Widening Gap In Education

Just two months after the School Leaving Certificate (SLC) examinations were taken, the Office of the Controller of Examinations, Ministry of Education, has published the results, in what is a feat in itself. The Office had a target of publishing the results within 70 days of taking the examinations. It has done so in just 67 days, work that took at least five months in the past. This augurs well for the government that is trying to set up a new timetable in the education system, similar to the one prevailing in other countries of South Asia. And breaking past traditions, the ministry this time has only published the names of those students who topped the SLC exams from among the boys and girls. What’s more, the ministry has refrained from naming the schools these toppers represent. As the Office of the Controller of Examinations said, this has been done to ensure healthy competition among the schools and discourage the tendency of exam-oriented teaching. The tradition of enlisting the names of the top 10 SLC toppers was broken a few years ago, amidst reports that schools lobbied hard, allegedly with money changing hands, to get their names on the list. But after much hue and cry, the tradition continued.

This year, a record number of19, 836 students have passed in first division, while another 50,000 plus students have made it in second division. All in all, 93, 978 students passed the examination that opens the gates for a higher education in college. While the pass figures are impressive, they, however, account for only 45.72 per cent of the 240,641 students who sat for the examinations, which is a colossal waste of resources and efforts. This is not only a waste of the government’s resources, but that of the parents, teachers and students as well. If the past is any guide, the majority of the students who do not make it through the exams are students attending government schools, especially those located outside urban centres. Students in government schools tend to dread subjects like English, maths and science. In recent years, the gap in the quality of education in the two sets of schools has been growing, producing two classes of students.

The SLC results provide plenty of food for thought for the government. Not only is there a need to improve the overall quality of education in the schools, but with a record number of passes in first and second divisions, Nepal’s higher education this year is going to feel the pressure like never before. Students too have no option other than to continue with an education in college - a flaw in the Nepalese education system that should have been corrected a long time back. There are few opportunities for a technical education in a vocational or polytechnic institute. There has been a marked growth in the number of private colleges in recent years, but even then they may prove inadequate for the burgeoning number of students who pass the SLC examinations each year. Against this scenario, chances of commercialization of education at the expense of quality cannot be ignored.