Kathmandu - The National Examination Board (NEB) has published the results of the Class 12 examination. It was reported that 52.91 percent students passed the exam. The exam was run between end of April and first week of May. It was mentioned in the news that around 385thousand students had participated in the regular exam and around 203 thousand have passed. In the news quoting the NEB, said around 102,000 students have failed (i.e. non-graded - NG) in English. This time there are no students who have get four GPA. 

There was news that the students who have got NG in up to two subjects will be able to take the ‘chance exam’ on September 10 and 11. It was mentioned in the news that students who have obtained a minimum score of D or higher on the theoretical side or who are absent in two subjects can also  avail of the chance examination if they wish to increase their score. The number of students who got NG in two subjects is 128 thousand.

The results of the last three years of class 12 imply that student learning is poor in schools. It is certain that nobody will take the responsibility for the poor results, just as nobody came forward to accept the responsibility for the poor results of the School Education Examination (SEE). It is pointless to blame the school only for the fact that around half of those who took the exam are  failed i.e. non-graded. In particular, the full blame goes to the government.

The government has been providing salary allowance only for six thousand teachers for Classes 11-12. In a school, there are as many as 2 teachers on government pay roll while students have to study six subjects in Class 11-12 each. How can the results be good even half of the teachers required have not been provided? If we want to improve results, there is no alternative to increasing investment in the classroom. 

In the longer-term, learning can only be improved if there is no learning gap from lower grades. Attempts of improving grades only investing on the top is futile. First failing students and then giving cahnces to pass is an indication of high-ritualization of examination than paying attention to learning. It’s a perfect example of colonization of peoples mind and colonization of educational system in the country. 

In any case, it is necessary to make it clear who is held accountable for deteriorating learning quality and who should be rewarded for initiating the process of improvement.

There was news that Prime Minister and Chancellor of Tribhuvan University (TU) KP Oli has  asked to stop the presentation on TU's policy and programs for the fiscal year of 2024/025 by the Vice Chancellor (VC) Prof. Dr. Keshar Jung Baral in the second session of the University Assembly.

There was news that the Senate of the University passed the proposed budget without  policy and programs after Chancellor Oli interfered.  Procedure wise, the Senate approves the budget based on the policy and programs approved by the Assembly. There was news in Kantipur that VC Baral expressed his displeasure saying that approving  the budget without policies and programs is the reversal of the process - (by doing this) the University has lost but no one gained. Former Education Minister Sumana Shrestha protested on the social media of the interference of the Prime Minister 

In other context, there was news that PM Oli has said that there will be no problem if the Prime Minister becomes the Chancellor of the University. Instead of going to different places to solve university problems, if the PM becomes the chancellor, there can be direct contacts with him and it will be easier to solve the problems because ultimately the PM who has to solve problems, mentioned in the news.

It was reported that the Minister of Education, Science and Technology (MoEST), Vidya Bhattarai, said that the government will focus on providing higher education to the students in the country in reference to a high number of students going abroad in the name of studies.

There was news in Onlinekhabar news portal that the attempts to influence the parliamentary committee in deciding that even the colleges that have not fulfilled the requirement of having their own 100-bed hospital of prescribed details to teach nursing college prescribed by the Medical Education Act, 2018 has failed. It was mentioned in the news that after more than 60  nursing colleges that did not even have their own hospitals were closed in 2020, the other 50-bed hospitals wished to run nursing colleges. The committee did not give instructions against the law, the plan was failed. The committee has instructed to grant affiliation to 22 nursing colleges that have fulfilled the criteria, the news reported.

On the occasion of National Education Day (September 2), the distribution of Vidya Bhushan Medal (VBM – the one who has knowledge as ornament) by the MoEST is in limbo for a long time, the news quoted. It was mentioned in the news that the MoEST has taken forward the discussion on what to do this year after the VBM could not be distributed since 2019 for the lack of money. According to the news, due to the lack of funds, the best 962 students could not be awarded the VBM. 

The 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 to the policy makers and stakeholders in one place. In this joint effort of Center for Education Policy and Practice (CEPP) and Edukhbar, the news of daily newspapers Kantipur, Gorkhapatra and The Himalayan Times, online news portals Online Khabar, Setopati and Ratopati and Himalaya TV and Nepal Television from 12 July-2 August 2024 are covered – the Editor.

Read it in Nepali : कक्षा १२ को नतिजाले देखाएको ऐना !

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