Binod Joshi, Grade 11, William Halls High School
Education is the most dynamic tool to achieve desired goals and to become successful in the 21st century. A quality education opens ways to interpret real-life problems and solve them. It can be a passport to the future and key to success. It helps people to move ahead in life to become self-dependent. Imprecise education system, improper structures, lack of parents’ involvement and lack of professional teachers are some of the major problems in Nepal’s education system. We need trustworthy government and political leaders with integrity to remodel our education system for the better.
There is no skill and knowledge-based education in Nepal and almost everything taught is outdated. Education in Nepal is usually about memorizing the book, notes and illustrating it in the exam. Every student and teacher gives importance to grades rather than knowledge acquisition. Teachers judge students based on their grades and care less about their creative thinking skills. They don’t understand that grades are a concomitant of learning. Students are being tested on their memorizing power instead of their mastery of conceptual knowledge. But, emphasis on memorization diminishes learning. Emphasis on grades rather than the process of learning discourages embracement of integrity. It is no wonder that many students cheat on their exams. Because the education system teaches students to get higher grades than higher knowledge and learning, they just try to pass with good marks. The focus should be on marks and grades as well as on extracurricular activities and student passion.
In Nepal, the majority of government employed teachers aren’t qualified or trained properly to teach and mentor students. Many teachers bribe government officials in order to get appointments. These teachers are appointed by political leaders and corrupt government officials without due weight placed on their qualifications, expertise, or supervised classroom and professional experience. The teachers are teaching using outdated and oldfangled methods. Students must have a good understanding about technology right from the early stage of their education and schools must embrace technology when it comes to education. Politicians are ruining the future of the nation by not taking steps to make our education system more competitive.
This generation of Nepalese parents firmly believe that only good marks and grades will help their children succeed and have a better life in the future. These myths are affecting their children’s passion and goals. Excessive parental pressure in the name of education is stressful. Parents have high expectations from their children. They hope for their child to go to university and to have a satisfactory job someday, irrespective of whether their children are interested in their studies or not. Parents don’t spend enough time with their children to actually understand what they might want to do in the future. Parents should be aware that there is more to life than just studying and getting good marks. They should acknowledge that success is not measured in marks. Parents should allow their children to make their own decisions and should encourage arts, athletics, music etc. It is not fair for parents to have a child trade-off on their dreams.
Nowadays the most qualified teachers go to foreign countries. Majority of the teachers who stay in the country are not qualified and trained enough to provide quality education. Most rural area governments and private schools appoint unqualified teachers. Teachers play a very important role in a student’s life; therefore, it is essential for them to be passionate and enthusiastic about teaching. Teachers should have the capacity to recognize that students are all different individuals and that some students learn fast while others learn slow. They need to act like parents to the students while teaching and they should know how to create a home-like environment where students love to be in the classroom to learn. Teachers are vital in assembling the future of the nation, so our country needs passionate, motivated, hardworking and respectful teachers. Teachers should invest time in their students and create a positive environment in the classroom because these can help build good relationships with students and help them achieve their desired goals.
Education plays an important role in determining an individual’s future. School is a place of learning where grades should not be overemphasized. Schools should allow students to identify and build on their passion for learning subjects rather than focusing on memorizing facts. Nepal’s education system is substandard at best, and the government needs to work from the root level to bring about significant changes. Nepal’s Education system should make room for practical/technical learning in addition to the traditional theoretical learning. Even though the past few decades have seen some progress in the education sector, I believe it has not been enough to bring about a real transform. Quality education is still very much a need of the hour in Nepal.
