National
Pabson, NPabsan after ‘foiling’ panel report
The umbrella bodies of private schools have started building pressure to foil the expert panel’s report proposing different options for school education reforms. The expert panel, comprising more than a dozen educationists, had submitted its preliminary report to the Ministry of Education last week.The umbrella bodies of private schools have started building pressure to foil the expert panel’s report proposing different options for school education reforms. The expert panel, comprising more than a dozen educationists, had submitted its preliminary report to the Ministry of Education last week.
The report has suggested five-pronged recommendations for the private education sector reforms, including the one that calls for bringing school education totally under the government’s purview.
Among the suggestions are making it mandatory for children of all the people enjoying the office of profit to study in the public schools and imposing additional taxes on the parents who enrol their children in the private schools. The 15-member panel, which includes educationists Suresh Raj Sharma, Bidhya Nath Koirala among others, is preparing a final report which has to be approved by the government for the enforcement.
Holding a joint press conference in the Capital on Wednesday, the Private and Boarding Schools’ Organisation Nepal (Pabson) and the National Private and Boarding Schools Association Nepal (NPabsan) said the expert panel was trying to undermine their contribution to the education sector. “The report is unacceptable. The so-called experts prepared the report without any homework,” said Subash Neupane, NPabsan general secretary. The officials from both the umbrella bodies warned that they would not let the report to be implemented.
Around four dozen members in the second Constituent Assembly were directly involved with the private education sector. Leaders of the Pabson, NPabsan and Higher Institutions and Secondary Schools’ Association Nepal have been involved in fundraising activities for different parties. Many of them are on the parties’ priority list for the Proportional Representation seats. The umbrella bodies of the private schools have also asked the expert panel to incorporate their 26-point suggestions in the final report. One of them is regarding imposing ban on opening new schools—a clear sign that they want to monopolise the education sector.
The panel has also recommended that local and provincial governments incorporate 40 percent local contents in school curricula.
Under that format, the local and provincial governments should each contribute 20 percent local contents into the courses with the central government filling out the remaining 60 percent.
The curriculum will incorporate interesting facts, potentiality and other information of the respective areas. The curriculum has so far been prepared by the Curriculum Development Board, mobilising the experts from the respective field. Once the new provision comes into effect, each of the 753 local level units can have separate curriculum.