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LETTERS |
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LETTERS |
Thrills Of Trekking At a time when Nepalese journalism is
focusing on the dark side of the tourism industry, dealing a further blow to the morale of
those involved in the sector, SPOTLIGHT has made a admirable effort by highlighting the
trekking industry ("An Endless Trail Of Fascination", SPOTLIGHT, January 31).
Trekking appears almost untouched by the slowdown in the other sectors of the economy. The
fact that 40 percent of tourists visiting Nepal are trekkers also underscores the
importance and prospects of trekking in Nepal, which is full of varieties of routes. If
the law-and-order situation improves and the related authorities show sincerity toward
formulating suitable and competitive trekking packages, trekking is sure to grow into a
vital pillar of the national economy. Mira Basnet Biased Belief It is unfortunate that political parties,
the media and members of civil society have a negative view of the leadership contest in
the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist-Leninist). On one hand, they claim to be
democratic, but, on the other, they make complaints about the race for party leadership in
UML. Shouldn't they be glad that the largest communist party is moving toward
democratization, the value they always said the comrades lacked? Krishna Dhungana TU's Torment Your cover story on Tribhuvan University
raised some important points, but missed the fundamental issues (("Compromise with
Quality", SPOTLIGHT, January 24). Our education scene has always been dominated by
those who never teach, but are experts in building castles in the air. The TU
administration still has the panchayat hangover of blaming all ills on the teachers. Can
any institution prosper by badgering and demoralizing its staff? This reminds me of
Stalinist Lysenko who had purportedly developed a method to grow wheat in the Siberian
permafrost. The farmers did as told and as the wheat sprouted but died soon. Lysenko had
them sent away to labor camps. The pseudo-research report you quote, blaming each teacher
of cheating eight minutes from every class, prepared by those who never teach, costs of
hundreds of thousands of rupees in World Bank loans. What kind of model they developed to
make such fictitious charges? Even leaving eight out of 40 minutes of class gives the
teacher an 80 percent efficiency rate. Is there any other institution in the country that
can boast of such? The teacher's union is too steeped in politics to ask any question on
such squandering of scarce resources. The dean blames teachers of using 20-year-old notes;
but does he give any grants to buy new books. Let alone books, teachers have to dig into
their salary and deprive their family to buy paper and pen to prepare class notes. Then
how can they blame the teachers earning some family subsistence by taking extra classes
during their free time? The TU triumvirates and their henchmen make extravagant foreign
jaunts in the name of signing much-publicized MOUs, but do you know of a single teacher
who has availed of any academic exchange. Of course the teachers are not free form blame.
At the cost of academic upliftment, most keep busy running errands for their political
masters, and train their students to do the same. After all, this is an assured short-cut
to professorship. Any comparison of TU with the mushrooming universities is out of
context. According to your own data, the rest cater to just 10,000 out of 200,000
students. Now if you calculate the government grant per student, the so-called private
university is pampered with the lion share to produce spoilt brats. All over the world
alumni contribute whole-heartedly to keep up the prestige of their alma mater, but in our
country they are busy defacing it. The only prescription for the malaise is a
teacher-centered program to impart quality education and produce graduates who contribute
to the economic activity rather than becoming parasites that expect government doles in an
unproductive office. Shukra Raj Acharya Death Trap The brutal murders of Armed Police Force
Inspector-General Krishna Mohan Shrestha, his wife Nudup, and bodyguard Sri Surya Regmi on
January 26 were indeed tragic. In spite of this unbearable loss and heinous crime, the
government only "condoled" their death while Prime Minister Lokendra Bahadur
Chand and his ministers "paid homage" to the victims. There has been no
commitment from either the government or Prime Minister Chand about finding the killers
and bring them to justice. Only offering "condolences" and "homages"
will not do. Who is going to stop Nepal from becoming a land of death? Mrigendramani Dixit Local Content Your story on private TV channels was
praiseworthy ("Watching the Small Screen Grow Up", SPOTLIGHT, December 26,
2002). With the new channels, Kathmanduites will have their own home-grown alternatives.
Indian TV ads have had a lot of affect in our economy and consumption patterns. The new
channels will have to promote local products and stop transmitting foreign commercials. As
Nepal is an agriculture-based economy, programs for and about farmers should be
productive. To promote tourism, documentary dramas about heritage, parks, people, places,
feasts and festivals, natural beauty should be focused. Rabina Rachalica |
Send your feedback to the
editor: spotligh@mos.com.np |
