Victim Of Political Disturbances
Intensification of violent insurgency and political agitation has badly hampered education at all levels
By A CORRESPONDENT
Colleges under Tribhuwan University , Nepal ’s oldest university with largest number of enrolment of students - hardly run a single day in the year not affected by political agitations. Similarly, the government and private boarding schools in the rural areas see frequent disturbances from the insurgents. The abduction of students and teachers are commonplace.
In the urban areas, student wings of agitating political parties exploit schools and colleges for political purposes. Political agitation of any kind is virtually impossible without active participation of young students. Despite huge investments, these kinds of disturbances have affected the quality of education.
According to Tribhuwan University ’s annual report, 180 days of regular classes are required before the annual examination - but classes are hardly conducted for more than 90 days.
Because of regular threats by Maoists, the schools in rural and urban regions, too, often face closures. The school days, too, have reduced from 180 to about 130-140 days last year. Schools are closed down from weeks to months under the call of Maoists.
Similarly, schools in rural areas have painful story to tell. As the insurgency intensifies, fundamental rights of children to get education are denied. In many districts, classes are so infrequent that the students are upgraded without attending annual examination. For the younger students, it is very risky to go to the schools, as there is high possibility for abduction. Although the government has made no study on the overall quality of school education, the pass percentage secured by schools from remote parts of the country in School Leaving Certificate Examination shows the pathetic situation.
More than eighty percent of the students in remote schools failed at the final examinations thanks to the irregular classes and unavailability of qualified teachers. Those schoolteachers serving in the remote parts of Nepal live under constant threat of abduction and physical attack. According to a study, the positions of 30,000 teachers in government schools still lie vacant.
Frequent strikes and other kinds of disruptive activities have already damaged the education sector in terms of quality and quantity. The private schools, too, are facing the crisis.
If present political chaos in urban areas and insurgency in rural parts of Nepal continues unabated, Nepal ’s education system might even collapse. The low quality of students produced by the institution of higher education will reduce the quality of country’s overall delivery system.
At a time when a country like Nepal requires efficient and talented pool of manpower to compete in the global market, Nepal ’s educational institutions are producing low quality students, who are mostly politically motivated.
As almost all major political parties have student wings as nationwide organization running parallel with the mother party, they start recruiting younger students from colleges. The Maoists and other communist outfits recruit students from secondary level and begin the process of radicalization of social and political nature.
“Hardly a week passes by without a news of some classes getting disrupted somewhere,” said a university teacher on condition of anonymity. “From King’s rally to rally of opposition political parties, all need young students in their parade.”
In recent days, whether it is King’s rally or rally of political parties, one can see huge participation of younger students. Unlike the college students, who are mobilized for destructive act, the school students are used as showpiece in the rallies.
These practices are leaving an indelible imprint on the mindset of whole set of new generations. If the political leaders of the country do not address this problem collectively, the nation’s future does not look bright.
