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+2
This high school education system needs a bit of tweaking to be more effective
by KIRAN NEPAL AND DHRUBA SIMKHADA
| FROM ISSUE # 127 (July 2006) | IN THIS ISSUE | |||
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The ripple of publicity surrounding higher secondary educational institutions heralds the SLC results. The Higher Secondary Education Board's (HSEB) ruling prohibiting 'Admission Open' advertisements at the +2 level before the publication of SLC results has halted such notices. Nevertheless, the institutions have found alternative ways through pamphlets and prospectuses to promote their 'salient features'. 
Most +2 colleges promote career-oriented quality education, qualified teachers and provisions for extra-curricular activities. It is only expected that parents and students be befuddled by such relentless wave of information. The only options open for prospective students is to either believe blindly in the advertisements or to painstakingly checkout the schools. Kapil Mani Gyawali, whose daughter gave her SLC from SOS Hermann Gmeiner School, says, "It would be better for colleges to invest in developing its facilities than to publish misleading advertisements."
The resources available, reputation, academia and extra-curricular activities must be taken into consideration when selecting a good school, but most importantly, the quality of education and classroom management should be evaluated. Education expert Dr Tirtha Khaniya says, "Steer clear of schools that focus on commercial gains and practice unethical admission policies such as 'kidnapping' SLC toppers."
Dr Baburam Pokhrel, founding principal of VS Niketan College, Minbhawan, is of similar opinion. He says, "A good school must impart knowledge suited to the 21st century, as well as life skills and a sense of social consciousness." Campion Academy's vice principal, Roshan Lama, says, "Our teaching system operates on close interaction between teachers, parents and student, that's our recipe for success." It is a tedious task to find such facts about a college but here we help you with a list of the Top 10 Higher Secondary Schools (see box) based on the academic performance of students of each college in the past four years. However, there are disputes on whether the number of students who passed in the HSEB exam can be considered a reliable gauge for the college's quality metre. As principal of Capital College and Research Centre, Hari Chandra Lamichhane, says, "Our students have continuously achieved board first positions in the HSEB exams for the past four years. Even if our pass percentage is low, these figures speak highly of our educational quality." On the other hand, Bikram Rai, principal of Prasadi Acadamy considers the pass percentage as a reliable medium until a trustworthy organisation is established to monitor other qualities.
UNETHICAL PRACTICES
The objective of many +2 institutions is to ensnare bright students with impressive academic results in large numbers. Offering scholarships and even monthly allowances to SLC toppers is a common practice. Unfortunately, this hasn't presented opportunities to a majority of the students. Neither has it improved the quality of education or lowered fees. KB Maharjan, principal of Bernhardt College, attributes it to lack of government supervision saying, "Unhealthy marketing strategies will only steer youngsters away from Nepal's ground reality."
MANAGEMENT CONCERNS
Although a new curriculum has been introduced at the +2 level from this academic year, no official discussion has yet taken place regarding its implementation, quality and feasibility. Babita Kayastha, Kathmandu Valley School's principal stresses the need for regular revision of the curriculum to make it practical. Perhaps the workload of HSEB is to blame for lack of regular curriculum updates. Unlike SLC, where various organisations monitor operations such as curriculum development, examination procedures and resource management, HSEB is solely responsible for all operations of grade 11 and 12. In addition, HSEB has no other branches save the contact offices in Biratnagar and Nepalgunj. HSEB also does not monitor appointment or qualification of teachers, textbook selection and teacher trainings, adding roadblocks in the process of determining a benchmark for higher secondary institutes. There is still no system for verifying the internal and external practical scores of an examinee. Although +2 has a comparatively fine-tuned curriculum and regular examination and results, it is still in a very difficult position when we consider the quality of the institutes that have been operating so far.
ATTEMPTS AT REFORMS
In order to allow mass access to quality education, HSEB has announced plans for establishment of a 'model school' in each of the 14 zones by the end of this year and in each of the 75 districts by the end of the 2063/64 fiscal year. Currently, community and public schools receive donations for the salary of two teachers, and if selected as model schools, receive Rs 5,00,000 yearly but such schools must reduce their fees, used the finances to develop physical resources and to pay the employees. The funding has been extended to Karnali district. HSEB's executive coordinator, Ram Bahadur Thapa, says plans include funding to improve toilet and sanitation in such schools.
Currently, 469 public Higher Secondary schools receive Rs 12,00,00,000 yearly as financial assistance. Including this amount, the budget for the current fiscal year for the board is Rs 36,00,00,000. The Board's chief income source is registration, examination fee, transcript preparation, and migration certificate, which is around Rs 700 per student. Besides this, the board has established a trust for programmes such as teaching material, teachers training and library establishment. The trust is maintained by extracting fees from community schools and private schools. But it is clear that the current budget does not allow the HSEB to formulate any solid programmes. For the HSEB and consequently, +2 education to improve, the government must put more effort into the programme.
TOP HIGHER SECONDARY +2 COLLEGES
According to pass percentage in the last three years
Colleges 2060 BS (%) 2061 BS (%) 2062 BS (%)
Amarsingh HSS, Pokhara 84 86 89
Orchid Science College, Bharatpur 88 77 87
SOS Herman Gmeiner, Pokhara 94 100 100
Campion Academy, Lalitpur 75 84 76
Gandaki Boarding School, Pokhara 100 91 97
Xavier Academy, Kathmandu 82 95 95
Namgyal HSS, Kathmandu 98 84 98
National School of Science, Kathmandu 87 88 96
New Horizon English School, Butwal 98 84 98
National School of Science, Lalitpur 81 80 83
Prasadi Academy HSS, Lalitpur 78 99 100
United Academy, Lalitpur 84 93 94
Little Angels' HSS, Lalitpur 70 92 96
Sagarmatha HSS, Pokhara 88 92 96
St. Mary's, Lalitpur 99 94 97
St. Xavier's, Lalitpur 84 83 91
Source: Higher Secondary Education Council