The government has made its intent clear by asking the private educational institutions of the country to look for alternatives as to making investment, as the state would take on the responsibility of providing basic health and education to the people. The 5 per cent tax levied on private educational institutions is aimed at helping sustain some of the efforts to be implemented this year such as primary education for all, free education up to grade 12 in public schools in the Karnali region and other educational reforms, besides ensuring the education of the highly marginalised, backward and dalit children in the country. Education should be the best equaliser in the society. It is a challenge for the new Nepal as far as providing fair access to quality education is concerned.

Apparently, ineffective education policy of the past governments encouraged private investment in education with profit making motive. Wealthy families have access to high quality education offered by expensive private schools and colleges, at home and abroad, whereas a vast majority of the poor and disadvantaged students have no other choice but to look forward to opt for public schools where the government has failed to provide adequate physical and educational infrastructure. Urgent reform in public school functioning is necessary to make school education produce desired results.

The Maoist-led government’s attempt to chart a new educational strategy is therefore welcome. This entails further state investment. On perusal, it is seen that the public schools accommodate over 80 per cent of the country’s students but their management requires radical reforms if quality education is the goal. Appropriate physical facilities and availability of qualified and competent teachers are also matters of concern particularly in the rural areas outside the district headquarters. The curricula and textbooks in use have become obsolete.

The owners of the private educational institutions have been opposing the extra 5 per cent educational tax by claiming that it would only burden the students. However, the reason behind their protest is their reluctance to make their business fully transparent. Many private institutions have not been registered in the revenue department and are not within the tax net. Many private schools are even running the hidden business of publishing textbooks and supplementary reading materials without registering a publication company, retailing school dresses and educational materials on their own that students have to compulsorily buy. These activities obviously raise questions about the social responsibility of the private educational institutions towards the general welfare of millions of underprivileged children deprived of quality education.

The weakness is reflected more in implementation than in the aims and objectives of the education policy. The responsible agencies and institutions rarely bother whether the plan, policy and programmes are effectively implemented or not. For example, Curriculum Development Centre revises school level curricula and prepares course books on that basis. The curricula and course books are mandatory for all the schools within the country.

In practice, however, it is seen that many schools use text books or educational materials prepared by them or imported that preach alien societal values, history, and patriotic feelings. The basic fault for all this lies with the government officials concerned and the

so-called civil society members who do not take these matters seriously.

The present education system has only produced self-centred individuals who are not concerned about the welfare of the country and its citizens. Education lies at the root of sustainable development. Firmly rooted in ancestral values it can also be a source of dialogue, exchange, innovation and creativity and the foundation of endogenous systems of solidarity, forms of expression and means of transmission. It is, therefore, vital to realise the potential of education in terms of economic development, social cohesion and poverty reduction. Hence, the responsibility for providing quality education to the downtrodden people also.

Education fosters an environment that allows pluralism, knowledge and cultural diversity to prosper as it is a process of human enlightenment and empowerment for the achievement of a better and higher quality of life. Ruhela & Vyas writes, in Sociological Foundations of Education, “It is the purpose of Education to till the soil of the existing social order and to plant the seeds from which new forms, new social orders grow. When the soil is recalcitrant and unyielding, resistant to the natural forces for change, more radical processes emerge”. By contributing to this cause, private educational institutions in the country could make valuable contributions to national development.

Chalise is a journalist and litterateur