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The teachers' wing of the UCPN (Maoist) has threatened to shut down private boarding schools owned by party leaders and members as a step towards closing down all private schools.
"Our campaign against private schools has not been effective because our party members themselves have betrayed the cause," chairman of the Maoist All Nepal Teachers' Organisation, Gunaraj Lohani, said. "We are compelled to create a moral base to bolster our campaign against private schools."
While it is nothing new for a Maoist wing to issue threats (after all, the mother party does it all the time), what makes it novel is this time the comrades are after brother comrades. The excuse behind shutting down private schools for the sake of "equality" is utter nonsense.
The timing of the threat is not so surprising, though. The new academic session of schools is just a couple of months away, a time when most private schools rake in a lot of moolah by way of annual and other fees to ensure profits. No wonder they attract a lot of attention, including those from Maoists and other parties.
But is it really about ensuring "equality" in education?
Assuming that it is, let us examine the path proposed by the Maoist teachers' union. It looks like they have strong opposition to private schools, something they view as bourgeoisie indulgence. I have a question to Lohani and his comrades. Can they force their party chairman to withdraw his granddaughter from an English-medium school in the capital? Bet not. Can they ask all their apologist commentariat to withdraw their children from reputed private English schools? No way.
Just like individuals and groups have the right to open and operate private schools, people like Lohani have simply no right to shut schools whether they are run by Maoists or others. Similarly, parents and grandparents have the right to educate their children wherever they want. Period.
Shutting down private schools, which usually have a better success rate than those run by the government, is no way to ensuring equality. Government-run schools have poor quality, so Lohani & Co would be better off trying to raise the standard of government schools. Instead, they harass the administration of even well-run community-managed schools where they can't exert control.
There are example of good government schools: Adarsha Soul Yuvak Secondary School of Sainbu of Lalitpur district, which according to Shikshak magazine has done so well that people are taking their children out of private schools to be enrolled there. Twelve private schools in the vicinity are so worried they have complained to the District Education Office, Lalitpur.
Of the 101 students of Adarsha Soul who appeared for their SLC exams last year, 11 passed with distinction, 50 in first division and 40 with second division marks. The medium of instruction is English, the facilities are as good as any private school but it is cheaper. It arranges special classes for 34 differently-abled students. It also conducts informal education for stay-at-home mothers, besides conducting 10+2 in Humanities, Management and Science and BBS and BEd.
Want another example? Sarbajanik Lower Secondary School at Sisawani in Morang. Shikshak reports that it has made a stunning turnaround in the last three years.
Simple question to Comrade Lohani: why don't you and your party work towards inspiring more schools to be like Adarsha Soul and Sarbajanik?
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