My daughter is indeed lucky and privileged. There are many others like her who failed in the exam while a huge number of children her age do not even get a chance to attend schools.
The SLC result made me nostalgic. My memory traveled back 27 years when I was eagerly waiting for my SLC result like my daughter. However, the circumstance and education landscape then was vastly different. I was a little boy waiting for my result in a far-flung remote village. My daughter is in Kathmandu and has access to high speed broadband internet connection. She went to English medium school and I was not fortunate enough to attend such a school.
I was expecting my SLC examination result in my village of Bhojpur district, an eastern mid-hill. My home was five hours away from the district headquarters. Even the district headquarters was not connected with a road. To reach motorable road, I had to walk at least three days from my village. After sitting for my SLC exam, I stayed in my village and remained there as a good farmer until the exam result was out. As I recall those moments, I feel that I couldn’t have attended a better bridge course!
In many ways, the SLC exam then was really an ‘iron gate’ because schools in districts were weak in Mathematics, Science and English. Most of the students used to fail because they were weak in English. The education standard of the far-flung students was in no way comparable to that of students from English medium schools of the capital or other cities and towns. There was a dire need for skilled teachers who could teach us these subjects.
To get through the iron gate, we had only one option: Learn the textbook by heart. Sometimes, we used to memorize paragraph after paragraph. The one and only intention was to pass the exam. Once we passed the exam, we could attend college and carve out a future for ourselves.
Minus mobile phone, my village condition is no different than what it was 27 years ago. High schools are closer to our village, so the students can attend schools. However, the local schools are nothing but factories for producing unemployed youths.
I was not quite sure about my exam result. So I decided to stay in my village. I learnt everything as a farmer such as making doko (a bamboo basket to collect grass), namlo (head strap to support heavy loads) and many more. Moreover, I learnt to work in the paddy field. In fact, I had almost forgotten about my school. One day I heard that the controller of examination had published the result. The only source of information was Gorkhapatra, the state-owned broadsheet daily. However, it was not easy to get the paper on time. It used to take months to reach our village.
Even I was hesitant to get my SLC result because then the pass percentage used to be extremely disappointing. So I didn’t want to go to the district headquarters to get information. Telephone was not available even in the district headquarters. Some people used to afford the luxury of sending telegram to other districts and the capital city Kathmandu from the district headquarters. But the day, a school teacher from our village, who is my distant uncle too, visited the district headquarters and brought the good news for me.
It was almost one month after the exam result had been published. That result changed my destiny. I came to study in Kathmandu. Kathmandu gave me opportunities to study, work and do many more things. I have witnessed great changes taking place here. I witnessed the transformation from autocratic Panchayat system to democracy first hand. I have also seen how communication has boomed.
A village boy has entirely transformed in Kathmandu. But, sadly, his village has remained the same. This is the story of most of the city dwellers who have come from the villages of Nepal. On Saturday, a day after this year’s result was published, I received a call from my village. One of my fellow village brothers wanted to know his son’s result. I checked his result online and informed him. The only visible change during my childhood and now is the cell phone. The people in village can call from their home, but they’re still digitally retarded. In other words, the digital gap is still huge. We talk about economic gap, but if we want to uplift our villages, it is equally important to bridge the digital divide.
Forget about broadband internet. My village is still far from motorable road, and without landline phone and electricity. I studied in kerosene lamp and the students there continue to depend on it for light. However, they get to see a newspaper every few days because the airplane takes it to the district headquarters from where it ultimately reaches my village. One thing that can change the communication landscape of our village is the internet. But unfortunately it will not reach there in the immediate future.
Minus mobile phone, my village condition is no different than what it was 27 years ago. High schools are closer to our village, so the students can attend schools. However, the local schools are nothing but factories for producing unemployed youths. They lack standard teaching and learning environment. I am sure the boy whose exam result I confirmed will not get a job easily once he is through with his studies. It is foolhardy to imagine him competing with kids from privileged places and families with solid foundation. It is unfortunate to note that though things have changed for some people in Nepal, primarily because of their own efforts, the teeming millions continue to lead the same difficult life.
gunaraj@gmail.com
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