Stop cheating students:

I am a 17-year-old studying in the tenth standard. We all know that the SLC examination is

approaching and that the sent-up papers are going on. However, I am one of those

unfortunate students of this country who will not be allowed to sit for the SLC exam because I have found out now that the English medium school where I have been studying is not registered with the government.

Though the school authorities have made some adjustment to help us appear for the exam from a public school, it is unfortunate that educationists are cheating children and playing with students’ future in this way. In my case, my parents do not want me to sit for the exam from a government school, which automatically means I lose a precious year of my

academic life. How fair is this?

I wonder how such schools are allowed to operate and why don’t the concerned

authorities take appropriate action against them? We have found out that such cases come up every year before the SLC exams. Schools should not be looked upon as

moneymaking business and teachers should understand their moral responsibility

towards their pupils.

Niroj Shakya, via e-mail

CBS survey:

The Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) recently published executive summary of the second edition of the Nepal Living Standard Survey, showing a substantial increase in the per capita income of Nepalis. However, the survey also reported a widening gap between the poor and the rich, which is indeed a matter of serious concern and a challenge to the poverty

reduction strategy and to achieving the Millennium Development Goals by 2015.

Another interesting but serious fact that the survey has revealed is increasing dependence of Nepal’s economy on non-farm income like foreign remittances, which has brought a significant change in consumption pattern. But one should be aware that remittance is not a sustainable source of income. Hence, the money sent in by the workers and Nepalis living abroad should be encouraged for productive investment to create jobs and to help the economy.

Although the CBS survey revived hopes in terms of social progress, the research

methodology employed to carry out the sample survey is yet to be made public. This questions the reliability of the findings of the survey. It is also silent on the impact of the

insurgency during the study period. The enumerators might not have included the conflict-hit areas or weighed the effects of the insurgency. Does the random survey

carried out among a small part of the population represent the whole country? Or is this also going to be just another survey? These issues should be made clear.

A N Baruwal, Thapathali

Share expertise:

Developing Ayurveda as suggested by Sushil Dahal of the Institute of Medicine in his letter published sometime back in THT is a good idea. I am from India and I too have been studying and developing herbal medicines for the past 45 years, especially for bronchial asthma, chronic dry fungal infection of ear, chilblain, Hepatitis-B, hair loss, etc. Several years ago, I was approached to exploit knowledge in this field in Nepal and was taken to the Ayurvedic Sansthan. But things could not materialise because of some licence problem. There is much both India and Nepal can do in this field. Both countries can work together to collect funds and other needed support to produce and market the Ayurvedic medicines. They should start sharing expertise in the field.

H K Pradhan, via e-mail