Education System Demands Urgent Reform

The education system of public schools is in dire straits. Much needs to be done to improve the crumbling structure of Nepali education. Many pedagogues believe that the whole education system should be replaced with a new one, which meets the requirements and challenges of today. In fact, in the past, some efforts were made to improve the existing education system, but it failed to achieve desired success.

The new system of education must provide better opportunities for students. Incidentally, the Ministry of Education and Sports must reform and restructure the present education system so that people from every stratum can access education. The government should also earmark a sizeable portion of the national budget to meet the challenges ahead. 

Over the years, the government has used extensive state machinery, including a huge amount of foreign aid, to revamp the entire structure of school education, but its achievements have been far from satisfactory. Lack of a pragmatic vision, misuse of funds, rampant corruption, and political instability have caused significant damage to the education system. As a result, Nepali education stands at the receiving end.

More than 40 per cent of the population are unable to read or write, and a large number of children, especially in rural areas, do not attend school—a number that is increasing every year. To create more job opportunities in the country, the government must act seriously. 

This could be the only way to encourage poor parents to send their children to school. According to a recent report, the dropout rate until Grade III is 25 per cent.

Without a doubt, poverty is the main culprit behind the increasing dropout rate in government schools. In addition, the quality of education in government schools is extremely disappointing. There has been a gradual decline in the performance of public schools in the Secondary Education Examination (SEE). The poor performance of students in the SEE exam is testimony to the fact that the present school education system needs a complete reform to meet today’s requirements. If the current system persists without any updates, it will become a futile endeavour. Unless the economic conditions of rural people improve, government efforts to educate more children in rural Nepal will not bear much fruit.

Therefore, to improve the country’s education standards, the government must work on two fronts: poverty alleviation and implementation of a new education system. Government schools are poorly managed, and education standards are dismal. In contrast, private boarding schools have successfully maintained quality education—but this comes at a significant cost. 

Poor parents often have to spend a considerable amount of money to secure quality education for their children. Parents, as a whole, are fed up with ever-growing tuition fees. At the beginning of each academic session, parents must invest in uniforms, books, stationery, admission fees, library fees, games, music, building construction and maintenance, water, electricity, welfare, and so on.

Parents should not be surprised if they are asked to pay more under new heads. In many schools, game fees are charged despite having no playground, library fees are charged where there is no library, and computer fees are charged where one computer is shared among four or five students. Transportation fees are charged even during holidays. While students pay high fees throughout the year, many schools do not pay teachers their winter vacation salaries or festival bonuses.

Almost every privately run boarding school includes one or two hidden charges in their bills. Many parents are upset but cannot question the school administration. If parents frequently complain or request clarification of extra charges, the school administration may even threaten to expel the student. According to the Education Regulation 1992, managing committees of private schools ascertain tuition fees, which must be approved by the District Education Office (DEO).

In practice, this law seems to exist only in books. Most surprisingly, the Ministry of Education and DEOs have never taken any legal action against those private schools, which have increased tuition fees without receiving official approval. Very recently, the Fee Fixation and Monitoring Committee (FFMC), under the Department of Education, allocated the maximum fees private schools can charge in the Kathmandu Valley. However, many remain sceptical about the effectiveness of this measure. It remains to be seen whether DEOs can take stern action against private schools that flout this directive. School Managing Committees must be given more legal authority to curb school owners’ monopoly.

Since the committees are mostly composed of parents, they are unlikely to allow school owners to charge unreasonable tuition fees. Currently, managing committees exist only in name. Once formed, they are rarely called to important meetings, except for Parents’ Day, and they lack legal authority to interfere in school affairs. Private schools charge exorbitant fees in the name of quality education. 

But who checks the quality of education? The DEO does not issue certifications of quality, nor does the Ministry of Education. Most private schools set their own standards and declare themselves the best in town.

The government is largely responsible for these irregularities due to its inability to enforce necessary regulations. The pathetic condition of government schools—poor quality, irregular classes, unqualified teachers, nepotism, politicisation, and poor infrastructure—has widened the gap between public and private schools. Most appointments in public schools are politically influenced.

Teachers focus more on politics than teaching. Principals in government schools are reduced to powerless figures, unable to take direct action against wayward teaching and non-teaching staff, many of whom have political connections. The standards of education have deteriorated rapidly due to massive irregularities. Public schools are closing as student numbers fall, while more private schools are opening and attracting enough students. What an irony! The government vociferously boasts of free education, yet it has reduced subsidies to public schools, putting them in a difficult situation.

Like private schools, public schools are not allowed to charge tuition fees. However, to run smoothly, many public schools have started collecting some fees from students, forcing many poor parents to withdraw their children. The slogan of education for all has become a mockery of the government’s education policy. Meanwhile, the government has turned a blind eye to irregularities in private schools. Private school operators exploit parents’ predicaments. Many urban parents have no choice but to send their children to private schools due to the poor quality of education in government schools. If government schools provided quality education, parents would not feel compelled to send their children to private schools. Despite pouring significant resources into the education sector, government schools have shown no substantial improvement; much of the money has gone to waste.

Interestingly, even with many private schools across the country, tuition fees remain high. Normally, an increase in educational institutions should make education more affordable, but the law of supply and demand does not seem to apply here. The time has come for the new government in 2026 to address public education seriously and implement necessary reforms. If public schools maintain high-quality education, there will be no need for expensive private schools. A unified system of education should be initiated which integrates the private and public systems of education across the nation.

(Thapa is a Pokhara-based writer and a regular contributor to The Rising Nepal.)