Increment In Pay Scale
Corporations’ Confusion

By Gandhi Raj Kafle

HOW much salary would be appropriate for the employees of Nepal? There is certainly no accurate answer for this question. Yet, the country is poor and the process of economic reforms taken up for accelerating development activities has not been able to pay a rich dividend for the government. No doubt, there can be many considering factors, which cannot be ignored while fixing the salary of employees.

Expectation

First of all, one needs to think rationally the market behaviour. Supply of goods, choice of consumers, business rivalry, trading competition and methods of production all are changing phenomena. This, in totality, affects our pricing system, which can victimise salaried class and common consumers directly. In this circumstance, it’s natural for employees to expect revision of pay scale time to time. But, can it be fulfilled? The government may have its own compulsions, but, it should consider the problems of its employees positively.

So far as Nepal is concerned the salary of civil servants has not been raised substantially in the past. Only a little pay hike was made as if to show sympathy to the problems and difficulties of the salaried class of the country. This policy pursued in the past helped to leave a wide gap of salary and benefit when we compare the position of Nepalese civil servants with the other South Asian countries.

In this context, what can be recalled here is that the past government had also felt the pressure for taking a bold decision to facilitate its employees. As proof, a number of pay commissions were formed to study the problems and difficulties of the civil servants for submitting reports to the government. Certainly, the list of suggestions of these commissions had been long each time. Undoubtedly, the government had to turn down the suggestions of the commissions due to the country’s weak financial position. However, the government did not fail to show its sympathy to the lowly paid employees by raising their perks.

Times passed on and governments came and went. But the financial position of the country could not become promising to give government the confidence for raising salary of its employees remarkably. This time, fortunately, the government headed by Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala came up with hard decision. The employees’ salary was raised substantially, which can be regarded as one of the important decisions of the government, particularly in its commitment to reform civil administration.

This time, the administration, thus, came into an advantageous position financially. That’s certainly a welcome step for the civil servants in particular and all the salaried class of the country in general. Furthermore, the benefits intended by the governments decision could spread in course of time. It’s like a streak of opportunity, which nobody wants to lose,. So, a larger section of society will surely be benefitted from the recent pay hike.

Lately, salary and remuneration of all the members of the Council of Ministers have also been raised remarkably. In this optimistic atmosphere, how can honourable members of the House be forgotten? As per the changed provision, they are also duly paid. Salaries of Rt. Honourable Chief Justices, justices and judges are also increased, considering carefully the constitutional dignity. Thus, the circle of getting benefit as per the decision taken by the government to raise salary of employees makes its full round.

Yet, the confusion has not been over. There are considerable number of teachers and corporations employees. Will their salary be increased automatically? Similarly they are confused whether their salary which some of the big corporations staff had been enjoying till Asad of this year, will be raised or not.

As far as salary is concerned, the government seems to be clear in allowing all kinds public enterprises to implement it immediately. But, its main concern is on the facilities, which vary from corporation to corporation. The government’s concerned Ministry says it would not be sustainable if these corporations are allowed to raise the salary of their staff without cutting their facilities. So, to avoid long term negative impact, the government intended to cut the facilities to adjust the new pay scale. And while doing so, if some corporations’ pay structure remains low even after the adjustment, they can also provide remaining amount of money as facility. This, according to the government, will not reduce the salary and facilities of the corporation staff, which they have been getting previously.

But, the corporations, employees are not satisfied. The government has raised their salary. For this, they have been grateful. But, facilities are facilities, they are not adjustable to salary. For long, corporations have been evolving with separate legal provision. Their decision making process, nature of work, hiring and firing policy for the staff, duty and responsibility are uniquely different from the Government Ministry and Department. A civil servant receives all his remuneration from the resources collected in the country as revenue. But, the corporations, in the competitive atmosphere, have to survive in business rivalry, which demands efficiency of the staff for them to be in an advantageous position.

These are some of the reasons, which prompted corporations employees to go for strike to press for their demands recently. The protest of various kinds brought business activities to a halt a few weeks ago, which were normalised after a deal was signed between the government and the agitating employees of Nepal’s public enterprises.

Review

As a result a review committee has been formed to analyse the problems and prospects of the corporations giving it a two months time for submitting reports to the government. With this, the preliminary confusion about PEs is over. Nevertheless, the main issue of the agitation of PEs staff, which is related to salary rise without cutting facilities, is yet to be solved. Let’s wait and see what the Review Committee recommends for these employees after two months.

Improving Education & Examination System

By Dr. Shreedhar Gautam

Today education has become a very lucrative business for many. As commercial institutions, all private schools think that they have every right legitimately to make profit. But the dangerous consequences of pricing education out of the reach of people must be kept in mind. Similarly, it is incumbent upon the private schools to provide a certain standard of education and extra curricular facilities, However, unfortunately this is not the norm of today.

Responsibility

The government cannot escape away from its responsibility to ensure that no educational institution, irrespective of whether it is private, can hold parents hostage to their unreasonable demands. An autonomous body should be set up comprising eminent educationists, parents and bureaucrats with a view to keeping a check on the functioning of private schools. A genuine competition among the private sector educational institutions could also be an incentive for ensuring accountability.

However it doesn’t mean that government schools should have no role. In fact, government-run schools ought to be revamped so that parents could consider such schools as a possible choice for their wards. Education can be made accessible to all by making the government-run schools well-equipped with educational facilities, including, of course, qualified teachers. These schools could be affordable for many parents. But the success of such schools rests crucially on the quality of its teachers. This aspect has been sorely neglected so far. Upgrading the status of
teachers could radically change the education system.

But a relatively poor salary structure in government school and lack of career advancement have kept talented people away from this profession. Realising that education is the vital catalyst for social change, other more enlightened Asian countries have made it their top priority. But in Nepal, the government has failed miserably to provide education for all. Lack of funds can no longer be an excuse as money is being misutilised on non-profitable sectors. With recent governments more pre-occupied with the arithmetic of staying in power, education has been relegated.

On the other hand, our examination system is also defective. There are many examinations and tests wrapped in different colours which put high pressures on the students. There is pressure from the kindergarten because many schools start streamlining students from class VII or even earlier, so that only the cream, in other words, those who secure 75 per cent and above reach Class X, and even getting there, does not ensure eligibility to appear for the S.L.C. Board Examination, because they have to prove their mettle throughout their tenure in the class, during the unit tests and term examinations.

The S.L.C. Board Examinations are the students’ maiden venture into the world of external examinations. Admission for class XI is purely based on the marks secured in Class X. Marks influence the opportunities to get jobs too, as employers, look for good academic records. Given the importance of marks, every student is made well aware of this fact. it is found that most of the students are against a system they are brutally made to accept. In a classroom of 50 students, not more than 20 are interested in writing. If we bifurcate this group further, one finds that about 15 are interested in the same because of a set goal, pressure for fear. Only about 10 (ten) are genuinely interested. So the majority of them are not interested in writing but they are widely tested on this.

The child is expected to live up to the expectations of the family and it is established that if the father is a doctor, the child also should become one regardless of his aptitude or inclination. It would be taboo, if he wants to become, for instance, a musician or an author.

Since admissions into colleges and entry into jobs is largely based on marks, parents goad their children even at the cost of an imbalance in their mental equilibrium to score the required marks. Of course, their intention is to see their children well placed in life. Public opinion plays a vital role in the reputation of an educational institution and the yardstick to gauge its quality is based on the results it produces. And the child does not even have the time to breathe. There should be some clear thinking on what should be done to prevent examination pressure. This pressure can be done away with by making the scholastic life of the students a joyful experience, because a missed childhood means an unbalanced adult.

Evaluations should not be totally based on writing. This caters only to a microscopic section of the student community. For example, in language evaluation, the four skills, namely-listening, speaking, reading and writing have to be taken together to assess the linguistic ability of a child. In the sciences there is scope for practical and this should be imparted from the lowest class. If the children are tested in varied areas, there will be all round development. But a word of caution-the blue-print for evaluation should be laid down scientifically. The marking scheme should be full -proof leaving no room for subjectivity. This kind of evaluation should begin right from Kindergarten.

Most of our examinations which basically test the memory, extend over a long duration of three hours. Assessment should be a continuous process and not a once in a year . Practical and projects should be compulsorily made an interval part of examinations, where it should be done scientifically and with effort on the part of the students and the teachers, not making a mockery of the concept. The portions for examinations should not be such that could burden the child. Apart from testing the memory, which is not everyone’s strong point, equal weightage should be given to applications etc.

Better Way

A sum total of all the above practiced over a period of time could be a better way of evaluation. If above mentioned measures taken seriously by the teachers and parents, learning can be make a pleasurable experience. Then there will be no unhealthy competition among students.

Monkeys Harvest Fruit In Thailand

By Thaksina Khaikaew

UP IN a hilly village, the teacher is having trouble controlling his class.

About 20 macaque monkeys chained to wooden poles shriek, hop and pull each other’s tail in excitement as their instructor, Tawee Phanthachange, shows up to start an hour-long lesson.

Tawee, who owns orchards of tamarind, mango and coconut, is teaching the monkeys how to pick fruit.

His venture near the resort town of Chiang Mai, 580 kilometres (360 miles) north of Bangkok, is not unique. Monkeys have been used to harvest coconuts in southern Thailand for generations. But Tawee is the first farmer in the north to try to use them to pick softer fruit.

Concerned by the rising cost of hiring farm workers, Tawee bought 20 monkeys this year for about 2,000 baht (dlrs 50) each. Training them is difficult, but Tawee, a former army sergeant, says he is making progress.

"It is not an easy task, but achievable by patience and affection," the 54-year-old farmer says.

As Tawee works with the monkeys, Leonardo climbs up his shoulders and sits on his head. After a gentle admonishment, the monkey clambers down to join his classmates.

Coconut was the first fruit Tawee introduced to his students. Holding a half-ripe greenish-brown coconut by its stem, he moves from one monkey to another, calling them by their names. The monkeys are allowed to twist the coconut around the stem, until Tawee lets go - showing how the fruit will come loose from the tree.

Tawee claps his hands to applaud Timor for doing the job properly. He gives the little grayish brown macaque a hug.

"A banana is the usual reward, but affection is also a good stimulant since monkeys love attention," he says.

To harvest sweet tamarinds, the macaques are being taught to shake branches of the huge trees, as high as a three-story house, to make the ripe fruit fall.

"They are allowed to eat as much fruit as they want as long as they keep shaking the trees," Tawee says.

Harvesting mangos will be the next lesson, but how soon depends on how good they are with coconuts and tamarind. Tawee expects the training to last from six months to a year.

Until late last year, Tawee had hired migrant workers from neighboring countries who had been streaming into Thailand to work at its factories and farms since an economic boom started in the mid-1980s.

But after a severe financial crunch hit Southeast Asia in the summer of 1997, Thailand faced a sharp rise in unemployment. To make more jobs available for Thais, the government deported 130,000 of the estimated 1 million guest workers, most of them to neighbouring Myanmar.

Still, it has not been easy for Tawee and other farmers to find Thais willing to do menial jobs.

"Thais do not like this kind of hard work. It is frustrating ... It also costs more," he says.

Tawee concedes monkeys will never replace humans completely. Some types of fruit can’t be harvested by monkeys - strawberries and loganberries, for example, which are too delicate for a monkey’s grab-and-pull technique. Watermelons also are problematic, being too heavy for the little animals.

"But monkeys are still an alternative. They are loyal ... and not afraid of heights," Tawee says. "On top of it, they neither complain nor ask for a raise." (AP)