MoE decided to ban guidebooks following widespread complaints from guardians about increasing dependence of their wards on such books, said Secretary at the Education Ministry Suresh Man Shrestha.[break]
“These guess-papers do not enrich knowledge but encourage students to depend on others for answers. This affects their overall academic aptitude and creativity and promotes rote learning,” said Shrestha. “We have been planning to form a special response and monitoring mechanism to seize such guidebooks from the market.”
MoE would seek the help of police in carrying out raids at the publications that sell such guidebooks.
The Federation of Nepal Book and Stationery Business has also come forward to help the government implement the ban on guidebooks that have had an adverse impact on the overall quality of education. All the book stores under this organization have been directed to submit the guess papers to the government, said general secretary of the association Noor Nidhi Panta.
The federation had been seeking a ban on guess papers since 2005 as those involved in the business have been raking in huge profits at the cost of student´s future. “Around a dozen publication houses have currently employed qualified lecturers and professors to prepare the content for guess papers. These guess papers contain question and answers often repeated in the examinations relieving students of the burden of going through the course books,” Panta claimed.
Meanwhile, educationists have welcomed the education ministry´s plan but doubt the government´s ability to effectively implement it.
“Those involved in the guess paper business are likely to reach out to students by devising new ways. I doubt if the government will succeed in implementing the plan,” said educationist Vidya Nath Koirala. He suggested changing the question patterns for examinations so that students do not rely on readymade question-answer volumes.
Similarly, the government must also prioritize modification in the teaching methods. “A teacher must necessarily know how to relate practical application of a subject matter in real life situations to students. A student cannot develop his creativity unless he begins to internalize the subject matter taught,” Koirala said.
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