A short article in today's My Republica newspaper in Kathmandu describes a "high level" seminar discussing the appalling standards of reading ability (literacy?) of children in the country's primary schools. as usual things like this make for very depressing reading and merely adds to our deepening sense of frustration at our inability to get the Ministry of Education to engage in a meaningful dialogue with us.
The full article can be found here My Republica and some extracts are shown below:
The educational curriculum in the country has been anything but effective, with the idea of education being set as either passing the terminal and annual examinations or failing them. The idea of responsibility and achievement of a student, teacher or school is only limited to report cards.
The lack of classroom materials and uniform distribution of textbooks all over the country is another hindrance to making the education system justifiable.
It is difficult for such schools to recognize the idea of reading culture amidst the lack of resources. It is no news that most of the teachers from primary to higher secondary level in these schools are not qualified for the job, either. Reading books for students in these schools is a dream too farfetched, especially when even textbooks aren’t easily available there.
How can we expect students to take up reading other than textbooks when the teachers aren’t resourceful enough? Where can they learn to pick up the habit of reading?
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