For Peace, Law And Order
United Effort Needed

By Prem N. Kakkar

IN A democracy it is the right of the people to adhere to their own preferred ideologies. This is true for Nepal since the past twelve years. But uncalled for activities in the name of freedom is undesirable. The norms and ideals that conform to democratic culture have to be maintained.

Unique

The Constitution of the Kingdom of Nepal-1990 guarantees the basic human rights to all irrespective of any affiliation. That is a uniqueness of the Constitution that we have. However, there are some people who always come up with criticisms which are not valid. The Constitution has made it easier for the people to enjoy the rights and freedom without any fear.

Twelve years is not a long time but the strides taken are noteworthy. It is this very reason that the two general elections were held. The provisions enshrined in the Constitution made it possible for the people's participation in the administration. This is an important achievement.

The political parties know very well that democracy must be strengthened. The political leaders are mature and wise people so what they say must be balanced and directed for the welfare of the people. Healthy criticism is necessary to right any wrong. Good works of the government has to be appreciated. It is then possible to make an all out effort to develop the country.

The year 2002 saw many ups and downs on the political front. The dissolution of the House of Representatives and the call for fresh elections was an important event. But as the security situation in the country was not conducive for the massive exercise, nothing materialised. That was quite unfortunate. The Royal Address three months back and the formation of the new government under Prime Minister Lokendra Bahadur Chand were other highlights.

It is three months since the new government was formed. The major tasks the government has undertaken are the maintenance of law and order and fixing the date for the polls together with holding it. To fulfill these objectives is not an easy task considering the prevailing situation.

For this, first of all the violence has to be stopped. To bring the other side to the negotiating is necessary. In this particular direction, the support, cooperation and suggestions of all are necessary especially of the political parties and their leaders.

It is challenging times so every step taken must be with caution. The political parties must make their presence felt not only in the urban centres but also in the rural areas. It is unity that counts.
The fulfillment of the aspirations of the people is what must be uppermost in mind. Petty interests must give way to overall national interest. The country's economy has suffered the most and efforts must be made to prop it up. Strategies must be devised whereby the people will feel secure. Due to the lack of this, it has been reported that a large number of youths have abandoned their villages. The manpower that is so necessary to drive the wheels of economy is not where they ought to be. The rural economy has been badly hit. This is of grave concern because the agricultural sector contributes the most to overall economy. With reliance on traditional farming techniques there is more emphasis on manual labour. With many people fleeing from the villages means a lack of labour and so a fall in agro production.

Prime Minister Chand has said that once peace as well as law and order situation improves industry and business along with other sectors will prosper. This is a right observation based on the fact it is only normalcy that can revive the economy. The revitalisation of the economy will see more employment opportunities that will help raise the living standard of the people.

The Tenth Plan that was recently unveiled is basically focussed on poverty alleviation. The plans and programmes outlined therein to be success oriented must be implemented in the right manner. It is the implementation aspect that is important. Many failures in the past arose from lax implementation which also saw corruption raising its ugly head. The fight against corruption has picked up pace with cases being filed against a number of people including government officials and former ministers. Cleaning the cupboard will give enough breathing space.

Hope

The government and its machinery is moving in the right direction and it can be hoped that the situation will improve at the earliest. The people will then be able to heave a sigh of relief and ready to elect their representatives.

Youth And Education

By Tanchoma Foembo

TODAY it is a well - established fact that human capacity in terms of knowledge refers education as an essential growth requirement. One of the goals of education is a social transformation through personal empowerment. Asian culture considers knowledge and skills for life sustenance, tolerance and compassion for harmonious living and enlightened living through high moral. Education is expected to develop human resources with high level of potentialities, skills, knowledge and creativity. It is public expectation that education should be related to the world of work and productivity and the graduates became competent in the job market.

Exposure

The youths are very important for the advancement of the country and therefore they should be given adequate exposure to learning skills and knowledge through higher education and proper role to play. It should be led to think how it would be able to contribute to national development.

The expansion of modern education took place in Nepal from 1951. At that time only 321 primary schools were there in the whole country. Currently, more than 25 thousand schools are in operation, and 775 higher secondary institutions are offering grades 11 and 12 to those who have just entered into the category of youth. More than 250 campuses under 5 universities are providing higher education to youth. About 3 hundred thousand students are obtaining higher secondary and higher levels of education.

On the other hand not many youth have acquired their secondary education in Nepal. By the time young people become youth they are expected to have acquired secondary level of education.
However, in Nepalese case only 72 per cent of primary school going age children go to school and less than half of them complete primary level. By the time they reach completion of secondary level not even 10 per cent survive schooling.

In this context, a great majority of youths remains uneducated or partially educated.

For this purpose, our higher education has to be directed towards the potentiality of the country, national needs and aspirations. If our higher education becomes relevant to such issues, investment in higher education becomes justified. In line with making our higher education relevant to the emerging needs of the country, for example, we should work towards making the teaching of our higher education in line with the practical demands of the relevant sectors.

Despite various efforts of educational development, Nepal is still facing serious problems regarding quality of education. It is often pointed out, and studies also indicated, that the quality of education delivered by most schools in the country is poor and that the efficiency of school system is unsatisfactory. Students are learning achievement, both in terms of their performance in school examination as well as in terms of their attainment of useful skills and attitudes, are not satisfactory. The learning achievement is lacking. Conventional achievement tests show that the performance of the children is rather very poor. Untidy school enviornment, poor classroom conditions, classes being run irregularly and not up to full requirements, and teacher and student irregularities are some of the visible aspects of organisational and management problems.

Although supervisors / resource persons have been appointed both at the District Education Offices and Regional Education Directorates, the schools suffer from the several problems of the lack of technical support. Regular and effective supervision of schools is still not satisfactory. Lack of in built strategy for implementing the supervision and monitoring activities as contemplated is one of the major causes behind the problems. Also the lacks of effective mechanism for teacher support seem to contribute to the problems of current supervision system.

From the above statements it is clear that the quality of education is still big issue. However, enhancing the internal efficiency and the quality of education still remain a big challenge. The successful development is a continuous process. Every society must not only address the present issues and problems but at the same time plan for the future. The future is not pre-determined; it is created through careful thinking and clear vision. The role of education is to facilitate the process of planning and leading the society towards conceiving and actualising the future.

For this purpose, public consultation, careful planning and effective implementation of a high quality education is needed. Plus in addition it is the responsibility of policy-makers, thinkers, leaders, managers and the whole higher education workforce to make this commitment and to act on it".

Obligation

To this end, higher education should be perceived and also practised as an energiser to activate effective and enabling transformation of knowledge and skills to individuals so that the emerging society benefits from capable citizens who strongly feel their social obligation to make significant contributions to further empower the society in all aspects.

Have A Helmet Avoid All Risks

By BG

"WHAT can I do when there is not an extra helmet," an elderly lady was murmuring while getting on a tempo at Minbhawan Wednesday morning. "Today my son failed to take me to Naya Bazzar on his motorcycle due to the new traffic rule," she finished her story while taking a seat on the congested gas tempo. This scribe did not notice any sign of anger in the face of the grey haired lady.
"One of my neighbours was cleaning his old helmet for his wife," another woman on the same three-wheeler described the impact of the new rule. Other passengers were also joking and talking about the new traffic law that requires both the driver and the pillion rider to have safety helmet enforced from the New Year Day.

The scenes on the roads were also different. All the pillion-riders put on a helmet. Most of the drivers had new helmets on the head. It seemed they offered their old helmets to the pillion-riders. Some of the single-riders even had hung an extra helmet on the leg-guards of their bikes. Probably, they had them hoping that they would meet their dears and nears on the way.

With the enforcement of the new traffic law almost after a decade of its introduction in 1992, the trade of the helmet reached in the peak in the capital. The rise in the trade of the helmet comes as a positive sign to our economy that has been in the doldrums in the recent years. An increase in the import of the helmets also increases the national coffer though it may be by a very small amount.
Though many people suspect an unfair nexus between the traders and bosses of the traffic police behind the enforcement of the decade-old law, this humble scribe is sure that the law has been enforced only for the safety of the pillion riders.

Safer the rule will be to the youngsters, especially those who have boy or girl friends. Safety in many ways! Safety from the fatal accidents and safety from the suspicion parents. Have a full-face helmet with dark glass and ride back holding your boy or girl friends tightly and hurry to Nagarkot or Kakani. No one, even your father can recognise you on the way.

Even for the culprits who are being hunted the new traffic rule will be useful for a safe escape from the police. It is not necessary for a pillion rider to produce any document before the traffic police.
If there had been any nexus between them, it would have been 10 years back when the law was introduced. This scribe suspects whether there is any nexus between the traffic police and the sons or daughters of the affluent parents behind the enforcement of the law because it is the latter who can benefit more from the new rule.

In fact, it seems the enforcement of the law after a decade of its introduction has put the traffic police in a difficulty because it has disclosed how capable they are in enforcing any new safety rule. Anyway, the traffic police though late have been able to enforce one of the safety traffic rules and has paved the way for other rules, which were not enforced due to the pressures from the transport entrepreneurs. Hope they will soon succeed to remove the 20-year old vehicles from the Valley and make the bus or truck owners to pay more than Rs. 17,000 to the victims of the fatal road accidents.