KATHMANDU - Issue of the shortage of 5,549 teachers in Karnali gained importance in the media last week. According to the news cited Education Division of the Ministry of Social Development of Karnali Province, only 11 thousand 865 posts of the teachers are in the Province. There are 2 thousand 931 Public schools in Karnali province. According to the news, there  644 teachers at primary level, 2700 at lower secondary level and 1749 at the secondary level teachers are less. Similarly, it is stated in the news that 457 teachers are insufficient at +2 level. Especially, Karnali province faces shortage of English, mathematics and science teachers, mentioned the news. 

In addition to the 100 thousand teachers in the post, more than 80 thousand teachers, including those appointed under Rahat (Relief), have been teaching in schools in the country. The Action Plan for the Implementation of Compulsory and Free education Act of the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (MoEST) states that there is a shortage (to be added) of 50,000 teachers across the country. Even though there has been a shortage of teachers in schools for years, the government, political parties and their leaders have been giving 'speeches' about improving the learning level of students in public schools. The fact that the Federal Government has been unable to manage the necessary number of teachers for a long time is not only a weakness; it is felt as intentional negligence. Fewer students in public schools is an issue. However, even if there are adequate no of students, the government is not able to provide necessary teachers. Without teachers, quality of these schools continues to deteriorate and parents' trust in them cannot be restored.  This helps to room for for-profit schools as the number of students in public schools decreases. 

Supporters of public education suspect that there is a nexus between political and administrative decision-makers and those with vested interest who benefit from the deterioration of public schools.

Minister for Social Development of Lumbini Province, Janmajay Timilsina, said that due to the lack of timely reform of education policy, the condition of education in Lumbini is poor, so attention should be paid to improving the education policy, there was the news. He said that only 39 percent i.e. 31 thousand students passed out among 80 thousand students who took the School Education Exam (SEE) last year showed the poor condition of the Province, the news mentioned. 

Similarly, there was news that the Chief Minister of Madhesh Province, Satish Kumar Singh, has said that the standard of education will improve if students in public schools are just given regular homework and checked (if nothing more). Speaking on the 60th anniversary of Saraswati Secondary School in Ishwarpur Municipality of Sarlahi, Chief Minister Singh said that teachers and parents take children to private schools. The standard of education in public schools could not improve due to the neglect by all those concerned.

It seems that the officials who are in position of making policies and implementing them, also point the problems but do not work to solve them. It is hard to believe that a provincial Minister of Education and the Chief Minister do not understand that it is not a matter of giving a list of policy and behavioral problems in school education in public forum but their responsibility is leading to solve those problems. Rather than assuming it, they have chosen the easy way of shirking from the responsibility. The media also does not feel uneasy to make such a news about what the responsible officials have said rather than questioning whether they have fulfilled their responsibilities.

There was news in Gorkhapatra daily that although the worship of 'Saraswati' (the Goddess of Learning) is celebrated magnificently in the schools of Madhesh, the literacy rate of the province is lower than all the other provinces and so is the rate of school attendance. According to the National Census 2022, none of the districts of Madhesh Province has been declared fully literate and the literacy rate of Rautahat, Mahottari and Sarlahi has also decreased, the news covered. 

Minister Bidya Bhattarai expressed dissatisfaction with the progress made by the MoEST and its subordinate agencies in the second quarter of the fiscal year (until the mid of the January) in the meeting of the Development Problem Solution Committee of the Ministry, there was the news. It is mentioned in the second quarter report that the financial progress (the rate of expenditure) of the Education and Human Resource Development Center, Central Project Implementation Unit, School Education Sector Reform Project (SESP), Nepal Academy of Science and Technology (NAST), Educational Quality Testing Center, Kesar Library and other agencies is less than five percent, stated the news. The meeting of the committee initiated the process of establishing a joint Union-Province-Local Partnership Fund to implement the Compulsory and Free Education Act, 2018, the news quoted. Likewise, Minister Bhattarai also visited the Teachers' Record Office to look after the work there, there was the news. 

On the 48th Anniversary and Parents' day of Gautam Budhdha Secondary School located in Phanchet, Naukunda Rural Municipality (RM) of East Rasuwa, Minister Bhattarai said that hostels will be built in 10 schools of the Himalayan districts and instructed to request for the construction of hostels through the District Education Committee, the news stated. 

Similarly, there was news that the Ministry of Education will give scholarships worth 7 billion 397 million rupees (USD 52.8 million) to students for school and higher education this year. According to the news, under the school education scholarship, the amount of USD 4.3 million for more than 12,000 residential students, USD 4.5 million for 1.5 million non-residential students, around USD 0.4 million for Technical and Vocational Education of more than 8 thousand students, around USD 2.8 million for higher education of Martyrs, Conflict Survivors, Ex-kamlaris (Girls freed from bonded labour), Muslim women and Disabled students, mentioned the news. Similarly, it was mentioned in the news that 5 billion 110 million rupees (around USD 36.5 million) have been allocated for more than 10,000 students studying medicine, stated the news. 

The Ministry of Education has proposed to give a 40 percent discount to teachers, at the same level to civil servants, when they get service in government hospitals, the news published. 
Acting Vice-Chancellor (VC) of Kathmandu University (KU)  Prof. Dr. Achyut Wagle said that the ‘behavior’ of past 12 years has led to a leadership crisis (the difficult to find proper VC) in KU, there was the news. 

The Tribhuvan University (TU) Examination Control Office has called for applications for the ‘Chance Exam’ for Undergraduate and Graduate students who have not been able to take such an exam since 2058, published the report. 

Although 20 people have applied for the position of Member Secretary of the University Grants Commission, there was news that the Ministry of Education has asked for applications for the second time. According to the news, even though a sufficient number of applications have been received, the second call has been made after the application of the one that is intended to be appointed has not applied !

During the discussion of the Shaheed Dashrath Chand Health Sciences University Bill in the Education, Health and Technology Committee of the House of Representatives, a proposal was made to choose a chancellor of the university from among former presidents and former prime ministers, published the news.

It was reported that the central office of Bidushi Yogamaya Himalayan University has been established in the building of District Coordination Committee in Khandbari by a meeting of the heads and representatives of 19 Municipalites of the Arun Valley of Sankhuwasabha. Some 500 ropanis (63 acres) of land has been acquired for the university, mentioned in the news. 

There was a news that even after a decade of federalism, retiring teachers from all seven provinces have to come to the Teachers' Record Office in Kathmandu to get their pension papers.
In the first six months of the current fiscal year 2081/82, Nepal Rastra Bank has exchanged 56.83 billion rupees (around USD 405.6 million) for education abroad, a slight decrease (58.95 billion rupees) compared to the same period in the previous year, published the news.

The Nepal Teachers' Federation has started a movement to exhibit on their Facebook wall “School Education Act should be promulgated from the winter session of the parliament”.

Students are taking the risk of crossing the Sunkoshi river, to come to study at Dirghapradeep Secondary School of Sunkoshi RM of Sindhuli after the suspension bridge connecting Puchhighat of Ramechhap and Chainpur of Sindhuli was swept away by the flood in Sunkoshi River in the last week of September, last year, the news came. 

It was news that the Ministry of Education has instructed Education Consultancies (that provide services to students going abroad for studies) not to establish branches in areas or locations other than the areas and locations for which they have permission to operate.

Dr. Peshal Khanal wrote an article on Setapati Online with the conclusion that it is not appropriate to have CC cameras in classrooms. Although CC camera is useful for the external security of the school, it has created an atmosphere of unnecessary fear, doubt and mistrust among teachers and students. It makes teaching and learning very formal and mechanical, weakening the diversity, interest and practicality of learning, creating obstacles in the original learning process of teachers and students, he wrote. Studies confirm that learning is effective only when it is informal, free, creative, and open, not over controlled and monitored, he mentioned in the article.

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 1-7 February 2025 in this issue - The Editor.

Read last two week's analysis in Nepali : शिक्षक विनै गुणस्तर खोज्ने ?

Read last week's content : Last week in education