The news of Protest to the Government Policies and Programs;  public school attracting students, extension of 10 more days for writing the report on the School Education Bill; Cancelation of Advertisements for Mid-Western University got priority last week in the media. 

Kathmandu - CPN-Maoist Central Committee and Member and Parliamentarian (MP) Ms Rekha Sharma has opposed the partnerships with private schools to improve the quality of education in public schools included in the Government's Policies and Programmmes for the upcoming fiscal year stating that it does not help improve public schools, there was the news. 

The Nepal Teachers Federation (NTF) has issued a statement also opposing that points 65 (responsibility of private schools to improve the quality of public schools) and 66 (regarding the Virtual Education System) of the Government's policies and programs (PP) alleging that it insults public schools, the news published. 
(Read our commentary from last week on policies and programs:  Aftermath of Teachers' Strike and Predominance of Private Schools)

Such protests by the Maoists or the Federation are like 'crocodile's tears'. The Maoists, who had an agenda of taking responsibility for education by the state during the armed insurgency, appear to have favored the private school while coming to power repeatedly.. It was learnt the this same party had made deals to maintain the cartel of existing private schools rather than seeking solutions by not allowing new ones to open  published. There is no point in the Maoists protesting – the words weigh little. The NTF's stating that there were no problems between the private sector and them until yesterday is just an utterance of meaningless words by the NTF leaders to appease the masses now. These two points, opposed by the federation, are the consequences of teachers not fulfilling their responsibilities to a great extent. The federation's protest is a media show – they never take any responsibility for things gone wrong.

Amidst the frustration of parents over teacher agitations and teacher's facility-focused agreement, reports published by Onlinekhabar the online news outlet last week about public schools performing well in the Basic Level Examination (BLE) and School Education Examination (SEE) offered a message of hope. Due to good results in the past few years, number of students has increased to the extent that it has been difficult take increased number of students. So entrance exams have to be administered to cope with the situation, the feature mentioned. How Mahendra Namuna Secondary School (SS) of Darchula, Kalika Manav Gyan SS of Butwal, Pokhariya SS of Biratnagar, Janata Namuna SS of Dhanusha, Siddhi Ganesh SS of Kageshwori-Manohara, Kathmandu and Jana Numana SS of Surkhet succeeded attracting parents by these feature news described. According to the feature report, use of English as the medium of instructions, effective leadership of Head teachers, hard work of the teachers and staffs, commitment shown by the parents, and grants from all the three tiers of the Governments have made these schools successful. It also mentioned that political and administrative power centers put undue pressure to enroll their favored students in those schools.

There are different opinions about the quality of school education. The government's definition of quality rests on the results of SEE. Thus most  schools that are considered good are also based on SEE results. It is found that students from 8-9th grade are 'locked' in classrooms from early morning to late evening, focusing on preparing SEE for better results rather than teaching-learning. 
By focusing on holistic learning of children in early childhood education and in lower grades, the learning ability of students as they progress to higher grades also improves thereby creating a broader base of the quality of public education.

On one hand, public schools are imitating private schools, imposing neck ties and 'English medium'. Due to the lack of  teachers with good English in the name of English medium, not only are students unable to improve English language skills, but they are also getting weak in Nepali language. Learning is done best in the language that students use most in their daily lives.

On the other hand, most of the so-called good public schools, students in English medium and in Nepali medium are discriminated. Discrimination among its own students by supposedly ‘good’ schools is a heinous practice that leaves lasting consequences in children's psyche. The schools that are run this way are considered good based just on SEE results. In reality, there is not much difference between bringing students in such public schools and in a private school. It is not that the private schools are impure or untouchable and the public schools are sacred. ‘Improving’ results with this kind of discrimination is being perpetrated by these supposedly 'good' public schools are reprehensible. Those schools leave worse impression in students and parents than them not being able to afford to send to a private one.

Policymakers are still adamant with this reality and not prepared to allow community schools to collect fees. Fee is not just the payment, it’s an expression of commitment from the concerned. It increases the quality of management, enhances parental ownership and demands teacher commitment. Important is to let schools to demand contribution according to the parents' ability in cash or kind as appropriate, by specifying the service area (school zone) of a school. The government should provide additional subsidies to extremely poor parents. There is a rule that private schools must provide free education to 10 to 15 percent of their students. There is no harm if the government even subsidies to private schools that provide education to more students than they are required to deserving students. Turning private schools to trust without determining school catchment will not bring fundamental improvements in educational management.

In this context, some news related to fees has been published:

Despite the government's huge investment in providing free and compulsory education to all up to grade 12, public schools continue to charge admission fees from students, reported the Gorakhaptra daily. A receipt has been made public that Manilek SS in Dasharath Chand Municipality, Baitadi, charged a fee under the heading of donation from students during admission, mentioned the news. 

Kaligandaki Rural Municipality (RM) of Gulmi has said goodbye to 33 teachers it appointed after the financial burden increased, there was the news. Similarly, 21 teachers appointed by the school itself in salary paid by the municipality were also dismissed, mentioned the news. 

Rather than eliminating essential teachers in schools due to lack of resources and thereby affecting the quality of education in schools, public schools should be allowed to collect contribution from parents. The Local Governments can make arrangements for social justice while respecting the words of the Constitution. 

Hari Prasad Poudel wrote an article in the Gorkhapatra stating that the curriculum is not being implemented effectively in public and private schools. Public and private schools are changing not only the prescribed textbooks but also the subjects themselves, diverting classroom activities from the learning outcomes and competencies specified in the curriculum, and changing the prescribed assessment system, the article mentioned.

Former Minister of Education Ms. Bidya Bhattarai was not cooperated from her own cabinet, Party, and bureaucracy while she tried to implement some stalled jobs in educational reform, the news published. The Prime Minister had remained uncooperative with Ms. Bhattarai for not serving the interests of those with vested interest, especially Prime Minister's IT expert Mr. Asgar Ali and his plan to expand virtual education through 'Ambition Guru' (a private owned company’s program), the news quoted. 

The news published that MPs have drawn the government's attention to the safety of students studying at KIIT in the State of Odisha, India. There was report that the Education, Health and Information Technology Committee (EHITC) of the House of Representatives have directed the government to investigate the death of a student at KIIT. 

In the meantime EIHTC has extended the deadline by 10 days for its Sub-committee to finalize the report on the School Education Bill. According to the news, the subcommittee has finished the clause wise discussion by the given time of 35-days on 4 May, the time has been extended as per the request of the Subcommittee, stating that time is needed to write the final report. Himalayan TV aired a news report asking to whom??? whether the 10 days will bring the consensus on how many years should be given in converting private schools into public Guthis (Trusts). No consensus is known to have been made so far. Consensus has been made to abolish SEE, to remove the District Education Office from the education structure, the BLE to be conducted by the Local Government and the Class 10 exam by school itself, and the Class 12 (School Leaving) Examination to be conducted by the National Examination Board (NEB), the news mentioned. This is expected to bring the concept of keeping schools up to Class 12, under the purview of Municipalities as mentioned in the Constitution, the news commented. 

Senior physician and former Vice-Chancellor (VC) of Patan Institute of Health Sciences Dr. Arjun Karki has been appointed as the VC of the University of Nepal, and public policy and infrastructure expert Dr. Surya Raj Acharya as its Registrar, published the news. 

Agriculture and Forestry University, in collaboration with the Directorate of Research and Extension, and the University Grants Commission, has organized the 'Business Incubation Boot Camp 2025' to help students become entrepreneurs, there was the news. 

The British Council has organized the first-ever South Asian conference on 'New Directions in English Language Assessment' in New Delhi, India, the news came. Dr. Mahashram Sharma, the chairman of the NEB, who can play an important role in shaping Nepal's English language policy and practice, participated in the conference, mentioned the news. Dr. Sharma said that English could be improved by developing 'master trainers' in each municipality; quoted an interview with Dr. Sharma.

There was report that it has been mandatory for people's representatives (elected politicians) and employees of Kali Gandaki RM to choose community schools for their children.

In the last years, news was published about the decisions by various municipalities to make it mandatory for people's representatives, teachers, and employees to send their children to public schools. What is the status of implementation of those decisions? Did the media not pay attention to follow up on whether it was implemented or not? If the decision requiring those receiving salary and facilities from the Government to send their children to public schools had been implemented, what would have been the impact on educational reform? If they have not been implemented, then why they have not been implemented should also be reported. The media does not seem to have investigated why municipalities make such decisions if they are not being implemented. The media's attention should also be paid to follow-up such news.

Suryawati Khanal, even at 73 years, and five detainees in the custody of Kathmandu District Police have also taken the Class 12 exam, the news published. 

Although the nine-point agreement between the NTF and the Government stipulates that teachers will be provided with treatment facilities at the Civil Hospital, the hospital's Executive Director, Professor Dr. Mohan Chandra Regmi, was reported saying that the hospital's capacity to implement it (the agreement) was not taken into account, the news came. Dr. Regmi said that ‘no discussions before the agreement took place’, quoted Ratopati online portal. 

In a notice published on the Facebook page and website of Midwestern University (MU) asked the application for the posts of Dean of the Graduate School of Management, Humanities and Social Sciences, Science and Technology, and the Faculty of Agriculture and Forestry, Director of the Planning, Development and Monitoring Directorate and the Curriculum Development Directorate and Head of Examination Management, there was report that the advertisement was canceled after the controversy escalated. 

The Ministry of Education, Science and Technology has stated that teachers' sick leave will be counted as sick leave if it falls on a 'public holiday'. Teacher's Record Office sent a letter seeking necessary instructions on the matter, and a Secretary-level decision was made, clarifying that the situation would be counted as sick leave, the news quoted.

Local residents have purchased a bus for Jamia Islamia Madrasa in Bhokraha Narsingh RM, Sunsari by collecting donations, the news came. 

School employees continue their protest with black armbands, saying their demands have not been met in the agreement of the Government with the NTF, there was the news. 

Protesting against the unanimous conduct of the Free Students Union (FSU) elections at the Ratna Rajyalaxmi (RR) Campus at Exhibition Road in Kathmandu, a disgruntled group of Nepal Student Union (NSU) threw down the Campus Administration's equipment, including tables, chairs, laptops, and other items, from the veranda, the news published. The NSU has taken action against seven activists for alleging to ensure a unanimous in the RR Campus's FSU elections, mentioned the news. 

Police has been investigating into allegations that a School Administrator in Tinkune, Kathmandu, harassed a 10th grade student, Himalayan TV broadcasted the news. 

Purpose of this news review is to classify and synthesize the educational content of the week and provide objective comments from the point of view of social justice and creative pedagogy including the environment. It is aimed to the policy makers and stakeholders to help make informed decisions. In this joint effort of the Center for Educational Policies and Practices (CEPP) and EduKhabar, material from daily newspapers - Kantipur, Gorkhapatra and The Himalayan Times, online news portals - Online Khabar, Setopati and Ratopati and the 8 o'clock news of Nepal Television and 7 o'clock news of Himalaya Television is summarized and presented with commentary on relevant issues. We have covered the contents from 3-9 May 2025 in this issue - The Editor.

Read this analysis in Nepali : निजी–सामुदायिक सहकार्य : अस्वीकार्य 

Also watch the video (Nepali) with the commentary : चर्चामा सामुदायिक विद्यालय (भिडियो टिप्पणी)  :

Read last week's content : Last week in