KATHMANDU, Dec 9: It´s not only the schools in rural backwaters, but also schools in the capital, which fail run classes for 220 days a year as stipulated by the Education Act-1971. While reasons behind hindrances in running classes in the remote regions are problems of livelihood and remoteness, government schools in Kathmandu fail to meet the criteria owing to frequent strikes. Schools, which are located in the central part of the capital, fare the worst.
“Most government schools in Kathmandu do not open for more than 200 days,” Ramesh Prasad Gautam, headmaster of Padmodaya Higher Secondary School, says. “Even when schools open, student wings of various political parties often drive away our students to participate in rallies.”
Although there is no actual data on how many days Kathmandu schools open a year on an average, almost no school in the central part of the valley runs more than 200 days. All five schools myrepublica.com randomly spoke to failed to meet the criteria last year. Some schools were ran classes for less than 180 days a year.
“It is shocking that even schools in the capital are unable to meet the criteria,” says Janardan Nepal, under secretary at the Department of Education (DoE).
Dhruba Raj Regmi, under secretary at the Ministry of Education (MoE), does not see much difference between government school in Karnali and Kathmandu. Regmi, who assisted a recent study, which revealed that Karnali schools run 137 days a year on an average, says, “Kathmandu schools are in an equally deplorable situation.”
Frequent closures have also affected SLC results. Last year, success result of Shanti Bidya Griha School in the SLC examinations, declined to 46 percent. “Our school hardly opened for six months last year,” the school´s headmaster Mukunda Shrestha said.
The Education Act does not stipulate anything about punitive actions against schools that fail to meet the criteria to run classes for at least 220 days a year. The act only suggests the schools´ management committees to arrange for ´extra classes´.
However, there is yet another problem. Management committees formed to oversee government schools generally consist of parents whose children go to private schools. Their utter indifference toward improving the quality of education is the major reason why most government schools do not arrange for ´extra classes´.
“Members of management committees do not care for government schools their children do not go to,” education expert Dr. Bishnu Karki says. “Reform of management committees is one of the most neglected issues.”
Dr Karki stressed on the need for formation of active and attentive management committees to arrange for extra classes in case the schools fail to meet the government-set criteria.
Schools disrupted for three days
The Maoists in Birgunj forced the closure of schools and colleges for the last two days. On Sunday and Monday, the Maoists shut down all educational institutions protesting the Kailali incident.
On Tuesday, the Tarai-Madhes Students´ Front (TMSF) disrupted classes in all schools and colleges protesting the Young Communist League´s (YCL) attack on their ´peaceful programs´ in Kathmandu. Situation remained tense for hours after students defied the strike.
