Kathmandu - Accountant Ms Sushma Shrestha of Prabhat Academy Boarding School (likely a private for-profit school) in Bhimad Municipality of Tanahun seared  a 10-year-old student with a red hot 'panyu' (rice serving metal spatula) on his cheek, the horrifying news covered most of the media last week. The police arrested her and remanded for investigation, as mentioned in the news. Shrestha, who is also teaching in the school, seared  4 other students with the  hot panyu on the cheeks, quoted the news. According to the news, she is the daughter of the founder (likely to be the owner) of the school, Principal Mr Krishna Dev Shrestha.

This is not the first incident where a student has been injured by teachers' anger. Just in the second week of January, teacher of H Pathshala in Pratappur, West Nawalparasi, Ms Sanju Chaudhary has ruptured the left eye of 6-year-old Prashant Chaudhary studying in UKG by hitting him with a stick, it was revealed. More and  more news of teachers punishing  students to the level of  causing physical injuries let alone mental harm. Such incidents are the tips of icebergs.   Corporal punishment was abolished formally since Nepal signed the Convention on the Right of Child way back in 1990 and promulgated the Child Rights Act 2002 subsequently. The National Framework of Child Friendly Schools, 2010,  envisions schools without corporal punishment and fear. Any kind of punishment  to  students in schools has been  considered as a civil  offence in the Framework. Section 66 of the Act states that physical or mental punishment  is illegal  at home, school or any other place, while Section 72 of the Act states that any torture is punishable with a fine of up to one hundred thousand  rupees and imprisonment for up to five years. In case of inflicting physical injury or torture, more severe punishment has been provisioned. Another law Related to Children was enacted in 2018. Meaning that there are adequate legal instruments and instructions to prohibit such heinous acts against children in any circumstance. 

The Ministry of Education has issued a statement condemning the incident that since schools are places of learning, any type of punishment given in schools is prohibited by law and such actions are a serious violation of children's rights. Is this adequate?  Is the responsibility of the Ministry fulfilled by issuing a mere statement? Or hold immediate consultation and form  necessary structures and provision to make a  schools torture-free,  monitor and take initiatives to punish the perpetrators ? 

Child rights sloganists  also do not seem to take the punishment and torture in schools seriously. So the teachers. Teachers and teachers' organizations should pay specific attention to the fact that the entire teaching community is being humiliated by the behavior of one or two teachers.

According to education experts and psychologists, such incidents of torture in schools often have something to do  with the mental health of teachers. It seems necessary to to check the mental health status  of teachers every year and make sure that only healthy teachers are allowed to enter the classrooms. The dominant discourse that children need to be ‘disciplined’ is also responsible for the prevalence and perpetuation of such an act. A script says that children be cuddled for 5 years and beaten for next 10 years! This needs to be addressed.

And, it is felt that most of these incidents are taken place in private schools. If so, why is this happening? Could also  this be an  effect of low wages? Educational community is aware of the pressure exerted to students for ‘good grades’ on which the prestige thus profit depends. It is necessary to investigate the width and depth of the problem although the perpetrator of this incident happened  to be a daughter of the Principal of the school. One way or the other, complaints or dissatisfactions heat up and come out explosively.

While such a news was coming, Geeta Pathak has written an article in Setopati Online about the need for parents, teachers and caregivers to help students develop their multifaceted abilities without interfering with them, as  creative abilities, interests, talents and inclinations of students are different from one to another student

In Machi Jhitkaiya Secondary School (SS) of Kamala Municipality, Dhanusa, there is a report of squabble between the Head Teacher and the teacher regarding the issue  of submission, there was the news.

The Nepal Teachers' Federation (NTF) is going to stage a demonstration of its strength in Kathmandu after the protests in  provinces, the news published. Demanding the implementation of an  agreement reached with the government in 2023, the NTF is said that they are demanding the promulgation of the Act (else their demand cannot be addressed) and the repeal of the recent Pension Ordinance that backdates an enforcement that affects their pension.

In this context, in an article published in Gorkhapatra by Kedar Koirala titled "Complexity of School Education", it was mentioned that the teachers who were not wanted to be under the local government can resign and pave  the way for new  energetic young people to join in teaching. He argued that it will bring qualitative improvement in school education.

On the anniversary of the Teacher Service Commission, there was news that experts have suggested raising the standard of  the teacher selection process for public schools.

There was the news that Bharatpur Metropolitan City has arranged necessary teachers, added five rupees more for midday meals, bicycles for all girl students, and various scholarships to increase the quality of public schools in the Municipality.

Other news from the Municipalities include: Children in Jajarkot are forced to study under tarps spread as the school building was not built even 15 months after the earthquake; Rapti Rural Municipality (RM) of Dang conducted training for 50 public school teachers in playing harmonium, madal (a traditional drum) and guitar on school holidays; After 43 days of winter vacation, schools in Manang have started opening; In Jalpadevi SS of Achham, two dozen female students have fainted every day for two months, but the reason has not been investigated; And Kathmandu Metropolitan City is to provide 'Smart Boards' in public schools, the news were published.

There was news that the committee formed to study early childhood education and development (ECED) - a preparatory grade before grade one, has recommended  that ECED should be maintained for one year only. After studying the international practice and the practical situation of Nepal, it has been suggested to maintain the ECED  that is being run for only one year in public schools and several years in private schools, the news published. A child who has reached 60 months should be admitted to class one and suggested to make ECED only for one year before that, quoted the news.

The National Examination Board has published  a schedule for examination of Class 12 from the 11th of Baisakh 2082 (24 April 2025).

There was news that after the closure of Acme College of Engineering in Bagdol, Lalitpur, run by Shailendra Mohan Jha, a member of the Council for Technical Education and Vocational Training (CTEVT), the students are baffled. The management of the CTEVT- recognized College has not been in contact since 'DASHAIN' festival (October second week), and  CTEVT was not taking an initiative to resume studies, the students have now pleaded with the students' organizations for support, the news mentioned.

There was a dispute in the Education, Health and Information Technology Committee of the House of Representatives regarding the lease of the university's land, there was the news. Member of Parliament Sumana Shrestha has demanded to make  public the Tribhuvan University (TU) Land Investigation Report, the news published. In the parliamentary committee, she criticized the Ministry of Education for not providing the report even when requested by the committee, quoted the news. 

The Medical Education Commission decided to add 209 seats in the postgraduate level in the government medical college at the 17th meeting of the commission chaired by the Prime Minister and the Chairman of the commission Mr. KP Sharma Oli, there was the news.  In the same meeting, there was also news that a proposal has been made to increase 10 percent of the seats for foreign students in private medical colleges. A proposal to increase the number of foreign students allowed to teach private medical colleges to provide subsistence allowance to resident doctors similar to the government, mentioned the news.

It was the news that the Vice Chancellor Selection Committee of Kathmandu University has published the list of 10 competitors.

The Madhesh government's one the ‘Plans of Pride’ the Madhesh Agricultural University have been indefinitely padlocked for  not receiving their salaries since August by the employees of the University, there was the news.

There was news that Far Western University, Mid-West University, Nepal Open University, Purbanchal University and Lumbini Technical University have signed a memorandum of understanding to promote mutual academic cooperation and research partnership. The understanding is to cooperate in joint research, student and teacher exchange and interdisciplinary programs, the news mentioned.

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 to the policy makers and stakeholders to help make informed decisions. In this joint effort of the Center for Educational 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 Nepal Television and Himalaya Television is summarized and presented with commentary on relevant issues. We have covered the contents from 8-14 February 2025 in this issue - The Editor.

Read last two week's analysis in Nepali : विद्यार्थीलाई यातना दिने शिक्षकलाई पाँच वर्षसम्म कैद [अडियो / भिडियो सहित]

Read last week's content : Last week in education