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COVER STORY |
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COVER STORY |
EDUCATION Over 6.5 million students
were denied their fundamental rights to study across the country in the past two weeks.
Due to indefinite strike called by pro-Maoist student organization, the children of
schools and colleges were forced to stay out of the educational institutions. Nepal
students face bleak future due to incessant strikes called on different pretexts. In the
absence of strong government that can guarantee security, every other institution of the
country is crumbling under pressure from the raging conflict. Among them, educational
institutions have been rendered as the most vulnerable as different organizations
regularly impose strikes against them. Despite the appeals by national and international
organizations to declare the education sector as Zone of Peace, students are yet to feel
any respite By SANJAYA DHAKAL Even though the result of this year’s
School Leaving Certificate (SLC) examinations came as good news to Saran Sapkota of New
Baneshwore, he was anything but happy. Though he passed with flying colors securing over
75 percent, Sapkota was in a pensive mood. “I feel hopeless and helpless. One
look around and the pall of gloom sets in my mind. The schools and colleges are closed.
Where are we going to get admission?” asked Sapkota. “The most depressing part
is that the strikes have become a regular phenomenon. Even if one organization calls off
its strikes, there are many others waiting for their turn.”
Grishma Sharma of Balaju has similar
grievances. “It is absurd that they are calling strikes in education by putting forth
political demands,” she said. The endless series of strikes are already
taking its toll on Nepalese society. “Of late, we are observing a dangerous trend in
society. We have started to take every other strike normally. This mass indifference will
exact a heavy cost in future,” said Bishnu Phunyal, a worried parent of two children. Over 6.5 million school and college
students of Nepal face an uncertain future as their academic activities continue to be
held at ransom by various parties. Beginning June 6, over 33,500 schools and
colleges - including 25,000 public schools and 8500 private schools – have been
closed at the call of indefinite strike in all educational institutions by the
Maoist-affiliated All Nepal National Free Students Union - Revolutionary (ANNFSU –
R). The frequency of various forms of strikes
has shot up in the conflict-ridden Himalayan Kingdom affecting the schools and colleges
the most. In the last one year, the schools could only complete less than 150 class days
against the minimum schedule of 180 class days. Apart from the numerous calls of general
strikes by the Maoists as well as some mainstream political parties, the specific strikes
targeted at education sector have derailed the normal teaching-learning environment. The
Maoists’ student wing had also announced five-day strikes in educational institutions
on February 25-29 this year. The ANNFSU-R has put forth its five-point
demand to end the strike. Their demands include making the education up to secondary level
(Grade 10) free in public schools; slashing down the fees of private schools and higher
secondary (Grade 11-12) by over 25 percent, among others. Moreover, they have demanded
that the government first withdraw the ‘terrorist’ tag on their organization.
The government had labeled all organizations affiliated with the Maoists as terrorist
organizations following the breakdown of ceasefire in August 27, 2003. Impact of Strike
“The series of strikes will deal
a bloody blow to the future of millions of young Nepalese. A year of disturbed academic
environment will push the future of a student by five years,” said Dr. Mana Prasad
Wagle, a well-known educationist who is the Professor of Education, Faculty of Education
at the Tribhuwan University – the largest university of the country. “Overall
the mental impacts these strikes have on students are incalculable. Even if we find some
solution, we cannot bring back those lost time,” he added. No family in Nepal is left untouched by the
profound affect on education sector. Out of 23 million population, there are over 6.5
million students who represent every caste and ethnic group, region and religion. Strikes
in education, thus, affect all Nepalese population. “Definitely, these young students will
suffer from problems like depression, anxiety and frustration in future if proper
settlements are not found soon to put at rest the endless series of disturbances,”
said Dr. Niranjan Prasad Upadhyay, a senior psychologist. “There is no doubt that the ongoing
strikes and closures are having a very serious affect on our children. But unfortunately,
nobody seems to be least bothered about the pillars of this nation,” said Suprabhat
Bhandari, president of Guardians’ Association of Nepal. Apart from immense mental impact, the
strikes also exact monetary costs. Umesh Shrestha, president of Private and Boarding
Schools Organization of Nepal (PABSON) calculates the per day loss of strike in private
schools to be over US$ half a million. “We cannot continue like this. Either we have
to dismantle our schools or some solution must be found out at the soonest,” said
Shrestha. Owing to threats from the Maoists, all privae as well as public schools have
closed down their shutters. On June 6, Maoists exploded a bomb at Little Flowers Secondary
school in Chitawan, of central Nepal, slightly damaging its building. The spate of
abduction of teachers and students continues unabated. In such a situation, no school can
pluck courage to defy their call.
Due to inherent instability in the
country, tens of thousands of youths are leaving the country to seek job opportunities in
India and overseas. “Every year over 150,000 youths go overseas for works. And about
70 percent of them are educated up to secondary level,” said Narendra Shrestha,
general secretary of Nepal Association of Foreign Employment Agencies (NEFEA). “It is
because of disturbance in education here that so many youths of school-going age dropout
and seek to go abroad for work,” he added. There is a growing trend of youths going
for overseas work rather than staying here for further studies. In rural Nepal, the
Maoists have intensified their insurgency and stepped up en masse abductions of teachers
and students. This eerie development has also forced thousands of students to dropout from
their regular classes and head for India or urban centers of Nepal to escape the
insecurity. Even among urban residents, the trend of
sending children for education abroad – particularly India – is expected to grow
further. Because of instability back home, parents who can afford are forced to send their
wards to schools in India. Since the current strike comes at a time when this year’s
academic session has just started and the results of SLC have just been published,
thousands of students could opt to study abroad. “Billions of rupees will then be
spent for study overseas,” said a PABSON official. Denial Of Rights The strikes in educational institutions
constitute a serious breach of fundamental human rights and children rights. Frustrated by the strikes, a delegation of
parents had approached National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) to request them to convince
the concerned parties to end violating the right to education. “There are millions of students in the
country who come from every region and every community. By denying their right to
education, the Maoist students have hit at the right of all Nepalese people,” said
Sushil Pyakurel, a member of NHRC. “We urge them to immediately end their strikes and
respect educational institutions as Zone of Peace.” Even Matthew Kahane, Resident Coordinator
of the United Nations system in Nepal, has urged concerned parties to respect the rights
of children. Suomi Sakai, resident representative of UNICEF has also asked the organizers
of strike to respect schools and colleges as Zones of Peace and refrain from disturbing
them in any kind. Frustrated by the continuous attack against
educational institutions, a group of ten international donor organizations strongly
deplored the indefinite strike in education institutions. The donor agencies including
DANIDA, FINNIDA, NORAD, ADB, UNESCO, JICA, EU, UNICEF, World Bank and DFID asked the
Maoists students to immediately call off the strike. In a statement issued on June 8, on
behalf of the donors, by the Danish embassy, the donors have stated, “We appeal to
all parties to immediately abstain from intimidation, interference, harassment and
violence in or near schools.” However, the ANNFSU-R has indicated that it
would call off the strike only if their demands are met. Lekhnath Neupane, president of
the ANNFSU-R, in a telephone talks with media organizations, said that they are ready to
come for talks with the government to end the problem if the ’terrorist’ tag is
withdrawn and if the government makes the whereabouts of its several leaders known. Under pressure from various organizations
representing parents, schools, human rights as well as intellectuals, the government has
shown some flexibility in meeting the demands of the ANNFSU-R. Bidyadhar Mallik, Secretary
at the Ministry of Education, said on June 7, “We are very much serious to end this
strike. The Ministry will take initiative to withdraw terrorist tag from the (pro-Maoist)
student organization to facilitate talks.” The new Education Minister Bimalendra Nidhi
has already gone as far as saying that the government would withdraw the terrorist tag in
case the Maoist students vow to declare schools as Zone of Peace. Investment In Education The government officials, however, add that
they cannot outright fulfill the demand of making secondary education free in public
schools. “The government will need additional resource of over Rs 26 billion (US$ 400
million) every year, which is next to impossible at present situation,” said Lava
Prasad Tripathy, spokesperson of the Ministry of Education. “As far as its other
demands of slashing the fees of private schools are concerned, we have already formed a
task force to study this matter. We are awaiting their recommendation,” he said. The government investment in education
sector has been growing of late. It is now around 15 percent of the total annual budget.
In the current fiscal year, the government had announced the total budget of nearly US$
1.5 billion. Out of the total education budget, 55-60 percent is for the primary
education. The education up to primary level (Grade 5) is free in public schools. There is a huge involvement of donors, who
pour in millions of dollars in this sector to support the government, which has made
education a number one priority for development. Shrinking School Days Strikes and closures have become a
commonplace in Nepal due to incessant political instability. And all this has taken a
severe toll on the school days. The seventh amendment in Education Act 2002 prescribes at
least 220 school days per year. But this target is simply unachievable particularly for
public schools. Whereas in urban areas, the schools do notch up to around 150 school days,
in rural parts even achieving 100 school days is rare. A few years ago, an education
officer Bhoj Raj Kafle had done a research on Bardiya – a mid-western district
located 400 miles west of Kathmandu. His research showed that, on average, the total
number of schools days in the district was 79 days per year. The situation of public colleges is still
worse. According to reports, while the authorities have prescribed at least 150 hours of
teaching per subject, students hardly get to study more than 50 hours. “In such a
situation, it would ludicrous to expect quality education,’ said one student. The campuses, particularly those located in
Putalisadak and Bagbazar area, were disrupted for the past two months as the student
organizations joined the agitation against regression launched by political parties. What Next? In the last five decades, Nepal had made
tremendous progress in educating its citizens. The general literacy rate has jumped from 2
percent in 1950 – when Nepal opened itself to outside world - to around 50 percent
today. Still, there are 19 percent of children who despite being of school-going age, are
out of primary schools. Likewise, big strides had been made in the
education infrastructure development. Access to schools had improved substantially. The
average walk from home to school now takes about half an hour. Every Village Development
Committee (VDC) – there are a total of over 3900 VDCs in Nepal - has at least a
couple of schools. There are 25,599 schools in the country, with 8,547 being private ones
as per the Education Statistics of Nepal 1999. However, all these achievements could
unravel if the present trend of targeting educational institutions continues unabated.
Most of the education experts agree that the practice of calling strikes in education
institutions should be brought to an end for good. “Rather than reaching for
short-term solutions, the concerned parties must come up with a long-term answer to put an
end to this instability,” said a principal of a public school. However, given the past track record and
the complexity of the situation, long-term solution could be easier said than done.
Nepalese students, unfortunately, might be staring at a prolonged disturbance. SLC TOPPERS Both the SLC toppers of
this year want to study medicine By THAKUR AMGAI Bishal Khanal (Top among boys) Bishal Khanal, of Everest Boarding School,
Butwal, not only topped the board exam of School Leaving Certificate (SLC) 2004, but also
set a new record. The percentage of marks he secured is the highest in the 71 years
history of SLC exams. He scored 756 out 800 (94.5 percent) full marks. Obviously, an intelligent boy of 16,
Bishal, comes from a family with a weak financial background. A three-roomed house and 10
kathhas land is the only property his family possesses. Even the house is on the verge of
being auctioned by a finance company, to which Bishal’s parents had incurred debt and
not been able to pay back. Amidst all these hardships of the debt-ridden family,
Bishal’s achievement in the SLC exam brought an ambience of happiness in his family
and his school soon after one of the local F.M. Radios announced Bishal’s name as the
Board topper of this year. The news that Bishal had topped the SLC
board came as a big surprise to Bishal, his family, his neighbors and the school, as
nobody had expected such a big success from the humble boy. “I attribute this success to
continuous hard work and the co-operation of my teachers and parents,” said Bishal,
who hopes to become a doctor in the future. Bishal, who used to spend 5/6 hours for
studies daily, feels that bookish knowledge in not enough for a success. “Success
comes not merely from becoming “bookworm”. One needs to read newspapers, general
knowledge, and so on,” he said. His schoolteachers say that he was equally
interested in extra curricular activities, particularly in literature. Born on January 20,
1989, in Butwal, a western town of the country, he never came second in the school exams
ever since the first grade. The only son of primary school teacher
Nurdev Khanal and Bhagwati Khanal, Bishal was awarded scholarship by his school throughout
his schooling. He hopes to get financial assistance for further studies also, without
which his dream to become a doctor would not materialize. His father claims that the success of his
son is testimony to the fact that students from lower middle class can compete equally
well with students from elite class who are much more privileged. Despite the poor
financial condition, Bishal’s parents have supported him in every way possible for
his studies. “We have endured a lot of hardships to educate our son so far. We
will continue to do so in the future also,” said both his parents in unison. Pratisha Gyawali (top among girls) A student of one of the highly esteemed
schools of the capital, Pratistha Gyawali, topped the SLC board among the girls securing a
total of 707 marks (88.37 per cent). Like Bishal, she, too, wants to be a doctor in the
future. “It takes confidence and commitment to succeed,” says Pratistha, who
claims to have studied 8 hours daily during the exam time. Her father, Krishna Gyawali, is a joint
secretary at the Ministry of Finance. Pratistha, who was born in 1988 July in Biratnagar,
did her early schooling in London when her father was there. She joined Galaxy Public
School in grade four and has been studying there ever since. For Pratistha, too, the news that she had
topped the SLC examination among girls was very unexpected. However, the principal of her
school, Geeta Rana, claims that she had no doubt that Pratistha would top the exams as she
was one of the most intelligent girls of her batch. The pass rate in the SLC examination this
year is the highest after the introduction new curriculum in 2000. Out of the total
students appearing for the exam, more than 46 per cent passed the exam this year, as
compared to 32.6 per cent last year. However, the increase in the pass rate is, as
analysts claim, not a result of improvement of school level education, but a manipulation
of the exam taking and correction mechanism. This year, a total of 317,000 students had
appeared for the annual SLC exam. Out of which, 175,400 were regular examinees. |
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