Hurray for Public School

MAR 26 - The trend of sending one’s children to boarding schools has been increasing rapidly. And, recently, the first thing the new committee that took over the Private Boarding Schools’ Organization (Pabson) did was hike the school fees. As a result, parents are anxious and confused about what to do and what not to do. How far is this decision logical and justifiable? Where is the mechanism to judge such decisions? Yes, such illogical decisions transform academia into a profit-oriented cottage industry instead of an ideal place for pedagogy.  

Indeed, we are encouraging private schools as noble places for quality education and ignoring the standard of public schools. And why are we subordinating public schools even though the teachers are well trained and a huge amount of money has been invested by the Ministry of Education and NGOs/INGOs? Such an improper attitude is what encourages private schools to increase their fees.

And, this is a reprehensible reality that parents have to accept innocently, and they can neither pull out their children from private schools despite their high fees nor can they admit them in public schools.

And it may not be possible to admit children in public schools instantly. Furthermore, parents are obviously pleased to see their children studying in boarding schools while a majority of boarding school teachers are unfortunate to be teachers there due to low salaries and heavy workload. Such kinds of terrible issues should be addressed and rectified soon to create a conducive environment for learning. Otherwise, parents will be oppressed and this is the best of time for school owners to suppress parents by imposing unjustifiable decisions.

Nepali academia is like a practical lab where schemes are tested and no longer exist. For instance, the School Sector Reform Plan is the best evidence of a fancy scheme that could not be applied yet. These kinds of failures are the most important reasons behind the attraction among parents towards boarding schools. This is the time to be serious and make public schools as qualitative as possible. Let’s transform public schools into an ideal place for learning by strengthening the alternative education system, liberal promotion policy, continuous assessment system and teachers’ professional development, which eventually create a conducive learning environment. This is the time for stakeholders including teachers, parents, school management committees to act wisely by minimising political intervention at all costs.  

Public schools will definitely be good if the elite groups in Nepali society are committed to admitting theirchildren there. Let’s not treat public schools as a matter of negligence and blame but create an effective management system ensuring their proper monitoring and evaluation. This is an urgent time to act for the amendment of the Education Act 1972 and publish the results of the examination for teachers conducted by the Teachers’ Service Commission. Then the academic year 2071 will be the starting year for change where admission in public schools will increase at a faster rate.

( published in The Kathmandu Post, http://www.ekantipur.com/2014/03/26/oped/hurray-for-public-schools/387284.html