Double dealers

The deteriorating quality of education in Nepal has compelled thousands of Nepali students to pursue higher education abroad. This is one reason why educational consultancies have mushroomed in the capital. While the well-informed and clever students land good colleges and universities, poor counselling facilities at most of the consultancies result in some students picking low-grade colleges. In fact, most of the these consultancies were

ostensibly established to help students but they are the least bothered about students’ academic progress. They are only concerned about making a fast buck.

To make matters worse, individual students’ queries are often ignored, while the counsellors concentrate on groups in order to lower their costs. It is therefore not surprising that students are often misled and fail to make the right academic choice. The government should have a mechanism to monitor the activities of educational consultancies and punish unscrupulous ones.

Anil Lamsal, Jawalakhel, Lalitpur

New prez

While the political leaders are still confused about how to resolve the present deadlock over the next president, it should be borne in mind that the head of the state should not be a

political leader or the supporter of a particular party. As is the international norm, the president should be chosen on the basis of his or her contribution to the nation, and should be a national personality who has made immense contribution in his or her field.

Paul Rai, Bhaktapur

Alarming

Apropos of the news report “Six AIDS deaths in a month: Govt” (THT, July 4), it is alarming that the number of recorded AIDS patients has reached 1,884.

The number is expected to rise fast as ignorant migrant workers continue to bring the disease.

Furthermore, due to increasing poverty, more and more young women are practicing prostitution, as a means to survive.

Lack of awareness about safe sex leads many ignorant people to practice unsafe sex and be infected with the deadly disease. The government, INGOs and the NGOs working in the field should do more to make people aware of the danger of unsafe sex and the risk of contracting HIV/AIDS.

Tsering Lhamo, via e-mail

Appreciable

This is in reference to the news report “Indian textbooks record Nepal’s transition to democracy” (THT, July 6). It is good to know that NCERT, India’s school textbook authority, appreciating the recent political achievements of Nepal, has incorporated the latest Nepali politics in its political science textbooks. However, I am concerned as to whether the writers have recorded the events they have recorded without distorting facts.

Now that the peace process is nearing conclusion, the government also needs to dig deeper into the controversial royal massacre so that history records the correct version of the event.

The upcoming generations need to know the truth, not a fabricated version of history. These

aspects deserve serious attention of the officials concerned.

Shiva Neupane,

Melbourne, Australia