A large part of how comfortably we will live our lives and how long we will live depends on where and when we are born. It also depends on the policies of our government. Nepal‘s policy to establish more universities and allow privately run colleges is fueling a revolution that will change the lives of thousands of adolescents. They will live longer and more comfortable lives because of this change.
Take for instance Sujit, a student at the School of Environmental Science and Management (SCHEMS) who will get a Bachelor in Science degree in four years. Just like in the US colleges, Sujit will be given homework and class projects which will be a part of the final grade. In addition, and unlike US colleges, he will also have to take an external exam that is not set by his own teachers. He will have a class size of about 20 students where he will be encouraged to participate. This academic preparation will give him a solid foundation in the subject matter, and will prepare him well, should he decide to study further. His opportunities are truly global.
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Absent this opportunity, Sujit would have enrolled in a Bachelor of Science program in Tribhuvan University’s very own Tri-Chandra College, with large class sizes and infrequent class meetings. There would be no homework and class projects. Attendance would not be a part of the grade.
In short, quality-wise, his education at SCHEMS is far better compared to what he would have gotten otherwise, and in terms of sheer knowledge of subject matter, his education is of global standard.
Let us compare Sujit’s costs of education: how costly is it for him to go to SCHEMS rather than Tri Chandra? He will pay about three and half lakhs (US $4,000) as his college tuition fees. He will spend about Rs 6,000 per month considering the rent, food, phone, transport and books which add up to about 3 lakhs (US$ 3,300) in four years in Kathmandu. Let us say that the tuition fee of Tri-Chandra is zero. It would still cost US $3,300 because he would still have to pay for his living expenses. So purely in monetary terms, private education is about 54 percent more expensive for Sujit. Wait—what about the value of his time? What these calculations don’t include, but what should also be included is the monetary value of his time. Holding other variables constant, SCHEMS will offer him a better environment to use his time, at least in terms of intellectual pursuits. Overall, for Sujit the extra US $4,000 in four years private education in Nepal is totally worth it.
Detractors of private college education will say that for a vast majority of Nepalis, private college education is out of reach and it is fueling a large disparity among the poor and rich. That is correct—it is fueling a rising disparity. A short arithmetic sheds light on this issue. Assuming a GDP per capita of US $510 and the total tuition cost of private education in four years to be US $4,000, the tuition comes to nearly nine times average personal income (4000/510=7.84). In the US, the total cost of private college tuition for four years of education is only 2.5 times higher than an average person’s income (120,000/48,112=2.49). But what is even starker is the difference in quality between the government and private colleges in the US and Nepal. There isn’t a big difference between the quality of education provided by private and government colleges in the US, but in Nepal the difference is huge. What this means is that we are going to witness a high disparity between the middle class and the working class in the years to come, and right at the center of perpetuating this disparity will be private college education.
The rising income inequality is already causing spurts of violence. In August, there were attacks on private schools and colleges with English names such as Einstein and Florida. While on the surface it looks like an issue of overzealous cultural protectionism, it is also a backlash initiated by the leaders of the working class against institutions that are perpetuating a widening gap between the lower class and the middle class.
The attackers were egged on by the hard-core Maoist party under Mohan Baidya—the protector of the interests of those for whom studying at Einstein and Florida is truly out of reach.
The increasing gap between the rich and the poor is a matter of concern, as it needs to be. But the real question is how we go about curbing it. Making it difficult to open colleges and restricting enrollment in colleges will certainly level the field by not providing opportunity for anyone, rather than provide opportunity for some. But it is not the right answer. It will also force Sujit to attend Tri-Chandra College, which will shorten his lifespan, force him to live a less comfortable life, and inhibit him from achieving his potential to the fullest.
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