Evaluate Education System

Dixya Poudel

This year’s SEE (Secondary Education Examination) results were published on June. And they were disappointing. Only 47.86 per cent of students who appeared for exams passed. About 52.14 per cent were non-graded and won’t be able to apply for Grade 11 admissions. One can only sympathise with the failed students and their parents as well as teachers. In fact, the entire secondary education system has been brought to the light when it comes to its inadequacies. 

SEE is considered a gateway to higher education in Nepal. Each year thousands of students take exams from March-April and eagerly await for their results so they can apply for higher secondary education. Previously known as SLC (School Leaving Certificate), it was considered the ‘iron gate’ for Nepali students. The moniker might not be in colloquy these days, but SEE is still a benchmark to measure the students’ aptitude for learning. 

Hardworking students are known to excel in SEE, even achieving a perfect 4.0 grade but they are comparatively fewer in numbers. For example, this year only 186 students earned the much sought-after 4.0 GPA. Here one could ask, whether the students aren’t studying as hard or if the teachers and the curriculum have failed to ignite learning streak in students? As per the results, students are largely failing in mathematics, English and science. It goes to show that students aren’t learning their curriculum as effectively. It could be because they are mostly taught with an emphasis on theory. 

As such, learning has to be interactive, creative, innovative and versatile. The focus has to be on application and integration of education to real-life situation. Along with theories, there has to be practical knowledge as well. However, compared to the developed nations, Nepal has an outdated curriculum that mostly focuses on theories and rote learning. Consequently, Nepali students have a hard time competing in the global education system. They are often taught obscure subjects that aren’t relevant to their lives. This tends to create a gap between the curriculum and the students’ application of the knowledge learnt. 

Since they can’t relate to the subject of study, they fail to learn wholeheartedly which leads to half-hearted efforts and poor results. They further depend on rote learning and memorisation to pass their exams which shows that their only aim is to pass. This means learning takes a backseat as the sole objective becomes to ace the exam. Such result oriented attitude makes learning less fun and more of a necessity and even an obligation. They are finding it increasingly hard to achieve higher grades while also having fun learning their materials. 

SEE results this year have revealed the lag in curriculum and teaching methods which calls for a reformation in Nepal’s education system. The nation has to take this matter under solemn consideration so that in future, SEEs results aren’t as grim. There has to be a deeper evaluation and analysis of the current secondary education system in Nepal. It has to ask if it has failed its students whose future are now at stake. In conclusion, Nepali secondary education system requires a major overhaul so that well-qualified teachers can teach with a focus on creativity, innovation and genuine learning through an updated, versatile and interactive curriculum.