As soon as the bill is made, it should not be a way for teachers, parents or school administrators to take to the streets with memorandums. Legislators should keep this in mind while passing the bill.
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The sub-committee under the Education, Health and Information Technology Committee has agreed on most of the provisions of the School Education Bill. Along with this, the foundation has been prepared for the progress of the bill which is in discussion when the teachers protested for 29 days from March 20th to 29th.
The sub-committee submitted a report to the committee keeping in mind the issues that were not agreed upon. The nine-point agreement reached between the government and the teachers' federation on 17 Baisakh is also included in the report. This has increased the confidence that the agreement with the teachers will be implemented, and the possibility that the bill, which has been under consideration for one and a half years, will become a law soon.
On the other hand, since federalism has been implemented and the authority related to education is shared among three levels of government, there is also a need for a school education act for its practical implementation. Now the committee should try to reach agreement on the disputed matter as soon as possible and bring the bill to the full session of the parliament. It will legalize school education.
Ashok Kumar Rai, the education minister of the previous government led by Pushpa Kamal Dahal, registered the bill on 27 August 2080. From October 25 of the same year, the bill was sent to the Education, Health and Information Technology Committee for discussion. Since then, the bill has been pending in committee. As soon as the bill was registered, the teachers had protested in Kathmandu since 3 October 2080.
They had said that they had to protest because the agreement reached with the teachers was not included in the bill. On October 5, six points were agreed upon, in which the government would facilitate the amendment of the bill. However, after that the bill was stuck in the committee.
Dissatisfied teachers started the protest again from 20 Chait 2081. On the 29th day, 9 points were agreed upon. Along with the agreement, the government also promised to pass the bill within June 15.
The sub-committee has recommended not to conduct the SEE exam. Since the Constitution itself has placed basic education (classes 1 to 8) and secondary education (classes 9-12) under the jurisdiction of the local level, there was no reason for SEE to be conducted at the national level with all the pomp and circumstance. It was only becoming an opportunity for large private schools to demonstrate their prestige and earn money.
On the other hand, it was not logical to conduct the national level examination in middle class 10 as the level ends in class 8 or 12. However, there are glitches in our examination system. Like, all the students pass in class 9 which is taken by the school itself. But half of the students fail in SEE. In last year's results, more than 52 percent failed in class 10 (SEE).
Even though there is no SEE at the national level now, it is necessary to make the examination system conducted by the school level itself credible. The sub-committee has agreed to appoint 60 percent teachers through internal competition and 40 percent through open competition. Exam standards should not be compromised to give opportunity to
internals. Similarly, even now, it is generally not clear whether private schools have given 10% scholarship to students, to whom and on what criteria. The sub-committee agreed to regulate private schools on scholarships. It can be believed that this will also become the basis for the target group to get opportunities.
There is no agreement on the operation of private schools and early childhood development classes (ECD). There are differences of opinion on whether to keep the ECD class within the school structure or not, how many years to make it. Although it is mentioned in the bill that private schools should be operated in the company model as it is now, some MPs are in favor of taking it to a non-profit model (guthi) after fixing a certain period. On the other hand, there is no clear idea on how many years it will be taken to Guthi and under what conditions. This is a complicated topic in itself.
The government seems confused about how to make the entire educational system. Therefore, the government should clearly state its opinion. The committee should also consider the issues that have been agreed as assets and the issues that have not been agreed upon should be decided by taking into account aspects such as the concept of the constitution, the right of all children to get quality education, the global advanced practice of educational development, and the socio-economic situation of Nepali people. Legislators should pay attention to this while passing the bill.
