I just finished my high school, but I have a vivid memory of the day my SLC results were out. I wasn’t satisfied with my results—they were a letdown. And upon further inquiry and rebottling, I found a satisfactory raise to my scores. I was overwhelmed with what I had achieved but was disappointed at how the authorities could have been so careless and irresponsible in the first place. This year, 47 percent of the students passed while the remaining 53 percent didn’t. With more than half the number of students failing—we can infer that there is much that needs to be done in the education sector.

When students pass the ninth grade, schools gear up for the Iron Gate and they leave no stones unturned to give the best teaching services. The results of the students are imperative to the institution because it brings brand value and establishes a good reputation. Students are pushed into studying more and reducing extra-curricular activities.

Education should bring social, moral and mental change in a student. I believe that the SLC course needs to be more dynamic and practical. The practical lessons require proper first hand experimentation; learning results and procedures from a book won’t do good. Compared to private institutions, public ones are usually not preferred by parents, or by students themselves, as they usually aren’t facilitated enough. There are many cases in rural areas where there aren’t enough teachers, textbooks and even students for the school to run effectively.

Educating the youth can help build a rational populace. There are many loopholes in our country’s education sector which needs improvisation. Our curriculum needs to be updated every two years, gradually but surely; this will lead to high literacy. It is only through education that we can build a smarter country.

Dahal is a high school graduate   from Trinity International College