Education Sector: Problems & Challenges [A District Level Workshop- Kaski District] 1. Introduction Education is the foundation of development; countries all over the world emphasize this sector for equipping their citizen with knowledge and skills. Both developed and developing countries have been spending substantial amount for the development of education. In Nepal, the expenditure in education/gdp ratio is higher than of Bangladesh and Pakistan and is almost equal to India. Thus, it can be understood that in comparison to SAARC countries, the investment of Nepal in education sector is relatively satisfactory. Nepal has been spending an adequate amount of money on education sector. Government is allocating about 17% of the total budget in education. In spite of expending a huge sum of money in this sector, nation is still not being able to step up in the development of education as desired. For the future improvement in education sector, unyielding assessment and high level of discussion has to be carried out on the topic of educational issues so that the current problems and challenges might be mitigated to a larger extent. In this course, PRAD-Nepal schemed to conduct a workshop with an overall objective of digging out the problems of education sector focusing on community managed schools in Nepal and come up with strong recommendations for the policy makers based on the conclusion of discussion. Mrs. Usha Pokharel, a senior consultant from Policy Research and Development (PRAD-Nepal) took the responsibility of designing and coordinating a full day workshop which targeted school headmasters, parents, school management committees, educational NGO representatives, senior political parties representatives, student representatives from different political unions, teachers, and officers from government education offices as its concerned authorities. Workshop was held inside the DDC Hall of Kaski District on 30 th June, 2011. About 60 members took participation in the workshop. 2. Objectives of the Workshop The overall objective of the workshop was to dig out the educational issues related to community managed schools in Nepal and suggest with appropriate policy recommendations for probable solution in the future. 1 identify issues pertinent to education 2 suggest with policy measures for mitigating current educational problems in Nepal 3. Workshop Design and Participation The program highlighted on the general background of national education status, program budgeting on education sector, and different programs launched by the Government of Nepal particularly for education development. Four groups were formed to discuss on four different issues. A group consisted of 15 participants, which included SMC chairmen, school headmasters, NGO representatives, District Education officers, student representatives from different political unions, men and women teachers, women representatives from social sectors, resource persons, and chairmen of different teachers unions. More interestingly, District Education Officers themselves formed the discussion groups in their own initiatives which seemed to be very noteworthy. 4. Workshop Topics and Presenters The first topic was service delivery (accessibility, participation, skill development, enrolment, alternative arrangement, regularity/involvement, results, quality, capacity building, teaching technique/environment- internal/external). The
second included other programs (scholarships, free distribution of study materials, local curriculum, statistics and reporting. The third was on management and governance (investment, quality, government policies, resources, social audit and transparency, community managed schools- school management committee, monitoring and supervision, committee empowerment, changed/reformed conditions and inter-relation between different stakeholders. The fourth and last topic was on sourcing (infrastructure development, donors/ngos/ingos and local donors assistance, revenue generation and usage, local bodies contribution, social auditing, transparency). Each group discussed on their respective topics and the group leaders represented the respective groups views. Group leaders were experienced headmaster, District Education Section Officer, member from educational NGO, and an experienced teacher. 5. Workshop Activities a. Opening Session Program was chaired by Mr. Jhum Prasad Rai, District Education Officer, Kaski District. Mrs. Usha Pokharel stressed out on the objectives and significance of the workshop. Mr. Baburam Poudel, WDR Education Director, briefly discussed on the current educational trends/ patterns in Nepal, and also commented that most of the NGOs working in education sector in Nepal are hauling a huge chunk of financial support from the outsiders in the name of community education development, but not cooperating with Government Education offices and concerned authorities. b. Workshop Format A full day workshop was held in DDC Hall at Kaski District, which lies in the Hilly region of Nepal. Workshop started at 8.30 am and ended at 6.10 pm. Workshop was designed to stimulate participant for identifying educational issues and come across plausible measures. Most of the participants seemed very dynamic and enthusiastic; they raised fundamental issues relating to education and suggested with sensible way outs for the future improvement of education sector. Women teachers and students from different political unions also raised number of significant queries, and participated very actively. C. Workshop Process Followed Presentation was made in power point, and printed hard copies were distributed to all participants. Each presenter was asked to conclude his/her presentation within a half hour time limit; the purpose of this idea was to provide more time for participants discussion. As soon as the individual presentation was over, groups were formed to discuss and come up with their respective groups views. About three hours later after lunch, each group composed a note of discussion and the group leaders represented their groups vision. D. Issues Raised in Group Discussion In short, the following are the issues discussed by the participants at workshop.
1. Service Delivery: a. Accessibility The problems seen on the service delivery part as mentioned by the participants at workshop were as follows. They said there is a less accessibility of girls, dalits, street children, and disabled children to education due to geographical constraints, economic instability and social stigmas; early Child Development program is not being successful in terms of its quality output even though the number of ECD is increasing. They said there should be establishment of residential schools; more awareness programs for parents should be provided; provisions for more investment in alternative schools for target groups should be realized with more opportunities; ECD should be included within school development structure and it should be made a two year program; separate toilets for girls should be made in every school along with the management of clean and safe drinking water in clean environment; ECD should be made respectable with additional funding and the teacher should be paid with proper salary and it was also emphasized that the payment and facilities for primary teacher should be similar to the ECD teacher. b. Participation Participants at discussion commented that there are the problems in formation of School Management Committee and Permanent Teachers Association, and argued that the process of recruitment, promotion, and service termination of teachers and staffs as critical issues. As a solution to this problem, discussion recommended that there is an urgent need in modifying the existing SMC and PTA rules and regulations so that the reformed rules and regulations regarding SMC and PTA in the future could be acceptable by all. As a solution to the problem of recruitment, promotion, and service termination of teachers and staffs, it is wished-for that there should be an execution of one door policy with a transparent vision. C. Irregularity The problem of irregularity can be solved by creating awareness program for parents and development of educational inter-activeness program at public level. The parents are unaware about their children s activities at school. As mentioned by the participants at workshop, partnership in investment should be raised to improve the poor condition of public schools. The services provided in schools have to be improved and the teachers should be endowed with certain benefits and privileges. Also, a thought of providing free lunches to the targeted students at school could be a way to encourage them to attend school in a regular trend was brought in discussion. D. Criticism/ Improper/Indifferent behaviors by Teachers As a solution to this problem of criticism, improper and indifferent behaviors by teachers, the discussion concluded that the teachers must respect and listen to the positive criticism by the parents. It is also recommended that the trainings for teachers to identify the problems and solutions in classroom (psychological) should be in practice. Teachers should be well trained to handle their duties/ responsibilities /accountability and economic farsightedness. To be a perfect teacher he/she should present oneself as a model teacher who is knowledgeable of all required rules and regulations. E. Low Quality Education Low quality of education, which is said to be the problem of government schools, may be due to the lack of interaction among schools, parents, students and several other authorities. Some participants said that education
should be provided on the basis of applicability in life after 6th grade with optimum utilization of local resources. Discussion also revealed that a friendly environment that creates more interaction focusing on children should be implemented, and the good aspects of community or institutional schools could be exchanged or taken in to account for the development in quality education. As a final thought for improving low quality education, the conversation concluded that there has to be a continuous research and improvements at the central level on the basis of findings of research done by respective educational organizations and their achievement should be implemented at all levels for quality improvement. F. Skill Development The problem seen in skill enhancement of teachers is due to less effectiveness of the trainings provided. Therefore major solutions for this problem are said to be the inclusion of practical courses in the training package, innovation of new methodologies for teaching, continuation of teachers training to make teachers more professional, introduction of interactive level teachers trainings, and implementation of same level books and curriculum at private and institutional schools. 2. Other Programs a. Scholarships i) Scholarships for community school The scholarships provided to the community schools are not distributed reasonably and scientifically. To solve this problem, economic status can be used as the measure for distribution of scholarship. Then school administration can distribute certain amount to the students according to their need. Another problem relating to scholarship mentioned in discussion was about the policy to provide scholarship to competent and hard working students. They said that this policy was not implemented properly. As a solution to this issue, it was recommended that the proper coordination and effective monitoring should be evaluated by the departments that provide scholarships. Also, it was discussed that there must be a certain criteria defined to select an eligible candidate for the scholarships and the government s involvement also has to be clearly defined. ii) Scholarships for institutional school The first problem is lack of implementation of a scholarship mentioned in Nepal s education policy and the second one is the prohibition of scholarship facilities, which is supposed to be provided to students who come from institutional school for their higher studies. To mitigate this problem and make easy understanding of scholarship issue, there should be a strict implementation of scholarship rules to poor and competent students including the provision of 10% scholarship. Also, the arrangement should be made to the students who received scholarship in the institutional school previously to obtain same amount of scholarship provided by community school for their higher studies. b. Free Distribution of Study Materials Under this topic, the problems are said to be late delivery of certain subject books in schools, unavailability of curriculum books in all places, publishing and distribution of low quality books by private publication and the distribution of books only depend on supply and availability. As a solution to these problems in distribution of study materials, CDC should arrange the easy availability of curriculum books in the market for schools; make available the books on time, and provide support to trends of multiple publications after evaluation of actual statistics of requirement. There is a need of strong alliance of publishers from private publications to raise the quality of their
publication materials. Also, the books should be published in colorful pages with more pictures to make learning fun, interesting, and attractive. According to the level of classroom education the language should be simple and understandable. To make easy access of free textbooks and materials, total money/donation should be provided to the schools in time and at once. The discussion argued that the students who can t buy books should only get free books and study materials. Since other students can buy books by themselves, the saved money can be used in organizing guidelines/training for the teachers, preparing curriculum adjustment, adding books in libraries, buying and maintaining computers and computer labs etc. About the provision of staffing the librarians and lab assistants at the school level was also raised in the discussion. c. Local Curriculum Due to lack of skilled and competent persons, curriculum for the local level has not been much efficient and effective, and the inability to make the concerned authorities understand the troubles in local curriculum has been the major problem in fact. Based on the conclusion from discussion, there should be a better understanding and awareness about the importance and need of local level curriculum. Also, trainings and workshops to develop skills and competencies for the preparation of local curriculum was suggested to organize. d. Statistics (data) and Reporting In this part, there is a lack of collaboration between central organization and schools for documentation of the present statistics. The statistics of people at schools and villages level on the basis of age, caste and sex is not in accordance to ICT procedures. As a solution to this problem there should be an establishment of statistical data banks from school level to the central level to utilize the available statistics using one window policy. Also, websites should be prepared and maintained regularly for the updates. Data entry, processing and certification should be done by using ICT procedures. Local institutions and schools should collect up to date data of different age groups and use them for the planning and implementation of plan formulation and prioritization of program purposes. 3. Management and Governance a. Investment The problems identified under this topic of management and governance by the participants are; lack of uniformity in schools, management of community schools run from resources of private organizations, increase in the number of schools, more investment of parents in community schools, and improper management of teachers in community schools. As a solution to these problems the discussion argued that there should be uniformity in the provision of physical facilities for all schools, and the establishment of schools should be formed on the basis of school mapping. Also, the discussion concluded that free education should be provided only to those who cannot afford to pay fees, and the fee structure should be on a sliding scale depending on the income of the parents. b. Quality As discussed in the workshop the major problems that hinder quality of education in community schools are pointed out as freedom for teachers to involve in politics, lack of minimum requirements and facilities, less effectiveness of follow up and evaluation, lack of moral education in schools, lack of professional commitment and accountability in teachers, random closing of schools for no especial reasons, less usefulness of curriculum for practical practice purposes, engagement of teachers in other activities rather than in teaching, and lack of presenting minimum criteria for learning objective. As solution to these problems, the discussion concluded that the evaluation of schools on the basis of their achievement should be done. It was argued in discussion that accomplishments from 1-12 class should
be published for both community and institutional schools and evaluations should be based on these accomplishments. Likewise, by improving livelihood supporting practical curriculum, delivering compulsory training for service delivery and providing all facilities in schools for learning environment the quality of education can be improved. Participants also argued an urgency of reducing unnecessary holidays to maintain a minimum number of school days since over holidays can t fulfill the requirement of the course in a year. The other solutions to minimize the problem of quality education in community schools were also identified in the workshop. Participants said that there should be uniformity in the mediums and textbooks in between community and institutional schools; effectiveness in student evaluation trend, formation of long term teacher plans, knowledge and skills oriented rather than language focused curriculum, and implementation of moral education should be added as a major subject to solve the problem of quality education. Majority of the participants viewed that politics should not be allowed in schools, but few argued that if it s done it should be done with the approval from all political parties and implemented well. c. Government Policies Government has a great role to play in making the policies and programs more effective and efficient. Sometimes government polices can be failure because of several reasons. In the sector of education, as discussed at the workshop inconsistency in politics, weak teacher management, improper mapping of schools, weak criteria provided for schools, less power given for school administration are the major problems. Solutions to these problems were discussed as implementing a provision of lesson plan where teachers prepare a week plan/activities for better performances and management, providing incentives and good leadership training to teachers and school staffs, and consolidating institutional and community schools to improve quality and quantity. d. Community Managed Schools The problems seen in community managed schools are noted as less representation of community representatives in management, lack of supervision and observation of internal facilities by the SMC, lack of representation of community in making provision, lack of internal source at school, lack of provision for yearly donation, untrained SMC members, and lack of understanding in SMCs about learning objectives. As solutions to this problem the participants and educationists argued that the formation of management committee should consist of students, local guardians, exerts, donors, and technocrats; provision of in-house supervision in schools must be in practice with constructive monitoring and evaluation; capacity building training regarding school management should be provided to SMCs; school managed by community should be provided with yearly donations; organizations should help for the best performing schools to present themselves as a model school on the basis of their activities; SMC should be trained to understand the curriculum and learning objectives; and SMC should have members from government schools. 4. Sourcing The problem in funding is that there is always delay in budget releasing to schools. Therefore, it was recommended to make efforts to release it in time. a. Infrastructure development The problem in this part is about the insufficient fund released to work in schools, lack of funding for library/ lab, insufficient funds for classroom preparation and toilets, no funds for year school maintenance etc. To solve these problem of infrastructure development, participants argued that funds given to schools should be evaluated depending on the need of the schools, blanket approach should not be applied, funds should be provided for library
and labs, funds for classroom preparation should be provided, funds should be provided for at least two toilets one for boys and one for girls, yearly funds should be provided for school maintenance. b. Donors/INGO/NGO and Local Donors Assistance The problem of this section is insufficient funding assistance. There is not enough funding assistance provided by the Donors/INGO/NGO and Local Donors. All concerned parties should be aware of the schools financial problems. c. Revenue Generation and Usage This section s problem is less revenue generation for the schools. So, there should be annual contribution from the community and annual funds should be driven for the schools. d. Local Bodies Contribution The problem identified in this section is nominal contribution from the local bodies. Therefore, Local bodies should make some substantive contribution to the schools annually. e. Social Auditing The problem in social auditing is it s not done regularly. Social auditing should be made mandatory in schools and done regularly. f. Transparency The problem in this side is the indistinctness of the flow of funds. Fund flow should be made transparent and accountable.
Annex 1 Workshop on Education Sector Issues-Problems and Challenges Date: Thursday, 30 July, 2011 Venue: DDC Hall, Kaski District Total Workshop Time: 8.30 am 6.10 pm Outline: 8.30 9.00 am Opening Remarks Usha Pokharel, PRAD- Nepal 9.00 9.20 am Education Sector Issues Usha Pokharel 9.20 10.20 am Baburam Poudel, Education Director, WDR 10.20 1.00 pm Group Discussion 1.00 1.30 pm Lunch Hour 1.30 2.05 pm Group Leader Presentation 2.10 5.30 pm Floor Discussion 5.30 5.40 pm Vote of Thanks, Mr. Pramod Raj Dhakal 5.40 6.10 pm Concluding Remarks & End of Session, Chairperson
Venue: - DDC Hall, Kaski District Date: - 2068/03/16 (July 30, 2011) Annex-2 List of Participants S.N. Name of Participant Organization Position Contact No. 1. Ram Bahadur K.C. SA.B.RA.NE.NE. Treasurer 9741054258 2. Bhim Parsad Subadi Nari Jagaran Primary school Acting Head Master 9844059958 3. Tank Parsad Sibakoti Shree Surke H.S.S., Khari Dhuga 4. Rajendra Laxmi Sibakoti Shree Gauri Shanker H.S.S. Lamabagar Head Master 9741075459 R.P. 9741078441 5. Bhim Narayan Shrestha, Gairemudi Shree Seti Devi Primary school Si.A.A. 9744028695 6. Kishrna Prasad Shivakoti Shree Mane Dada Primary school Head Master 9741044817 7. Shyam Tamang Shree Kalika S.S. Teacher 9741030095 8. Dhiraj Subadi Shree Jana Jagriti S.S. Teacher 9844144430 9. Rajan Neupani Haleswar H.S.S., Resource Center Resource Person 9744001089 10. Kisrhna B. Khadka Sati Devi L.S.S. Chairman 9744027266 11. Arjun Parsad Pokrel District Education Office Section Officer 9744046052 12. Rajendra Parsad Baral District Education Office Bi.Ni. 9744022263 13. Hari Bahadur Dhahal Gold Meswer H.S.S., Resource Center Resource Person 9741079181 14. Durga Lal Shah Laduk Resource Center Resource Person 9741079181 15. Amar B. Tamang Bishnu, Primary school, Jaleswar 16. Sambhu Kumar Bi.Ka Shree Kaileswer Primary school Chairman, PTA 9807651832 Bobard Mamber 98441444449
17. Parshu Ram Shrestha Shree Durga Higher S.S. Resource Person 9741039190 18. Iswar Karki Shree Cheatisil Primary school Teacher 9744028866 19. Balanand Thapaliya Shree Himalaya S.S. Resource Person 9741081589 20. Ram Bahadur Budhathoki Shree Amar H.S.S. Resource Person 9857729385 21. Rajan Karki Shree Buda Bhasain S.S. Head Master 9744021652 22. Somnath Tiwari Bairoshwar Higher S.S., Namdu 23. Brikh Bahadur Tamang Shree Kaileswer Primary School Resource Person 9741121982 Head Master 9741093840 24. Rabi Chandra Acharya Aakhail Nepal Teacher Ass. Chairman 9741050953 25. Gobind Narayan Manandhar Pasupati Kanya S.S. Head Master 9741050206 26. Yagya Bahadur Khatri Narayani Higher S.S. Head Master 9754201744 27. Nripeshwar K.C. Narayani Higher S.S. Chairman 9741023376 28. Kesav Kumar Chapagai Trivuwan Higher S.S. Resource Center Resource Person 9741089167 29. Kalpana Shrestha(Siwakoti) Pasupati Kanya S.S. Teacher 421157 30. Sarwana Thapa Mahankal Primary School Head Master 9844145648 31. Bishnu Sapkota Nepal Health Volunteer Service Volunteer 9744007398 32. Bimala Shrestha Nepal Health Volunteer Service Secretary, Volunteer 9844061706 33. Dr.Durga Bahadur Dura EKADARS, Dolakha Educative Director 9841020065 34. Arjun Bahadur Karki District Education Office Bi.Ni. 9754201181 35. Ratn Prasad Dahal Hanumaneswer Resource Center 36. Krina Bahadur Gautam Nepal Teacher Union, Dolakha Resource Person 9741055693 Chairman 9741042600 37. Ram Bahadur Siwakoti Kali Nag Higher S.S., Head Master 9751067775
Sunkhani 38. Narayan Budhathoki Chaintical Primary School Chairman 9741061086 39. Iswari Prasad Dahal Bhim Higher S.S., Dolakha Resource Person 9754201448 40. Gopal Prasad Gaire Bhim Higher S.S., Dolakha Resource Person 9741055634 41. Ram Prasad Chimuriya Kali Nag Higher S.S., Resource Center Resource Person 9754201447 42. Padam Raj Kharel Devi Shathan Lower S.S. Head Master 9744047789 43. Janak Kumar Rai Kuti Dada Higher S.S., Resource Center 44. Nav Raj Neupane Kalinchock Aguwa Resource Center Resource Person 9744028563 Resource Person 9744000941 45. Jagat Bahadur Shrestha Surke Higher S.S. Chairman 9744007701 46. Gehnath Gautam District Education Office District Education Officer 9841314579 47. Gobind Raj Sedhai District Education Office Joint Secretary 9741037503 48. Hira Thokar Laxmi Higher S.S. Chairman 9741045973 49. Chitra Bhandhari Regeshar Primary School Chairman 9744029389 50. Agni Kafle CSNN Consultant 9851065933 51. Mohan Kumar Neochhe CSNN Consultant 9851038426 52. Mohan Prasad Aryal WB EDU 9841219555 53. Shyam Bajrachaya Statistician Consultant 9841218400 54. Sanjay Agawal Social Dev. Specialist World Bank +1-703-349-9464 55. Prithivi Raj Ligal PRAD Nepal Chairman 56. Shambhusaran kayastha PRAD Nepal 57. Kishor Maharjan PRAD Nepal 58. Geeta Adhikari PRAD Nepal