KATHMANDU- Due to the dispute between the Medical Education Commission (MEC) and private medical college (PMC) owners, there is news that entrance exam, admissions for PG studies in medicine are uncertain. Because of this, some 700 students will be deprived of the opportunity to study PG in Medicine, the news quoted. In the first week of last August, the Commission issued a notice to fill the Self-Appraisal Form to PMCs for the purpose of allocating PG seats but they have not been doing so.

According to the academic calendar, studies should have been started by end of November following allocations of seats, entrance examination and admissions. But there is news that even the seats have not been fixed because of insolence of the PMC. After PMCs refused to provide subsistence allowance to MD, MS, MDS students against the rules and the Commission had directed them to pay. PMCs say that they cannot afford to pay the the allowances, mentioned the news. Every year, some 1200 students do PG studies in medicine in the country, it was mentioned in the news that if PMCs do not run these courses, some 700 students will be fewer in medical PG. According to the news, the Ministry of Health has signed an agreement with the Safe Workplace Struggle Committee for the Health Sector to enforce the rule of providing subsistence allowance set by the government to PG students.

Medical post-graduate students are doctors with MBBS degree. They just don’t study but also provide health services during their studies to the patients. Patients are charged for that. Giving subsistence allowance to PG students exists all over the world.  The provision made in the Medical Education Act is at par with the global practices.

There is a shortage of specialist doctors in Nepal. The fact that more than 700 doctors are not able to study further this year, is the weakness of the State and the insolence of PMC operators. [D1] 

This controversy manifests that as the investors become stronger in order to earn profit in education, they resist to comply with the rules and laws and don’t hesitate to fail the public system in order to maximize their profits.  The Commission is the authority to regulate medical education, it seems that the government appears indifferent to enforce those directives as if MEC and PMCs have the same status. In fact, MEC is just another organ of the public governance.

The bystander role of the government supports the speculation that there is a nexus between the investors of PMCs and the high-level political and administrative leadership. To disprove it, the government should come forward  and take action in favor of the lawful state organ that serves public interest..  

A whooping number of 893 teachers took study leave from Tribhuvan University (TU) in 10 years but after the studies, most of the teachers did not return back to their teaching jobs, the news published. However, they have been taking more than one billion and 76 million rupees (around USD8 million) as salary and allowances. Onlinekhabar news portal published this news with comment of misuse of study leave given with salary to produce expert teachers. When teachers take leave to go abroad to study but do not return, the studies and teaching of the university are affected and the university suffers financial losses, the news had comment.

The Teachers and Staff Service Rules of the University 2050 states that teachers who have taken study leave must return to jobs and serve the University the equivalent time taken for the study leave. Such an incompliance is a betrayal to the University and injustice to the students. The question just not arises about their morality but breach of rules.  Such a behavior of abuse of the facility of study leave given by the University to enhance their capability destroys higher education. There is a need to take strong measures against the teachers so that they are disqualified for any formal sector jobs in the future. It’s a crime!

Vice-Chancellor (VC) of TU Prof. Dr. Keshar Jung Baral has reiterated that reform is not possible until partisanship ends in the university, the news published. Even though he was selected through an open competition, he said it is difficult to improve the university if the interference of political parties continued, mentioned the news.

There was news in Kantipur that the appointment of 8 faculty heads, 18 Campus Chiefs including 7 Co-examination Controllers of TU has been stopped since the second half of September due to the post-sharing dispute among political parties. The University had formed a selection and recommendation committee, made a selection procedure and called for applications. Based on the prescribed procedure, the committee recommended three people for each post, but the executive council of TU could not make a decision on the appointment, reported the news.

Even though the government has created selection and recommendation committees to select VCs through an open competition in Dang's Nepal Sanskrit, Chitwan's Agriculture and Forestry and Pokhara's Pokhara Universities, it is in the news that experts have raised questions if the selection will be fair as discretionary scores to be given by the committee is higher than other parameters, there was the news.

In the 31st Annual General Meeting of the University Grants Commission, Minister of Education, Science and Technology Bidya Bhattarai said that the university should work for the benefit of the students living in the country as it is not possible to stop the students going abroad.

There was news that students have demanded that all the questions of the Midwest University be in both English and Nepali languages.

The Faculty of Education of the Eastern University is going to hold an international conference on Early Child Development in Biratnagar on November 21 and 22, the news published. Experts, policy makers, researchers and students from more than 15 countries including Nepal, US, UK, Malaysia, Bangladesh will participate in the conference, mentioned the news.

All 15 students of Kalika Manab-gyan Secondary School, a public school in Butwal sub-metropolitan, have succeeded in getting full scholarships to study MBBS, the news came.

It was mentioned in the news that the Education, Health and Information Technology Committee of the Parliament had assigned the responsibility to the staff of the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Law and the Committee to identify the controversial issues in the Federal School Education Bill.

The World Food Program is making arrangements to provide midday meals of local produce to 800 public schools in Surkhet and Jajarkot of Karnali Province, the news reported.

There was news that the Nepal Red Cross Society Rukum West branch has provided various materials for the management of child-friendly places in various schools affected by the earthquake in Rukum West.

Similarly, the reconstruction of the school building of Kusheshwari Primary School, Murkibesi of Sindhuli's Golanjor Rural Municipality (RM) has started, which was damaged by the flood in the last week of September, there was the news.

There is not a single person who has passed SEE in Goupthada village with 25 households in Tatopani RM of Jumla, there was news in Gorkhapatra.

34 Nepalis sent by educational consulting companies to work under the guise of students are in a legal trap of not getting visas and not being able to work in Russia, the Kantipur published the news.

Pavitra Subedi Upreti, assistant principal of Ratna Rajya SS, Baneshwar, Kathmandu, wrote an article about the basis for differentiating the quality of public and private schools in Kantipur Daily. In that article, it is argued that the quality of school education is to teach students the art of living, skills, ability to solve problems, ability to earn money, good social behavior and sense of responsibility to contribute to family, society and country. Only by researching whether such qualities in the students of public schools or in the products of private schools, it can be determined which has more quality, the article argued.

Muni Ratna Bajracharya wrote an article published in Gorkhapatra that it is necessary to promote moral values, identity, prideand faith in students of all levels.

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 is summarized and presented with commentary on relevant issues. 

We have covered the contents from 16-22 November 2024 in this issue - The Editor.