NATIONAL 4 - (Spotlight Weekly)

‘Nation's Renewal Must Begin With Education’

— Dr.TRAILOKYA NATH UPRAITY

Dr.TRAILOKYA NATH UPRAITY, 79, is one of the well-known education experts of the country. A former vice-chancellor of Tribhuvan University, Upraity is also a founding member of Nepal Scout. Although he officially retired several years ago, Upraity is still active in various fields of national life. Upraity spoke to KESHAB POUDEL on major issues related to education and other sectors.

At a time when most people of your age and experience are inactive, what inspires you to remain so active?

Personally, my mission in life is to keep myself active. I want to be active in a way that I could contribute something to society, to the nation and to the people. With no motive for money or position, I have kept myself quite satisfy and happy. Basically, I want to work to promote the interest of society.

Many people demand government support to initiate work, but you are doing it alone. Don't you think you need the support of others?

When people try to blame others, they cannot do anything alone. People normally look at personal benefits, including money and prestige. They are immaterial things for me. Money, position and prestige alone are not important for me. They are just feathers in the cap. If you are interested in delivering service, you have to feel in that way internally. A social worker can not expect return for his or her contribution. My feeling is that what I can get, what I do. I believe in destiny or God. I surrendered to my destiny or some forces that guide my destiny. I am more or less surrendered to him. When I don't have any ambition, all that come in my net is fish. I am very satisfied what I am. I have a number of friends who are sick and indisposed. When I compare myself with their physical ability, I don't see anything to be disappointed about. I may not have the wealth they have, but, personally, I am very lucky to be in this age running around and serving the people. There is something inside my soul that encourages me to do something.

People are talking about the role of civil society, but you are proving yourself by your actions. How do you evaluate the role of civil society?

I am not alone. We must draw a line of demarcation. Things are in mess today partly because of political leaders. The kinds of thought and guidance we are getting in multiparty democracy are not satisfactory. We are badly disappointed by the role of leadership. Anybody with a little sense of history and the growth of human civilization will tell you that things can change. Naturally, we are hoping that things should be better in democracy. The Nepali Congress has ruled the country for long, but it has not been able to bring change. The people have been aspiring for a new direction. In the last 12 years, our leaders have not made an effort to learn from their mistakes. This is very much disappointing to the people. All these things are happening because of corruption and bad governance. All political parties are responsible for creating this mess. Although there is disappointment among the people, democracy is the only political system through which we can bring change. Educated people have been properly groomed for that purpose. Things will filter down through this way. My feeling is that we must try to do something to improve the quality of education.

How do you see the role of education?

Education is a fundamental part of democracy and human values. Education teaches you the fundamentals of tolerance and respect for each other's views. We need to introduce education curriculum that is integrated with the values democracy. The course needs to be designed by integrating all these values. Students do get these things in everyday life. Along with children, there is a need to educate the parents. This is the work I am also taking through civic education society. One of the problems in teaching civic education is the teacher. Many teachers are politically mobilized and they are so much politicized. This is the reason why teachers are more interested in talking about their own political ideology rather than civic education. In the whole process, the critical factor is teacher's education. We need to promote serious thinking about teacher's education. It may take a long time. If we take the initiative, things might move.

It is said that democracy is a gradual process that takes time to mature, but intellectuals in Nepal wants immediate results. How do you look at this situation?

One thing I must admit is that ours is a very authoritarian society. The roots of the authoritarian past still exist. Though there has been political change, we have not been able to transform ourselves in accordance with the new system. I agree that democracy is a very slow process, but there is very little change. We have produced so many politicians, but no philosopher with original ideas about education. We have been trying to copy what India and other countries did in the educator sector. In 1971, we had made an effort to introduce an education system based on our own needs, but it could not go very far. We don't have any educational philosophy. Everything that has changed has been merely a change of guards. Our leaders have never recognized that the country's prosperity is their own prosperity.

How long have you been involved in the education sector?

I was involved in the first national education commission back in 1952-53. We drew up a detailed report on how education should be developed, but it was not implemented properly. Then we had said Nepal should have universal compulsory free education by the year 1980. In 1959 when the Nepali Congress government came in power, they shorten the target by 10 years. That was an impossible thing to do. One couldn't have done these things in 10 years at a time when we lacked infrastructure. So they tried to mislead the people. When I was vice-chairman of the Education Commission, we gave a detail plan with a vision of different education program. There was politicization in the implementation of the reports of all commissions. In the last decade, the government has granted permission to many new universities, including Kathmandu University, Pokhara University and Purbanchal University. But we have not seen any major changes in the level of education. Tribhuvan University is still overcrowded.

How do you look at the opening up of more universities?

The whole concept of regional university has been thrown out. There has been politicization of education all the time. Nobody cared about the quality of education in allowing new universities to open. The government established the universities and appointed vice-chancellors. They wanted political gain out of it. The new universities have been facing familiar problems. The situation was similar to the slogan of free secondary and pre-secondary school. After 12 years of experiment, the government seems to have realized that it is impossible to provide free education. The government has decided to hand over schools to the community. All these things are an outcome of political bungling and are rooted in the very selfish role of political leaders and parties. We need sincere efforts to promote education.

Education is one of the basic components of democracy. How do you see the quality of education in Nepal?

I have been in the education sector for 50 years. I joined the sector when Padma Sumsher was prime minister of Nepal. The Ranas introduced education policies at that time not to help Nepal and the Nepalese people but because they wanted to please Delhi. When Mahatma Gandhi started basic education, the Ranas thought it would help them in the long run if they followed the Indian model. Our education policies have not been formulated in accordance with the needs of Nepal. People here have always copied the system from India. We have made some progress in primary, secondary and higher education, but it is too little. After the restoration of democracy and the introduction of a liberal political system, many education institutions, including private schools and colleges, have come up.

What are your views on the role of private schools?

The private sector has contributed to increasing the quality of education. We have to accept that something happened in the past in the education sector. Now we are asking for quality education. We must clarify what this means. Do we want more expensive private schools or do we want to encourage government schools?

How do you see the growing disparities in education?

There has been some criticism from the public that there are two classes of educated people. We can see classes in all sectors of society. We have to accept the role of private schools in imparting good education. Take the case of the health sector. There are nursing homes and poor hospitals. So there is no sense in blaming the education sector alone. Parents want to groom their children in a way they could compete with other parts of the world. As there are very limited opportunities in the country, parents have justification to groom children capable of competing in the global market. This is quality education. Unless people are properly trained in basic civil values and social service, moral and ethical principles, no education can claim to be perfect. Providing technical education alone does not constitute quality education. We need to integrate civic education with technical education.

What needs to be done to improve the situation?

When we proposed the national education plan in 1972, we had introduced the National Development Service. Under the program, a master's degree student had to serve a year in a village. The aim of the program was to update the student about the country. It was stopped abruptly in 1979 because of political reasons. When we introduced the system, society was in no position to accept it. Our boys are as intelligent and good as students of other parts of the world. If we want to develop the country, we need to invest more money in the education sector. My experience is that education is necessary for overall improvement.

How do you see the progress of education over the last five decades?

We have some good sides, as we have developed infrastructures and education network throughout the country. People are aware about the need to educate their children. This is a very positive result. The donor community has made many efforts to improve the education sector. Under the Basic Primary Education Program (BPEP), many new infrastructures have been built in various districts. If you look at the document, it is an excellent document, as it will make a very lasting contribution. But the BPEP has not been able to make the desired progress. People are showing a selfish motive.

What are the major hindrances in the education sector?

One of the major hindrances in our education system is the "Iron Gate" of the School Living Certificate. We need more than one SLC board and let them experiment with new ideas befitting our country and the outside world. I have often expressed this to the ministry from time to time. Any effort at improving education at the higher level depends upon the quality of education in the school level. Tribhuvan University can take pride in being a large university in the world. But buildings and number of students are not alone to prove the excellence of any university. Teachers and students are the pride of education. So we sought to phase out the proficiency level from the university, as it is part of school education. We need to take some hard decisions on this matter. The Ministry of Education has to work in setting out an alternative to the SLC. We need to make effort to minimize the gap.

How do you see the politicization of education?

Politicization has been affecting the education system. Teachers and students have been politicized. There are many problems in universities and schools. It will take time to clear the mess. If all political parties agree to clean the mess, they can do it in a short time. In order to advise the government on matters of education, the country needs a high-level board. The board should be made free of politics. But every politician wants to be involved in decision making. Nepal has basic infrastructures in all parts of the country and we need to build on them.