NATIONAL 3 -(Spotlight Weekly)

Anarchy Reigns

As government pursues confusing policy, Nepal's school education system is in chaos

By KESHAB POUDEL

Supporters of Nepal Teachers' Association and Nepal National Teachers' Organizations have been agitating in front of the Ministry of Education demanding to make all teachers permanent. But nobody has found the issue of confusing academic calendar as an agenda worth pursuing. Thus, future of millions of school students across the country, who have already lost their six months due to the adjustment of academic session, is uncertain.

School student : Victims of misguided policy.

Although Ministry of Education has already issued directives to the schools asking them to follow the academic calendar set by it (that begins from July), most of the schools have already started the new academic session.

Due to resulting confusion over the new academic session, students and parents are at a loss to understand what is happening.

Some schools have already published advertisement for new enrollment. St Xavier's and St Mary's and Mahendra Bhawan have followed the academic. But they are finding themselves behind the schedule as many of their counterparts have gone ahead of the stipulated schedule.

The Ministry of Education announced the introduction of new academic session last year after long home work. July\August, according to the Ministry is the most appropriate time for starting new academic session as it sets Nepalese education in tune with the international/regional academic sessions.

As school kids have already wasted an academic year in the process of readjustment, the current indecision of the Ministry ha further created problems. The Ministry's indecision reflects in the fact that while some schools claimed they had made peace with the Ministry and were going to follow their previous academic sessions starting around April, the Ministry has published notice warning schools to strictly follow its directives.

As schools and Education Ministry lock horn over the academic calendar, hundreds of thousands of students and parents are forced to bear the burnt.

"During the year the Ministry announced the change of session, we had to charge 15 months of fees from students, and the year following that we had to charge for 14 months. Schools like ours, which are following government guidelines, are suffering from this chaos," says a teacher.

If things remain unchanged, students of primary and secondary level will have to spend 3 more months at the same grade this year too. This means loss of one year for nothing.

Four years back, then Minister for Education Govinda Raj Joshi amended the Education Act and Regulations to change the century old academic calendar citing that old academic calendar was valley based. Previously, the academic calendars used to resume at the last week of February and ended at the end of December.

Proposed academic calendar starts from second week of July and ends in April. According to the teachers, it lessens the actual day of teaching and learning.

Manorama Rana, principal of Mahendra Bhawan Girls Higher Secondary Boarding School and vice president of PABSAN, the Association of Private and Boarding Schools has already demanded that the academic session should start from April instead of July. "If we start academic session from July, students of class ten will have to appear in the SLC examinations after attending less than 160 days in class," she said. According to the Education Act, a student needs to attend at least 220 days in class ten before attending SLC.

Ministry of Education, however, does not agree with the arguments. "The new academic calendar was set up following consultations with private and government schools. Since it is already in force, it cannot be changed," said Chuman Basnet, spokesman of the Ministry.

As the government and schools locking their horns over the issue, the guardians are worried about the future of their wards.