All topsy-turvy and disheartening
The state of Nepali politics may be bad, but the academic sector is faring even worse as unions of teachers, students and employees from the school to the university level are competing among themselves in staging shutdowns across the country.
Though the strikes and closures are led by renowned professors, teachers and student leaders, they are not aimed at improving the academic sector, and are merely political jockeying for influence.
Academic calendars are being disrupted in the five universities, community schools, the Council for Technical Education and Vocational Training (CTEVT) and even private schools. The universities, including the oldest Tribhuvan University, have been padlocked by the Democratic Professors’ Union—close to the Nepali Congress (NC) party—, the Maoist-affiliated National Professors’ Association and the Tarai Madhes Loktantrik Party sympathiser Madhesi Democratic Professors’ Union since August 9 objecting to the “unilateral appointment” of vice chancellors by the government.
The Dang-based Sanskrit University’s central campus has four locks on its main office placed by competing unions. Administrative works at the varsity have been disrupted for the last three months at the call of the NC-aligned Nepal Students’ Union. The NSU has been demanding annulment of the appointment of Shreedhar Adhikari, said to be close to the CPN-UML, as the examination controller.
Though the padlocks in the central offices do not immediately harm the study of students, the protest will affect the academic calendar, examinations and result publication in the long run. Around 1 million students have been enrolled in universities while the number of students is over half a million in institutions affiliated with the Higher Secondary Education Board (HSEB) and the CTEVT. A tentative estimate shows more than 100,000 classes have been disrupted in the Valley alone this year due to strikes and agitations by students and unions.
Experts view this unhealthy competition among professors, teachers and students for the fulfilment of their partisan interests as an alarming concern. Mana Prasad Wagle, an education expert, says the country never witnessed such a level of anarchy in the education sector before. “What good can we expect from pupils of professors who disrupt classes carrying party flags?” Wagle asks rhetorically.
Another expert Bidhya Nath Koirala says students should never be targeted to fulfil the demands of a particular group. “All the strikes are used as a means to fulfilling a union’s petty interests,” said Koirala, terming the ongoing strikes as ‘irresponsible’ acts.
The CTEVT has also been plagued by strikes and shutdowns. Though the Maoist-affiliated All Nepal National Independent Students’ Union- Revolutionary gave up its protest, the NSU and the UML-affiliated All Nepal National Free Students’ Union are still agitating. The situation is no different at the HSEB. Demanding their permanent status, employees contracted by the HSEB have been disrupting works for three hours daily since August 8 and have announced to padlock the Board from August 29.
“As all the student unions are led by non-students, they seldom focus on academic issues. Their sole motive behind padlock is bargain for money,” Koirala said.
The protest of Temporary Teachers’ Struggle Committee (TTSC) for the last seven months has also paralysed teaching-learning activities at community schools. The TTSC has already called four public school closures after the government declared the academic sector a peace zone on May 25. Their three-day shutdown beginning August 10 deprived more than 130,000 students of study. Even private schools are not immune to this fad for agitation. Nepal Institutional School Teachers’ Association (Nepal Istu), an umbrella organisation of teachers in private schools, has also waged a war against the government and school owners putting forth a number of demands. Nepal Istu has threatened a closure of schools and colleges across the country if its demands of better pay and perks are not fulfilled.
Educationists accuse the Ministry of Education of not taking appropriate measures to solve the confrontation in the academic sector. But the ministry claims that it has been actively working to find a way out of the chaos.
Secretary Shankar Pandeya said the ministry has started work for a “grand education conference” inviting all stakeholders. “Most of the problems are political and we will seek solutions to them at the conference,” Pandey said.
However, people are sceptical that the government can get rid of this sectoral malaise soon and easily.
Posted on: 2011-08-22 09:20
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