Spirit Of Accommodation

IN its continuing effort to build an atmosphere of trust in the run-up to the much-awaited talks with the Maoists, the government has taken a further crucial step. An accommodative spirit seems to have guided the government in announcing that it had decided to release all Maoists who were in custody in different parts of the country. Home Minister Khum Bahadur Khadka disclosed this in the House of Representatives Wednesday. In an apparent bid to dispel the Opposition parties’ charges that the government may have intentions of suppressing oppositional dissent through various measures taken to reinforce law and order, the government on Wednesday also freed eight persons who were in detention under the Public Security Act, thereby releasing all who had been in custody under the Act. Minister Khadka also added his voice to what Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba had said on Tuesday regarding the Armed Police Force and Local Administration (Fourth Amendment) bills which are under discussion at the parliament now. Seeking to calm the Opposition’s fears, he said the armed police, which was a common feature around the democratic world,

Instead of trying to raise the imagined bogey of law and order apparatus being exploited to the government’s advantage, the Opposition members of parliament will do well now to focus their attention on the expected talks between the government and the Maoists. This desire cuts across all sections of the society which has pinned its hopes of peace on the overture for talks. As a further sign of this desire, human rights activists and intellectuals at a programme Wednesday repeated their call on both the government and the Maoists to start talking. The need of the hour is to make the most of the congenial atmosphere prevailing, thanks in no small measure to the government’s policy,-consistent since the new government was formed -of demonstrating its sincerity for talks through release of detained Maoists. With the latest announcement to free all Maoists in custody throughout the country, the government has made it clear that it wanted to do all it could in taking confidence-building measures. If all the political parties lend their support to such governmental initiatives, the job of the government is bound to be easier in getting the Maoists to the negotiating table. The Maoists, for their part, must show a reciprocal spirit and do their bit in adding to this new, welcome atmosphere, and come for table-talks to resolve the long-festering problem.

Ensure Quality Education

THE results of the School Leaving Certificate Examination (2057 batch) were a total fiasco. Many schools went blank while some had to be content with pass percentage as low as two or three. A mere 31 per cent of the total students went through what is also known as the Iron Gate. The results plainly suggest something is seriously wrong in our education policy and its implementation, not to mention the millions of rupees that have gone down the drain. It is time now the government and its machinery put their heads together with education experts and try to figure out why the pass percentage slipped by almost 17 per cent from that of last year. Is it because there was a sincere attempt this time to make the examination fair or is it because the quality of school education has down gone so low that we can not expect anything better than this? And, are schools solely to be blamed for the failures? These and a host of other questions need to be answered. The authorities should make honest attempts to get to the bottom of the problem and look for ways to solve it if we are not to be baffled with the results in the coming years. While assessing the dismal performance of the government schools in the SLC exams, any one concerned party should not be bogged down in making the other responsible for whatever has happened, as seems to be the case now. Some district education offices are now ringing the warning bells that state subsidies would be cut off if the schools failed to get around the threshold - 15 per cent pass. That perhaps is not the solution and, in any case, the target itself is quite low. While the schools should do their level best to improve the results, the education ministry and its district offices should work constantly and more closely with the academic institutions to upgrade their qualities. Efforts should be made to provide training and skill development opportunities for teachers. Also important is raising the morale of those engaged in teaching, particularly in the government schools in the villages nationwide. This year’s SLC results, if taken positively, should provide a turning point for our policy makers to revamp the entire education system, which is just good for increasing the literacy rate. We now need an education system that not only awards certificates, but something that makes us competitive, not just degree holders.