A recent opinion essay for the Observer, the sister publication of the Guardian, made me think about the current status of public, community managed schools in Nepal. Written by Martha Gill, a columnist for the paper, the central idea of the piece is that existing policies being framed by the British conservative government are basically enabling a society where children's higher education chances are predicated on their families' income and status. Those from the medium and upper classes have access to a full spectrum of education opportunities, especially universities, while the remaining one are left behind with second class, vocational studies. In this context, apprenticeships, as important as they are for the job market, should not be the pre-defined (and only) choice of children from vulnerable backgrounds.

'Family background is still a key influence on how much you end up earning, so this will inevitably target the kinds of courses studied by poorer students,' the journalist writes.

Perhaps, increasing levels of inequalities are something the UK and the whole West are not used to, but actually this is something that is absolutely the norm in developing and emerging nations, including Nepal.

If a child comes from a vulnerable group and if her mother tongue language is not Nepali, then completing a full educational cycle is like climbing a mountain.

While it is not an impossible task (this thanks to a focus in the last 10 years on enrollment and retention, including the school meals programme), it is definitely challenging. If your parents or guardians are not supportive or if you live with some distant relatives that do not care about education or simply do not have the means, then that mountain can become the Everest.

Classrooms in public funded community schools are overcrowded, teachers, at least the majority of them, are struggling with the skills, competences required to navigate one of the most challenging though also one of the most important jobs out there in the society. Motivation is also another big factor and something that cannot just be tackled by incremental increases in their salaries.

Plus, infrastructure-wise, we know that most of these schools are comparativelymuch weaker than the average private school.

I have already written on this column on the importance of scholarships. We need more of them that are better targeted and of bigger size. While it is a great thing that the metropolitan government of Kathmandu has been successful in forcing private schools in being more transparent with the scholarships that are by lawmandated to provide, this is only one step forward.

The real game changer is called 'management'.

In short, we not only need much more resources to be able to improve publicly-funded schools, but we also need capable persons able to administer these schools. Indeed, the role of principals becomes paramount, especially if these professionals also come from vulnerable groups and are women.

Without strong administrators, real 'pro' of the public education sector, evenmore resources would be at risk of being mismanaged.

That's why this piece is a call to recognize, invest and award all the principals leading publicly-funded schools.

First, we need to recognise their essential role, and any reform funded by external development partners should really be aimed at supporting the principals.

Second, are we alsoready to invest more in them? We could have more 'master' classes tailored to their unique needs, and such curricula could be jointly developed by the Curriculum Development Centre in partnership with the provinces and the civil society.

Involving NGOs in designing and running high quality, innovative capacity building trainings is indispensable.

They have a lot of on the ground experience, and they can truly come up with 'out of the box' methodologies that can be im-pactful enough to change the status quo. As important as it is, rethinking and re-designing trainings for principals can do only so much, and it must be seen as the first step towards a real effort to raise the bar.

Within a new competence framework, principals should be supported to go back to formal learning through some new flexible approaches that would ideally see them graduate from masters or diploma courses on school administration.

We could even imagine the creation of 'institutes', centres focused at upskilling and updating the knowledge and insights of principals and head masters. The Broad Centre in the USA has the mission of 'developing leaders to transform America's urban public-school systems'.

Not for profit organisations, NGOs, INGOs and even retired experts could be involved in running some pilots. The federal Ministry of Education could run a competitive grant scheme where municipalities can apply, in partnership with the civil society, to run pilot institutes.

Private schools could also step in through 'twin partnerships' with local public schools. It is not so hard to organize, to start with, fortnightly meetings where principals from private and public schools come together to share and learn through a peer-topeer approach.

Finally awarding.

I can think of municipal, provincial and federal levels awards that, with the support of media organisations, can really highlight the contributions of principals.

If we really invest in the principals, then a new attractive and engaging career would open up for teachers as well.

Martha Gill in her article powerfully and provoking asks, referring to the British Prime Minister, 'Is Sunak telling students and parents from disadvantaged backgrounds to think smaller?'She is totally right because also vulnerable children in Nepal and elsewhere have rights and aspirations to go to university.

The best way to do so is to invest in the principals and let's not forget that learning should not be like climbing an arduous and dangerous mountain, an undertaking that each time you are at risk of slipping down, your whole future will be in jeopardy.

The author is the pro bono co-founder of ENGAGE

A version of this article appears in the print on August 4, 2023, of The Himalayan Times.