Kathmandu - The news that mere 34 percent examinees passed Teaching License Exam for secondary level conducted by the Teacher Service Commission (TSC) was published in the media last week. It was mentioned in the news that out of more than 37 thousand candidates from all seven provinces, only 13 thousand candidates passed the exam.

To become a teacher in public schools, it's mandatory to have a teacher's license. A license is also necessary if a teacher wishes to appear in the exam to become a permanent teacher. But the fact that only so few students passed the exam shows the pathetic situation of the education provided by universities fo the country. 

In the result of teacher license, Madhesh province has the lowest i.e. 23 percent. Madhesh province has the lowest ratio of teachers to students.  

There is a severe shortage of secondary level teachers in public schools across the country. It's obvious that low pass rate in license exam will further reduce the chances of getting enough teachers applying to become permanent teachers. Its being underlined that average  score of those who passed the TSC Exam is lower now than in the past.

This is a repercussion of the youth going abroad for employment. This trend is accelerting. If the government does not forecast the need for necessary human resource in the country, shortage of human resource will continue to be dire.

Regarding teachers, it is already too late to widen the criteria to apply to become a teacher. The requirements that the applicant should have a teacher's license and should be a graduate of education or have undergone the ten months of training in education after graduation prevents other graduates to opt for it. 

Although there is a new regulation that does not restrict it, stakeholders say that it has not been put into practice. In the case of mathematics, science and English, it is not mandatory to have graduation of education . This result also shows that it is too late to open a way for teachers to be able to participate in the TSC Examination regardless of the subject they have studied by making arrangements for service entry training with teaching skills like government staff.

If we think a little more deeply, whether it is a license or a TSC exam, any memory-centreated test alone does not show a true qualifications for a teacher. Teacher is not just a job or a profession. It is a lifestyle, a desire to teach. It is necessary to devise a system that can scrutinize the applicants who are not just good in answering a question but have desire to teach. Individuals with aptitude to teaching should be selected even if they get a bit low marks. 

Different countries have systems to find out whether such candidates are born or can be trained to become teacher. For example, those who want to become a teacher in Singapore can only participate in teacher training if they work for a month in a school and the principal has recommend the candidate qualified to become a teacher. Even in Nepal, there was a practice of training graduates who were selected by the community to become teachers. Their performance is comparatively felt to be better than those selected otherwise.

Because of low number of seats allotted for studying medical education in Nepal, the number of Nepali students going abroad for medical studies is increasing, published a news in the Gorkhapatra. The students who have passed the Entrance Exam conducted by the Medical Education Commission but not able to study MBBS in Nepal, are increasingly going to China, Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Japan, Australia, UK, USA, Russia, Ukraine, etc, the news mentioned. This issue is also taken up in the editorial of Gorkhapatra that even after passing the Entrance Exam, not everyone gets the opportunity to study medicine. Although some educational institutions have infrastructure, they could not get approval for medical education; it is not appropriate to drain the money in the name of medical education, mentioned the editorial.

It was reported that the Karnali Province is giving scholarships to some 70 people in the fields of medicine, engineering, veterinary, agriculture, pharmacy and forestry in order to reduce the shortage of technical staff in the Province. According to the news, there is a condition that the awardees should serve at least for two years in the Province after the completion of studies. Karnali Government is giving scholarships for 69 people, 10 each in MBBS, engineering, information technology, veterinary, agriculture and some in forestry, Ayurveda, radiology, nursing, pharmacy etc.
Chancellor of BP Koirala Institute of Health Sciences Prime Minister KP Oli initiated 657 students in the convocation, the news published. In the 13th convocation of the institute, students who obtained various degrees in various subjects of medical education from 2010 and 2012 batch were initiated, the news mentioned.

Similarly, there was news that 30 out of 58 students of Karnali Institute of Health Sciences were initiated in convocation in the presence of Chancellor Prime Minister Oli. In the first ever convocation ceremony of the institute, students who have completed their studies in public health, nursing and medicine were initiated, the news quoted.

The Vice-Chancellor Selection Committee (VCSC) has called applications for the VCs of Pokhara and Sanskrit Universities, printed the news. The VCSC  called for applications in accordance with the recommendation procedure, 2081.

There was news that the Tribhuvan University (TU) formed a three-member on-site study team under the coordination of Prof. Dr. Yogendra Gurung, are making the process of converting part-time teachers into contract teachers. 

Similarly, there was news that applications have been called for the post of Campus Chief in Shankardev Campus. TU had canceled the admission in that Campus where the merit list has been tampered, the news published. 57 students, who were admitted by the Campus in BBA, BBA Finance and BIM subjects under the Faculty of Management out of the merit list of the Entrance Exam will not be able to study, mentioned the news. According to the news, the inquiry committee chaired by Director of Monitoring Directorate Pushkar Raikhala found that 18 students were admitted in BBA, 27 in BBA Finance and 12 in BIM out of merit.

For failing to conduct the examination, TU has given the responsibility of conducting the examination for the post of Assistant Professor to the Public Service Commission (PSC) the news came. Even though TU has its own service commission, PSC has been given the responsibility of conducting the examination, it is felt unsafe against the threat of agitating of teachers, students and staff organization of TU, mentioned the news. 

The Chief Minister of the Koshi Province, Hikmat Kumar Karki, is quoted that even though there is no role for the province government for the reform in education (school), the Koshi Province will continue to work in educational reform work. Chief Minister Karki said that the Province Government will formulate education policy and advance the reform of the education sector even if the responsibility of Local Governments rests up to secondary level and the Federal Government to higher education mentioned in the constitution, quoted the news. 

It is admirable that the Chief Minister of a Province is paying attention to educational reform. However, it is not appropriate to implicate that the Chief Minister has not studied the Constitution properly. Both the prerogative rights of the province and the common rights of the Union, Province and Municipalities stipulated in the schedules of the Constitution.  It is clearly mentioned that the provincial universities fall under the purview of the province. It is not clear if he is aware of these provisions or he is misreported. Such statements risk his reputation.  

There was news report that the Minister of Education, Science and Technology, Ms Bidya Bhattarai, has said that the government is fully committed to the fact that education should be promoted as a public good not commercialized as  a commodity. Minister Bhattarai said in the program held by the Education Journalist Group that the government is firm to realize education compulsory and free as per the constitution as it is also an indicator of social development, quoted the news. There was news that Minister Bhattarai has directed to submit an action plan for the revision of integrated curriculum within a week and to make the textual material correct from the point of view of language and graphics.

There was news that Bandipur Rural Municipality (RM) of Tanahun is going to conduct the program 'We Can, We Do' with the aim of developing skills along with education, .

It was mentioned in the news that due to the dispute between the Sunapati RM of Ramechhap and the School Management Committee, the teachers and staff working at Shree Secondary School located in Dimi Pokhari have halted teaching because they have not received their salary and allowances for last seven months.

A teacher of Makwanpur, Prem Bahadur Bamjan, was injured in the firing by an unknown group at Jhapsi in Hariharpurgadhi RM of Sindhuli, the news published.

There was news that primary level students have been taught online after the air pollution was detected many times higher than the WHO standards, in New Delhi, India.

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 including the environment. It is aimed at the policy makers and stakeholders to help make informed decisions. In this joint effort of the Center for Education Policies and Practices (CEPP) and EduKhabar, material from daily newspapers - Kantipur, Gorkhapatra and The Himalayan Times, online news portals - Online Khabar, Setopati and Ratopati and Himalaya TV and Nepal Television is summarized and presented with commentary on relevant issues. We have covered the contents from 2-8 November 2024 in this issue - The Editor.