Free education till 12, feasible?

Imagine a new Nepal, a Nepal with free education where the rich and poor could assemble in the same hall, play in the same ground and study in the same class. Sounds alluring right? But can Nepal afford free education? Is free education actually free? With some political parties highly pitching for free education and planning to shut private organizations down we should analyze how feasible it is in today’s context.

It’s an undeniable fact that there has been a huge difference between the performance of students of private institutions and government institutions. The state of government schools is in decline while the private institutions are prospering and are striving for quality education and developing newer methodologies of learning.  With irregularities in class, lack in quality of teachers, resources, less exposure to practical knowledge and poor English background majority of government school products are finding it tough to compete in global arena. Political influence and political instability adds more to it. Private school breeds more success than failure and government breeds more failure than success and it isn’t the students to be blamed, it’s the government’s policies and its poor implementation and lack of reward and punishment system. In the past ten years, the success rate of students from private schools in SLC examination has been around 90 percent. Those who perform poorly are usually from public or government schools where the success rate in SLC has been less than thirty percent and this statistics becomes more disheartening and discouraging when one realizes that 80 percent of the general Nepalese population goes to public schools.

Dissatisfied with public schools’ inability to prepare their children for the cut throat competitive era and due to status quo, parents either send their children to private schools or abroad. Private schools run classes regularly and if due to any technical reasons they are unable to do so they utilize the weekends. They have a strict calendar and proper time table to follow which makes teachers, parents and students work accordingly. Parents are called for regular parent’s teachers meeting in order to improve the ways of teaching and their children’s performance. Parents get concerned even if their children’s percentage decreases by one percent. Regular assessments are held to analyze students’ performance and regular staff meetings are held. Extra classes are provided to weak students and mock examinations are conducted.While in public schools, teacher attrition and absenteeism is very high. In spite of having more than 95 percent trained teachers the performance of government schools are declining. Weak management skills, inconsistent appraisals, appointments/promotion on political bonds and kinship ties have left teachers often suffering from low morale and motivation. Lack of ownership and high politicization has led to the downfall of quality education. Remedial support for struggling students doesn’t exist. There is less focus on harnessing understanding and practical application of ideas or creativity and critical thinking.

Libraries may be set up, but the environment for students to go there and study is lacking. Many government schools aren’t currently providing a safe and welcoming teaching learning environment. Classrooms in rural areas may have a leaking roof, insufficient materials and are dusty and dirty with no bins to dispose dirt. Rooms are often poorly lit or ventilated. Schools still lack clean and adequate toilet facilities due to which the female students don’t go to schools for a certain portion of the month. Even if the resources are available they are not utilized to their full extent.There are areas in which the government isn’t able to send text books even after the completion of entire course. As head teachers in various schools have been leading the school and teaching the students as a full time teacher simultaneously they haven’t been able to effectively monitor teaching and learning in their schools. Political interference of student and teacher union and their so called politics has hit the higher studies harder .Every time the demands of the student leaders aren’t met they embrace the ways of vandalism and agitation.

Public schools have now become a refuge for the children of poor and disadvantaged families. Lack of effective inspection, monitoring and evaluation systems and frequent strikes disrupt school openings and planned activities in schools contributing to negative perceptions on the quality of public education. A mass exodus is taking place from public to private organizations. The widening gap between these two types of schools is creating stratification and undermining our social cohesion.

In this context will free education be the ultimate solution? Will the culture of mediocrity eradicate? What will happen to the investments that have been done in the private sector? Will the government provide the investment back to the investors? In government schools students are usually found goofing around. Even if the country starts providing free education it can’t be assured that students would actually be serious as the chances of bunking increases as you value something only when you have to pay for it. “As parents of  students of government schools have no investment or very minimal investment in children’s education in comparison to those of private schools it has led to ownership causing setback in education in government schools” states Nawang Thora Sherpa a Teach for Nepal fellow. “I conducted a diagnostic test at my initial phase of teaching and I was shocked to see that the students of grade six couldn’t even pass the curriculum of grade 2”

As we all know Nepal isn’t a poor country it is a poorly managed country. It is not economically poor it is mentally poor. Rather than complaining about the widening gap between public and private schools, planting bombs in private institutions and trying to close all the private institutions down and jumping to free education, focus should be done on initiatives to improve the existing situation. In a longer run Nepal can transcend to free education system like Finland, Norway, Sweden and Germany but the present need of Nepal is to enhance and monitor the existing system, run remedial classes, implement hire and fire system, increase public participation and public concern and develop a sense of ownership.  The government should tap the untapped and discover the undiscovered intelligence and talent covered under impoverishment and destitution. It should create an environment for national and international students to study. Students should be politically aware but the very politics shouldn’t be hindrance and resources vandalism shouldn’t be valid just because the students are affiliated to some political party.