Kathmandu, October 15, 2005

Nepali Congress president Girija Prasad Koirala today struck a reconciliatory note on the issue of finding a solution to the prevailing political crisis while ignoring the royal call to participate in the coming civic and parliamentary polls. He also billed every royal step “unconstitutional”. A clearly-at-the-helm Koirala also made it clear the alliance was not in favour of rooting for a republican order merely on the strength of the international backing. He apprehended that in the event of rooting for a republican set-up the alliance agenda could go haywire and create an unmitigated crisis. “We are of the view that rooting for a republican order on the strength of international backing is not healthy. The move could misfire,” Koirala said while talking to reporters at his residence. He flayed the latest royal announcement of parliamentary polls as an instance of the King holding the nation to ransom. Reiterating there was no question of taking part in the elections, Koirala stressed on the need to restore the constitutional process by reinstating the House of Representatives. Gyanendra of having closed the door on the possibility of reconciliation, Koirala said, “While he dangles polls as a carrot, he has also wielded the stick by curbing the press with a draconian ordinance. Only a constitutional government can declare elections. We want polls in a package which includes talks with the Maoists,” Koirala said.

Bright babes shying away from teaching?

Kathmandu, October 15, 2005

Going by the abysmal academic performance of the female teachers in public schools, it seems that teaching is not the career choice of academically bright girls. A UNESCO-funded report on “Status of female teachers in Nepal” by educationist Prof Dr Min Bahadur Bista reveals that a mere two per cent of the lady teachers in public schools have passed SLC with first division, 46 per cent with second division, with the remaining 52 per cent scraping through with third division. “If the SLC marks are to be considered as a criterion, the academic quality of female teachers appears very poor,” states the report. “These findings are not very surprising given that education of girls does not receive as much priority as does the education of boys in families and communities throughout Nepal,” Prof Bista told this daily. Bista is submitting the report to UNESCO next week. The research was conducted in 10 districts — Morang, Ilam, Okhaldhunga, Rupandehi, Kaski, Sindhupalchok, Banke, Surkhet, Jumla and Kathmandu. The study found that apart from poor academic performance of women, incidence of completing professional training was high in male teachers as compared to female teachers (53 per cent versus 36 per cent).