With the start of the new academic year in Nepal, many parents start looking for a good school to send their children to. In the recent years, an increasing number of parents are opting for government-funded schools to admit their children. The infrastructure of these schools has drastically improved, and they have been providing so-called quality education by using English as the medium of instruction.

Consequently, the number of students has been increasing in these schools.

However, there is limited quota for students in the English-medium section, and some of the schools have been conducting an entrance examination to enroll the students. So many students are unable to find admission. Additionally, students admitted to the English-medium section have to pay admission fees and monthly fees almost equal to other private schools. Such a system of dividing the same school based on the medium of instruction exposes the double standard of government funded-schools and is against the spirit of the constitution of Nepal.

Article 31 of the Constitution of Nepal 2015 has provisioned the right of every citizen to receive compulsory and free education up to basic level and free education up to the secondary level. Thus, the student's right to receive free education up to the secondary level is a fundamental right of every child in Nepal. Such provisions of the constitution were meant to provide education to all irrespective of class, caste, religion, gender and language.

However, in the name of providing so-called quality education by using English as the medium of instruction, some of the government-funded schools have been collecting high amounts of fees from the students, and at the same time, they have prevented many students from getting admission to such schools by disqualifying them in the entrance examination.

This poses a serious issue in the Nepali education system.

Although our constitution states that Nepal is a socialist-oriented country, the privatisation of education not only exists but is even flourishing across Nepal.

In the present context, education has become the most profitable business, and some of the government-funded schools have launched a similar privatised model of education system in the name of providing quality education using English as the medium of instruction.

They have been dividing students into two classes based on the English or Nepali medium of teaching in the same school. Such practice of providing two mediums of education under the same roof and administration is responsible for creating disparity in the education system. Moreover, it plays psychologically on the minds of both parents and students.

In the beginning, some of the government schools adopted English as a medium of instruction to collect students in their schools without proper research about its consequences in the future. The English medium was synonymous with quality education, and majority of the parents were keen to enroll their children in such schools.

Some of the students studying in private schools even wanted to join government schools, mostly in class 8, because students passing out from such schools were entitled to various incentives during the entrance examinations in college. So as to also meet the requirement of such students, some government schools switched to English medium. However, slowly and gradually, the practice has been firmly established, and, at present, it has created a problem by depriving the fundamental right of students to receive an education without discrimination.

Furthermore, students who cannot pass the entrance examination and whose parents cannot afford the monthly fees are compelled to join the Nepali medium classes. This could push them towards depression and loss of interest in their studies. This has become a great irony of our education system and a mockery of the spirit of the constitution of Nepal.

Moreover, such dichotomies in the education system in government schools raise some serious questions about the concerned authorities, such as: (1) Why is the government reluctant to address such a serious issue related to the future of the students? (2) Where does such an education system lead us to in the future? (3) Does an English medium of education mean quality education? (4) Why has the government failed to protect the fundamental right of the students, or has it been provisioned in the constitution just for the sake of it? Such issues related to the whole education system of Nepal should be publicly discussed, and the concerned authorities need to be serious about the future of education, in the sense that quality and equality in education for the public are considered the foundation of a nation.

Although the privatisation of the education system might have devastating consequences, the Nepali school education has been moving towards its commercialisation. As a result, the future of our education system has become unclear and unpredictable.

Leaders of the major political parties have never paid attention to the burning issue.

Even in the present context, they do not bother to understand how and why Nepali education has become so expensive and unaffordable to the common people, although, some leaders from different political parties tend to raise this issue at the time of election but forget it after reaching power. As a result, education has become like any other commodity, whose price keeps increasing day by day.

Such a system of education is beneficial to those who have a high source of income. For the rest, an education in Nepal is going to be a dream, which never materialises.

Therefore, all the political parties and concerned authorities should be responsible to sort out the issues related to our education system. We need to search for a solution immediately; otherwise it will lead to more inequality and disparity in the public education.

A version of this article appears in the print on May 25, 2022, of The Himalayan Times.