The federal capital looks like the protest capital of Nepal, with protests of all sorts becoming a part and parcel of daily life. Just months after teachers and non-teaching staff of government schools launched a strident protest for the fulfillment of their ‘just demands’, teachers and principals of private schools have started hitting the streets of Kathmandu with their own set of demands.
The latest protest at Maitighar Mandala comes at a time when the Education, Health and Technology Committee of the House of Representatives is about to pass a Bill on school education.
Unveiling a phasewise protest, the protesters have warned that they will intensify their protest by shutting schools from Aug 25 if the government does not address their demands by then. So, what’s getting the protesters’ goat and pushing them onto the streets of Kathmandu from the classroom? Among the five points of objection, first and foremost is the bill’s intent to make private schools registered under the Company Act ‘nonprofit-oriented’. The removal of provisions on ‘full scholarship (the schools want to distribute scholarships on their own, but are okay with a transparent committee formed with the representation of concerned municipality/rural municipality distributing freeships), the end of the practice of schools supplying things not produced by them (uniform, educational materials, food, etc) and the removal of the rule allowing only students of community schools to enrol in CTEVT courses are among their major demands.
Apparently, the protesters have the backing of ‘umbrella organizations’ of schools such as PABSON, N-PABSON and HISSAN. In the wake of the recent protest, it will be worthwhile, once again, to revisit the preamble of our Constitution, which defines Nepal as an independent, indivisible, sovereign, secular, inclusive, democratic, socialism-oriented, federal democratic republican state.
The Bill may be one more half-hearted attempt of the government to gear toward socialism even as socialism remains an alien concept in different walks of our national life, including education. While the government should better regulate private educational institutions and try every bit to make education affordable for all by reigning in exorbitant fees and other charges (remember, right to education is a fundamental right), and make sure that only deserving candidates get freeships, robbing private schools of sources of profit may bleed them dry, causing the education system to collapse.
In the interest of students, parents and the society at large, the government and the protesters would do well to strive for a negotiated settlement.
