I am a private college teacher: an epiphany!

A+ A A-

Before the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, I had remarkably a busy schedule; by teaching in a private college I had been clinging to the hectic life of Kathmandu, academically. Thousands of teachers share the nature and fate of my job. Before the pandemic, my normal engagement would include rising and shining early in the morning, making assignments, checking copies, and holding discussions with students and my fellow teachers about contemporary trends in education. Once lashed by the pandemic, my life was never the same.

Immediately after Covid-19, my earlier busy schedule became a thing of the past; days passed by and these days converted into months. As there was no work, the concerned college denied paying. The logic of no work, no payment sounds reasonable and cogent, but at the same time very cruel. However, it remained rather bitter and pathetic for persons like me. I ponder: when I was earning, I was paying the tax to the government; while I stopped receiving, why the government seems reluctant to provide compensation?

If the government is the guardian, why it failed to reciprocate, and turns its back on its taxpayers? Now, my conscience pricks, being a private college teacher, why I sincerely paid tax to the government if I was not to get back anything even in this dire crisis. Instantly, I realized since I worked for the private college therefore, it is rather ridiculous to expect anything either from my organization where I spent more than a decade or from the government.

The reality is that almost all Nepali private educational institutes are being run by a handful number of people who rarely understand the essence of education. Now teachers—who have already spent decades in their institutes are being persecuted; they have spent their entire life working diligently to make their institutes more profitable; because of the arduous work of the teachers, founder of private schools/colleges have uplifted economically from working class to the affluent one. Based on the convenient pretext of COVID 19, they rebuffed to pay to their faculties. Why?

Because Nepali private schools/colleges are, in fact, in the form of more business houses than the academic places: business houses always place prominence on profit over education and intellect; they never go for research, innovation in curriculum, and novelty in teaching method. More interestingly, due to the policy lobbying of these schools, 10th graders are still facing the so-called “board examination”. Therefore, in the context of the current crisis, private school business persons seem to have been devoid of even basic human sensibility and responsibility.

The reason why they do not understand the environment of academia is that most of them come from different business backgrounds mostly real estate. Hence, they are swayed away by their business motif rather than intellectual insight. Despite this fact, some pundits extol these organizations by saying that they are at least creating employment and have given chance to Nepali students studying in Nepal instead in other countries most likely in India. While there is some truth on it, a substantial number of students pursuing their education outside the country tell a different story. Therefore, the problem, now teachers have been facing, is the byproduct of this profit mentality of so-called business magnets. Hence, the government should chart out a policy on whether the education institutes could go for the profit.

In this connection, the Ministry of Education/government is in great perplexity: in the current budget, the government endorsed the provision of private academic leadership for public schools. The logic that the government puts forward is that private schools are the yardstick of standard or an epitome of excellence for academic organizations. This sounds absurd. The government seems to have no single plan; meaning, our education policy is far from the pragmatic ground. In a standard context, the government sets the academic rules consulting the concerned intellectuals like experts.

Nevertheless, our government neither consults nor puts down the discernible practices on education. We can see its impact now: the government could not make any decision for the unpaid teachers. Theoretically, education institutions a prominent base of development of any government set the horizon of a country. However, in our country, we are in an anti-clock movement.

In Nepal, there are two fundamental reasons why intellectuals are not involved in policymaking activities. First, there is a grave scarcity of intellectuals since almost all university professors and school teachers are carders of different political parties; second, even if there are real intellectuals, they face the perpetual exploitation of authority. Hence, the government has to protect all the teachers from this ongoing problem. This is also an opportunity for the government to win over the confidence and trust of a large number of intellectual communities. Therefore, if the government wants to end or narrow the disparities between public and private education, it should begin its steps right now.

The Covid-19 pandemic sparked a debate on the structural settlement of private education in the country. Indeed, private institutions have been contributing significantly not only to academia but also to the national coffer. However, these intuitions should be run like an academic organization rather than business houses. Besides, such institutions have to generate new knowledge and work for the betterment of students. Once private school investors can give up their profit motive, they can easily enlighten all the stakeholders with the light of education.

Notwithstanding these problems, the government, in this context, should boldly bring about a momentous change in education. One can put a question, why one should invest in education if there is an issue of benefit? The logic that an investor should expect profit seems irrefutable; they should make money if they have staked it. However, investment in education for profit should be strictly banned. If one wants to earn, there are other options like liquor shop, hydropower, shopping malls, real estate, and many more. Therefore, investment in education and other places has a qualitative difference. Also, we should come to the point of whether or not private colleges should focus on research and innovation in teaching and learning.

The conclusion should end on an optimistic note. Dealing with the issue of teachers we must accept the fact that private school/college teachers are educating Nepali students; they have been also trying to make Nepali education more vibrant and accessible than before. Hence, the government should take off the journey of inclusive education adamantly without dilly-dallying. If this happens, I would be able to answer the perpetual question of the fifth-grader daughter which I have been snubbing for the last four months, ‘Baba, when will you buy the new class books for me …!’

प्रकाशित मिति: सोमबार, साउन २६, २०७७ १८:१५