Due to the lack of subject teachers and the school not being able to complete the course on time, students of classes 10, 11 and 12 from the Himalayan and hilly districts of Karnali come to Birendranagar every year for tuition.
Madan Acharya, who studies in Class 12 at Motiram Secondary School in Kalikot Raskot Municipality-2, has been in Birendranagar, the capital of Karnali, for two months. He came to Surkhet to study tuition for exam preparation after there was no regular education in school. Due to the lack of subject teachers and the school not being able to complete the course on time, students of classes 10, 11 and 12 from the Himalayan and hilly districts of Karnali come to Birendranagar every year for tuition.
Acharya, who is studying in the faculty of management, said that he chose the tuition route after seeing that the course could not be completed in the school. He says that many students have to stay in Surkhet to study tuition due to the problem of not completing the syllabus even though there are regular lessons in the school. "I had to get good marks in the board exam," Acharya said.
In the school where Acharya studies, studies start only in July-August. Therefore, many students like him are not only worried about not completing the course, but also fear of not passing the exam. As the school did not complete the syllabus on time, the students were forced to look for alternative tuition classes. This has resulted in extra time for students and increased financial burden on parents. I am also facing financial problems as I have to rent a room. A single mother has sent her to study farming,' said Acharya.
Khagendra Thapa, principal of Neware Secondary School in Surkhet, says that due to the lack of subject teachers in Karnali, students have to go to the city to study. Another reason for students to come for tuition is the long school holidays in winter due to geographical difficulties. If the school administration had been able to pay attention to managing the necessary teachers and completing the course, the children would not have left home like this. There is also a need for counseling for parents and children regarding tuition, he said.
Even Jananmuna Secondary School of Birendranagar, which is considered the best public school in the province, has been looking for subject teachers for a year. Thapa says that some of the students who came to Birendranagar do not know where/with whom to study. "If the teachers were managed in the village, if the school had English, science and mathematics classes in the morning and evening, the situation of students staying in the city and spending money on rooms and other things would have stopped."
This situation of the education system is making the students dependent on education outside the school, so it is necessary for the relevant agencies to come up with a proper policy, said Thapa. At this time, most of the students from Himalayan and hilly districts of Karnali have come down to Surkhet to study tuition. Students are forced to depend on tuition classes due to the problem of interruption of studies during the winter holidays.
Upendra Upadhyay of Setibada Secondary School in Jumla is also in the same crowd. Three months have passed since Upendra came to Birendranagar. He is taking tuitions in English and Accounts to get good marks in class 12 board exam. It was cold from November to January 25. The teacher is also on leave. Fearing that I would fail while sitting at home before the exam, I went to study for tuition, said Upadhyay. There are many students from Humla, Mugu, Dolpa, Dailekh, Kalikot and other districts. Tuition center operators say that local students go to Kathmandu in search of quality education.
In the previous decade, local students used to come a lot. But Ghanshyam Khadka, director of Alpha Multiple Academy in Birendranagar and an English teacher, said that the number of people coming from outside districts has increased in recent years. He says that after the government school in Birendranagar also started teaching in English medium, students from here will go to Kathmandu but students from remote districts of Karnali will come to Birendranagar.
Students taking tuition at Alpha Multiple Academy in Birendranagar. Photo: Tripti/Kantipur
More than five hundred students of class 10 are studying tuition in Alpha Multiple Academy in Birendranagar. Subjects such as English, Mathematics, Science, Accounts are taught in the center. 75 percent of the students come from the Himalayan and hilly districts of Karnali, while the number of students from Surkhet is only 25 percent, said Khadka, the director of the academy. English teacher Bimal Kathayat said that most of the students who come to study at the New Lord Buddha and Computer Institute, another tuition center in Birendranagar, are from the Himalayan and hilly districts of Karnali. He said that among the more than 130 students who came for class 10 tuition, 100 are from other districts.
teacher shortage adds to the problem
The problem of teacher shortage in schools in Karnali is becoming more complicated. The lack of fulfillment of the demand for subject teachers has not only affected schools in remote areas, but also schools in accessible areas. Jananmuna Secondary School of Birendranagar, which is considered the best public school in the province, has been searching for subject teachers for a year now.
Students are forced to rely on tuition due to lack of vacancies for teachers. Kamal Lamsal, Vice-Professor of Midwest University, said that the Ministry of Education, school administration and concerned bodies should urgently find a solution to end the need to depend only on tuition classes. He says that there is an obligation to find alternatives for good education. As it is the responsibility of education up to the secondary level, it is necessary for the local level to become responsible. The faculty of education is also such that weak students will study. It is also important to pay attention to this. In the field of education, there is attraction, not repulsion. It is important for the concerned agencies to pay attention to this," he said.
The shortage of science and mathematics teachers in public schools of Karnali province is becoming a serious problem. Even after taking out advertisements in the local newspapers three times, schools have stopped publishing new advertisements after not finding teachers. Govind Koirala, chairman of the management committee of Jananmuna Secondary School in Birendranagar, said that the school was looking for mathematics and science teachers for the basic level.
'We were given a budget by the municipality to hire volunteer teachers, but even Nepali subject teachers for the secondary level were not found in the first advertisement, so we only got them in the second advertisement. We have not yet got a teacher for mathematics and science,” said Koirala. Koirala, who is also the coordinator of the Community School Management Committee Karnali Province, said that there is a shortage of science and mathematics teachers in Karnali.
Many schools have not got teachers despite advertising. There was a shortage of manpower as those who studied science and mathematics started to go to other professions. "Teachers who have been selected by the Teachers Service Commission in Science and Mathematics have also gone to other services," he said. Recently, a teacher who came up with the number 1 name for the basic level chose Janan Muna Mavi. But after a month, he left the teaching profession after naming himself as a buyer. Those who have studied science do not want to stay in the teaching profession because they get better opportunities in other fields,' added Koirala.
There are 2 thousand 983 community schools in Karnali. According to the data of Ministry of Social Development, 6 lakh 26 thousand 10 students are studying in Karnali. But teacher posts are not enough. There are very few subject teachers. We have very less even in the minimum number of posts," said Balbir Sunar, officer of the Education Planning Data and Research Branch of the Ministry of Social Development.
In Karnali, 8 thousand 793 teachers are needed at the primary level, but there are only 8 thousand 149 vacancies. There is still a shortage of 644 teachers. Although 4,560 teachers are needed at the lower secondary level, there are only 1,861 vacancies. In which there is a need of 2 thousand 699 teachers. Although 3,250 teachers are needed at the secondary level, there are only 1,276 vacancies. Still 1 thousand 749 teachers are insufficient. Although 1,036 teachers are needed at the higher secondary level, there are only 579. There is a shortage of 457 teachers. Although 17 thousand 384 teacher vacancies are required, currently there are only 11 thousand 865 vacancies, due to which 5 thousand 549 teachers are insufficient.
