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Nepali Officials' Hypocrisy: Opting for Private Schools for their Own Children

February 27, 2023
Nepali Officials' Hypocrisy: Opting for Private Schools for their Own Children

Section 8 of the Constitution of Nepal lists the rights of the local level. These rights have clearly given the local level a right to operate and manage schools at the basic and secondary level.

Despite the rights granted to the local level to operate and manage schools at the basic and secondary level, education stakeholders in Nepal are decrying the lack of division of rights and the worsening state of education management since the implementation of federalism two decades ago. While the head of the ward has become the head of school management, even those managing and operating public schools do not have faith in them and are instead teaching their own children privately.

Only community schools improved by one headmaster or teacher have seen positive results, with the majority of the public showing little interest in public schools, believing that only the children of poor families attend them. This distrust extends to local government chiefs and representatives who are tasked with managing school education, with only one person out of 753 local representatives sending their children to public schools.

Several local governments in Nepal have attempted to enforce policies requiring public officials to enroll their children in government schools. For instance, Ambukhaireni rural municipality of Tanahun recently decided that the children of public representatives must be educated in public schools. Paiyun Rural Municipality of Parbat has adopted a policy since 2077 that the children of government employees, people's representatives, and school management committee members must attend government schools. Similarly, Pathri Shanishare Municipality of Morang has implemented a similar policy since 2077.

However, the implementation of such policies has been largely unsuccessful. In 2076, employees and public representatives of Sarlahi's Bagmati municipality took an oath to educate their children in government schools, but did not follow through. The same is true for the Nalgad municipality of Jajarkot, which decided in May 2075 not to allow the children of public representatives and employees to study in private schools, but many officials still chose to send their children to private schools.

Rupa Rural Municipality of Kaski adopted a policy in 2075 to educate government school principals, teachers, the chairman of the school management committee, all people's representatives, and children of government employees in public schools. However, only some people's representatives and teaching staff's children have been studying in public schools so far.

In some cases, local governments have attempted to use incentives or penalties to encourage officials to enroll their children in public schools. For example, Maijogmai village municipality of Ilam decided to cut the salaries of employees and people's representatives who do not send their children to government schools. However, compliance with such policies has been difficult to enforce.

Policies by some municipalities that require the children of public representatives and employees to attend public schools have been implemented by few representatives, with some even requesting the policy be cancelled. Children of representatives from the Kathmandu Valley attend public schools developed as model schools, despite a lack of capacity, while the majority still attend private schools.

A conversation with 50 representatives from three districts of Kathmandu Valley revealed that only 2.09% of their children attended public schools, with 97.01% attending private schools and 16% of them running private schools with their own investments. Despite an agreement between the Nepal Teacher's Association and the Ministry of Education, Science, and Technology to implement a 51-point report, teachers are still fighting for rank and have requested a Federal Education Law to be implemented immediately.

However, the government has been preoccupied with power struggles and has yet to implement such a law. While some local levels have been successful in education, others have been preoccupied with transferring teachers who do not share their political beliefs and consider the management of education a burden.

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