Over 6.5 million students were denied their fundamental rights to study across the country in the past two weeks. Due to indefinite strike called by pro-Maoist student organization, the children of schools and colleges were forced to stay out of the educational institutions. Nepal students face bleak future due to incessant strikes called on different pretexts. In the absence of strong government that can guarantee security, every other institution of the country is crumbling under pressure from the raging conflict. Among them, educational institutions have been rendered as the most vulnerable as different organizations regularly impose strikes against them. Despite the appeals by national and international organizations to declare the education sector as Zone of Peace, students are yet to feel any respite
By SANJAYA DHAKAL
Even though the result of this year’s School Leaving Certificate (SLC) examinations came as good news to Saran Sapkota of New Baneshwore, he was anything but happy. Though he passed with flying colors securing over 75 percent, Sapkota was in a pensive mood.
“I feel hopeless and helpless. One look around and the pall of gloom sets in my mind. The schools and colleges are closed. Where are we going to get admission?” asked Sapkota. “The most depressing part is that the strikes have become a regular phenomenon. Even if one organization calls off its strikes, there are many others waiting for their turn.”
Grishma Sharma of Balaju has similar grievances. “It is absurd that they are calling strikes in education by putting forth political demands,” she said.
The endless series of strikes are already taking its toll on Nepalese society. “Of late, we are observing a dangerous trend in society. We have started to take every other strike normally. This mass indifference will exact a heavy cost in future,” said Bishnu Phunyal, a worried parent of two children.
Over 6.5 million school and college students of Nepal face an uncertain future as their academic activities continue to be held at ransom by various parties.
Beginning June 6, over 33,500 schools and colleges – including 25,000 public schools and 8500 private schools – have been closed at the call of indefinite strike in all educational institutions by the Maoist-affiliated All Nepal National Free Students Union – Revolutionary (ANNFSU – R).
The frequency of various forms of strikes has shot up in the conflict-ridden Himalayan Kingdom affecting the schools and colleges the most. In the last one year, the schools could only complete less than 150 class days against the minimum schedule of 180 class days.
Apart from the numerous calls of general strikes by the Maoists as well as some mainstream political parties, the specific strikes targeted at education sector have derailed the normal teaching-learning environment. The Maoists’ student wing had also announced five-day strikes in educational institutions on February 25-29 this year.
The ANNFSU-R has put forth its five-point demand to end the strike. Their demands include making the education up to secondary level (Grade 10) free in public schools; slashing down the fees of private schools and higher secondary (Grade 11-12) by over 25 percent, among others. Moreover, they have demanded that the government first withdraw the ‘terrorist’ tag on their organization. The government had labeled all organizations affiliated with the Maoists as terrorist organizations following the breakdown of ceasefire in August 27, 2003.
Impact of Strike
“The series of strikes will deal a bloody blow to the future of millions of young Nepalese. A year of disturbed academic environment will push the future of a student by five years,” said Dr. Mana Prasad Wagle, a well-known educationist who is the Professor of Education, Faculty of Education at the Tribhuwan University – the largest university of the country. “Overall the mental impacts these strikes have on students are incalculable. Even if we find some solution, we cannot bring back those lost time,” he added.
No family in Nepal is left untouched by the profound affect on education sector. Out of 23 million population, there are over 6.5 million students who represent every caste and ethnic group, region and religion. Strikes in education, thus, affect all Nepalese population.
“Definitely, these young students will suffer from problems like depression, anxiety and frustration in future if proper settlements are not found soon to put at rest the endless series of disturbances,” said Dr. Niranjan Prasad Upadhyay, a senior psychologist.
“There is no doubt that the ongoing strikes and closures are having a very serious affect on our children. But unfortunately, nobody seems to be least bothered about the pillars of this nation,” said Suprabhat Bhandari, president of Guardians’ Association of Nepal.
Apart from immense mental impact, the strikes also exact monetary costs. Umesh Shrestha, president of Private and Boarding Schools Organization of Nepal (PABSON) calculates the per day loss of strike in private schools to be over US$ half a million. “We cannot continue like this. Either we have to dismantle our schools or some solution must be found out at the soonest,” said Shrestha. Owing to threats from the Maoists, all privae as well as public schools have closed down their shutters. On June 6, Maoists exploded a bomb at Little Flowers Secondary school in Chitawan, of central Nepal, slightly damaging its building. The spate of abduction of teachers and students continues unabated. In such a situation, no school can pluck courage to defy their call.
Due to inherent instability in the country, tens of thousands of youths are leaving the country to seek job opportunities in India and overseas. “Every year over 150,000 youths go overseas for works. And about 70 percent of them are educated up to secondary level,” said Narendra Shrestha, general secretary of Nepal Association of Foreign Employment Agencies (NEFEA). “It is because of disturbance in education here that so many youths of school-going age dropout and seek to go abroad for work,” he added.
There is a growing trend of youths going for overseas work rather than staying here for further studies. In rural Nepal, the Maoists have intensified their insurgency and stepped up en masse abductions of teachers and students. This eerie development has also forced thousands of students to dropout from their regular classes and head for India or urban centers of Nepal to escape the insecurity.
Even among urban residents, the trend of sending children for education abroad – particularly India – is expected to grow further. Because of instability back home, parents who can afford are forced to send their wards to schools in India. Since the current strike comes at a time when this year’s academic session has just started and the results of SLC have just been published, thousands of students could opt to study abroad. “Billions of rupees will then be spent for study overseas,” said a PABSON official.
Denial Of Rights
The strikes in educational institutions constitute a serious breach of fundamental human rights and children rights.
Frustrated by the strikes, a delegation of parents had approached National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) to request them to convince the concerned parties to end violating the right to education.
“There are millions of students in the country who come from every region and every community. By denying their right to education, the Maoist students have hit at the right of all Nepalese people,” said Sushil Pyakurel, a member of NHRC. “We urge them to immediately end their strikes and respect educational institutions as Zone of Peace.”
Even Matthew Kahane, Resident Coordinator of the United Nations system in Nepal, has urged concerned parties to respect the rights of children. Suomi Sakai, resident representative of UNICEF has also asked the organizers of strike to respect schools and colleges as Zones of Peace and refrain from disturbing them in any kind.
Frustrated by the continuous attack against educational institutions, a group of ten international donor organizations strongly deplored the indefinite strike in education institutions. The donor agencies including DANIDA, FINNIDA, NORAD, ADB, UNESCO, JICA, EU, UNICEF, World Bank and DFID asked the Maoists students to immediately call off the strike. In a statement issued on June 8, on behalf of the donors, by the Danish embassy, the donors have stated, “We appeal to all parties to immediately abstain from intimidation, interference, harassment and violence in or near schools.”
However, the ANNFSU-R has indicated that it would call off the strike only if their demands are met. Lekhnath Neupane, president of the ANNFSU-R, in a telephone talks with media organizations, said that they are ready to come for talks with the government to end the problem if the ’terrorist’ tag is withdrawn and if the government makes the whereabouts of its several leaders known.
Under pressure from various organizations representing parents, schools, human rights as well as intellectuals, the government has shown some flexibility in meeting the demands of the ANNFSU-R. Bidyadhar Mallik, Secretary at the Ministry of Education, said on June 7, “We are very much serious to end this strike. The Ministry will take initiative to withdraw terrorist tag from the (pro-Maoist) student organization to facilitate talks.”
The new Education Minister Bimalendra Nidhi has already gone as far as saying that the government would withdraw the terrorist tag in case the Maoist students vow to declare schools as Zone of Peace.
Investment In Education
The government officials, however, add that they cannot outright fulfill the demand of making secondary education free in public schools. “The government will need additional resource of over Rs 26 billion (US$ 400 million) every year, which is next to impossible at present situation,” said Lava Prasad Tripathy, spokesperson of the Ministry of Education. “As far as its other demands of slashing the fees of private schools are concerned, we have already formed a task force to study this matter. We are awaiting their recommendation,” he said.
The government investment in education sector has been growing of late. It is now around 15 percent of the total annual budget. In the current fiscal year, the government had announced the total budget of nearly US$ 1.5 billion. Out of the total education budget, 55-60 percent is for the primary education. The education up to primary level (Grade 5) is free in public schools.
There is a huge involvement of donors, who pour in millions of dollars in this sector to support the government, which has made education a number one priority for development.
Shrinking School Days
Strikes and closures have become a commonplace in Nepal due to incessant political instability. And all this has taken a severe toll on the school days. The seventh amendment in Education Act 2002 prescribes at least 220 school days per year. But this target is simply unachievable particularly for public schools. Whereas in urban areas, the schools do notch up to around 150 school days, in rural parts even achieving 100 school days is rare. A few years ago, an education officer Bhoj Raj Kafle had done a research on Bardiya – a mid-western district located 400 miles west of Kathmandu. His research showed that, on average, the total number of schools days in the district was 79 days per year.
The situation of public colleges is still worse. According to reports, while the authorities have prescribed at least 150 hours of teaching per subject, students hardly get to study more than 50 hours. “In such a situation, it would ludicrous to expect quality education,’ said one student.
The campuses, particularly those located in Putalisadak and Bagbazar area, were disrupted for the past two months as the student organizations joined the agitation against regression launched by political parties.
What Next?
In the last five decades, Nepal had made tremendous progress in educating its citizens. The general literacy rate has jumped from 2 percent in 1950 – when Nepal opened itself to outside world – to around 50 percent today. Still, there are 19 percent of children who despite being of school-going age, are out of primary schools.
Likewise, big strides had been made in the education infrastructure development. Access to schools had improved substantially. The average walk from home to school now takes about half an hour. Every Village Development Committee (VDC) – there are a total of over 3900 VDCs in Nepal – has at least a couple of schools. There are 25,599 schools in the country, with 8,547 being private ones as per the Education Statistics of Nepal 1999.
However, all these achievements could unravel if the present trend of targeting educational institutions continues unabated. Most of the education experts agree that the practice of calling strikes in education institutions should be brought to an end for good. “Rather than reaching for short-term solutions, the concerned parties must come up with a long-term answer to put an end to this instability,” said a principal of a public school.
However, given the past track record and the complexity of the situation, long-term solution could be easier said than done. Nepalese students, unfortunately, might be staring at a prolonged disturbance.