“Where do you send your kids to school?” is a com­mon question I get from those with school-going kids. I tell them where my boys go and I see an unfamiliar expression on their faces. Because they go to a very com­mon school, not so “fancy” in other words, and thus not very popular. The season of graduation of young kids is on. Schools and parents are both competing—schools with other schools to attract more students through innovative programs and services; parents against each other to send their kids to well-known schools. Thousands of parents are eyeing schools like St. Mary’s and St. Xavier’s that provide good edu­cation at affordable fees.

 

The same parents who strong­ly oppose “examination” while their kids are in preschool, des­perately want their little ones to “prepare” and sit for the “entrance” exam for grade one. I find the pressure on the children around just six to go through this new “iron gate” worrisome.

 

Equating fees and the brand with quality of education has also created a kind of class divide among the low­er-middle, middle, and upper-mid­dle class urban Nepali families. It gets associated with status—high­er the school fees paid, higher the social status. Education is no doubt important but should you spend so much? There are schools charging monthly fees equivalent to 11 grams of gold. Has education become a new luxury good?

 

I graduated from 10th grade two decades ago from an inexpensive school that focused on nothing but bookish knowledge. I never had a chance to learn dance, play sports, or do anything that would make me stand out from the rest, besides my academic performance (which I wasn’t good at). I always hoped I could at least compete in some spell­ing contests, but that didn’t hap­pen either. Unlike me, kids growing up today by default learn different activities at any school, and their learning continues beyond school. They have many mediums to learn from. Internet at their fingertips, is of course, one example. Parents’ willingness to give them more, is another. Yes, working parents may not have enough time to do that but time planning is crucial; the kids won’t have their childhood back.

 

Nepali parents sponsor their chil­dren’s education until, in most cas­es, up to the Bachelor’s Level. The amount spent in primary or high school education could be saved and invested in higher education.

 

If parents spare some time for their young ones, involve them in things they do, encourage them to build their strengths, and teach them to keep their feet on the ground, not only would the family ties be stronger, the chase for a “good” school would also perhaps end.

 

By PRERANA MARASINI
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