses and injured several students and killed nearly
hundred teachers. It has cost the private sector huge losses. The leading private and
boarding schools’ organisation (PABSON) claims that it has incurred the losses of
over Rs 40 million due to the conflict.
In Tanahu, Dailekh, Salyan, Pyuthan and
Lamjung, all most all private schools and colleges were shut down by the rebel students,
who defy all forms of commercialisation. The government estimation is that around 100,000
students have either been displaced from their schools or have missed their education
during the conflicts. And at least 3,000 teachers have been displaced from district
schools. But it is yet to carry out a proper assessment. Students from rural areas have
migrated in hordes to district headquarters for their education.
The migrating students in district
headquarters have overrun the capacity but rural schools are about to be empty. The
teacher/students ratio has reached as high as 1: 70 in the districts like Dang and Bardiya
that is about double the national average that stands at 1:39.
The process of opening English-medium schools
in the rural areas has been completely stopped due to frequent attacks on private-boarding
schools. As a consequence, the rural children have difficulty competing with
urban-educated children.
The Maoists attacks on the schools have been gradually
widening the gap between the pupils’ performance in rural areas and those in the
urban areas. The rebel groups have ignored this factor. The younger generation is either
forced to be outside the country or in the capital and major cities while some have joined
the Maoists militia at the cost of their education.
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