The Secondary Education Examination (SEE) is starting across the country on Thursday. However, due to shortage of teachers and books, students in Karnali are forced to take SEE after studying half the course.

Jamuna Rokka, a class 10 student of Janata Secondary School in Shubhakalika Rural Municipality-1, Kalikot, is taking SEE without completing most of the courses this year. ‘I had studied only up to 7 units of English, 13 units of Science, and 10 units of Mathematics, then the winter break began,’ she said. ‘Since then, many of my friends have gone to Surkhet and the district headquarters Manma for tuition, so there has been no regular study. The school has provided coaching, but still not all the courses have been completed.’

The number of permanent teachers in Janata Secondary School in classes 9 and 10 is zero. Two teachers of English and Mathematics have been appointed at the secondary level with the help of municipal and federal grants. Primary level teacher Dipendra Adhikari has been teaching science subjects. ‘There was a rain break in Asar-Shrawan, immediately the Gen-G movement stopped the studies for two weeks,’ said the official, ‘The Dashain-Tihar break in Asar and the winter break in Poush-Magh also affected it.’ 28 people are appearing for SEE from this school. 

According to Nawaraj Acharya, the head of the municipality’s education department, there are zero vacancies in grades 9 and 10 in 5 out of 7 secondary schools in Shubhakalika, due to which most of the primary level teachers are forced to teach students appearing for SEE. He said that this is the reason why students go to Manma and Surkhet for tuition. 

Students have also complained about not receiving textbooks on time. There are complaints that books reach remote schools only 2-3 months after the start of the academic session. Paras Bohara, a student of Durga Secondary School Ratada in Kalikot, said that the textbooks that were supposed to reach the first week of Baisakh were received in Asar last year due to the teacher’s movement. Acharya, the head of the municipality's education department, informed that textbooks could not reach remote schools as the Janak Education Materials Center could not provide books on time. 'We provide 75 percent of the amount to the school before Baisakh to buy textbooks. Even if the amount is insufficient, we will pay by mid-Ashar based on the bill,' he said. 

Navina Bohara, a class 10 student of Durga Mavi in ​​Tilagufa-2 Sada, Kalikot, along with 13 students, had come to Surkhet five months ago to study tuition. Navina has returned to Kalikot to take the exam. 'We went to school until the Dashain-Tihar vacation, but the course did not seem to be over, so we came to Surkhet from Kartik to study tuition,' she said. 

Man Bahadur Shahi, a guardian of Tilagufa-2, said that parents are also suffering from the impact of not completing the course in remote community schools. His son Prakash is also appearing for SEE this year. According to her, the geometry unit of mathematics had not started until Kartik, while the grammar of English and chemistry lessons for science had not started. She informed that she took tuition for three subjects at the rate of Rs 3,000 per month and spent up to Rs 10,000 per month on food and accommodation. This school has 7 permanent teachers of primary and lower secondary levels. The municipality has kept two teachers to bear the expenses. 

Durga Shahi, a social studies teacher at the school, said that there is a problem in teaching and learning as students leave before completing half of the courses in subjects like social, Nepali, health and physical education. ‘Going out to study for tuition has become a fashion here,’ she said. ‘Since it is very cold, we give winter vacation in winter, but students go out for tuition before that, how can we teach without them?’

Man Bahadur Shahi, a guardian of Tilagufa-2, said that parents are also suffering from the impact of not completing the course in remote community schools. His son Prakash is also appearing for SEE this year. ‘Sending students to Surkhet costs at least Rs 20,000 per month, including room and board,’ he said. ‘Even if we take out loans, we are forced to send children out to prepare for SEE.’

According to a study conducted by the Karnali Province Education Development Directorate in 2080, barely 60 percent of courses are completed by the end of the academic session in 110 schools. Acting Education Director Deepa Hamal said that the quality of education in Karnali is deteriorating due to lack of teachers and physical infrastructure, failure to receive textbooks on time, and students and teachers not attending classes regularly.

Last year, out of 35,061 examinees from Karnali, 20,384 passed. According to the directorate, out of 730 community and private schools across the province, not a single student from 46 schools failed to pass. Last year, the number of students from Karnali who scored 3.61 to 4.0 GPA was only 402.

SEE results in Karnali are declining every year. Last year, 58.13 percent of Karnali students passed, while 64 percent passed in the 2080 SEE and 64.8 percent before that. Balbir Sunar, head of the education division of the provincial Ministry of Social Development, said that the SEE results are being affected every year due to the shortage of 654 teachers in English, mathematics and science subjects alone in Karnali. According to him, 3,109 teachers have been appointed at the secondary level out of 3,034 community schools. However, 1,749 teachers are insufficient at the secondary level. So far, only 1,360 teachers are working on permanent, temporary and relief basis.

Due to heavy snowfall in Humla, Dolpa, Mugu and Kalikot, locals from the upper settlements migrate to the valley from the first week of Kartik to the end of Falgun every year. Since students and their parents go out for about 5 months, education is interrupted. Despite repeated advertisements, remote schools are facing the problem of not receiving applications. Saraswati Secondary School in Jairgaun, Sarkegad Rural Municipality-1 of Humla has not yet received teachers for science and mathematics subjects even though it has opened applications since last August. The school, which first published a one-week notice on 5 Bhadra, called for applications for the ninth time on 3 Chaitra, said the school's principal Jaya Bahadur Bam. 'We could not find a secondary school teacher for science and mathematics,' he said. 'Students have prepared for SEE on their own since there is no teacher.' 

Similarly, Rupa Devi Secondary School in Narharinath-7, Kalikot, got a teacher only after advertising for the 19th time for a mathematics teacher on 30 Kartik. Min Bahadur Budha is currently working at the school on a federal secondary school grant. ‘More than half of the academic session was spent searching for teachers,’ said Dan Bahadur Budha, the school’s principal. ‘Since November, it has been difficult to complete the course, students were forced to take SEE based on tuition.’ Established in 2035, this school has 375 students. The school is running on the basis of three permanent posts of primary school teachers. Due to problems in teaching, the school has hired 13 teachers from the rural municipality grant and private sources. This year, 35 students are taking SEE from the school. 

Due to heavy snowfall in Humla, Dolpa, Mugu and Kalikot, locals from the upper settlements migrate to the valley from the first week of Kartik to the end of Falgun every year. Since students and their parents also go out for about 5 months, education is stopped. Tshiringkapne Lama, the chairman of Mugamkarmarong Rural Municipality in Mugu, said that the level of learning is deteriorating because teachers in remote areas refuse to come to schools and even if they come, they do not attend school regularly. ‘How will students learn, how will the course be completed if there are no teachers?’ He said, ‘The academic session from April onwards is impractical for us.’ 

The Yarsagumbu season, various festivals, teachers from outside the district taking extended leave and not coming to school regularly also make it difficult to complete the course, according to Lama. ‘During the Yarsagumbu season, students go to Patan with their parents for 2 months, and agricultural work and various festivals also disturb students from going to school for 1/2 week,’ he said, ‘Our education is deteriorating due to the negligence of teachers, students, and the management committee.’

This year, 38,379 students are appearing in the SEE exam in Karnali. 32,255 students from 161 examination centers across the province will participate in the SEE for regular purposes and 6,124 students for grade enhancement, said Khim Prasad Dhakal, head of the Examination Branch of the Education Development Directorate. According to him, the maximum number of students from Surkhet, 9,770, and the minimum number of students from Dolpa, 674, have started participating in the SEE. The maximum number of 34 examination centers has been set up in Surkhet and the minimum number of four in Dolpa.

512,000 examinees in SEE

The Secondary Education Examination (SEE) has been conducted since Thursday. According to the Examination Controller Office, 512,421 students are participating in the examination. Among the examinees, 257,613 are girls, 254,811 are boys and 7 are others. 

According to Examination Controller Tukraj Adhikari, SEE will be held in 1,966 examination centers, including the Everest School in Japan. There are 23 examinees in the Everest School in Japan. About 73,000 human resources, including center heads, assistant center heads, inspectors, assistants and security personnel, are being mobilized to conduct the examination. 'Examination materials including question papers have been delivered to the headquarters of all districts. The examination management is done at the provincial level,' said the examination controller.