If that sounded like an overture to a jeremiad against the mismanaged traffic and the sorry condition of our roads, it is not. What follows is my grievance against the spirit of anarchy that has spilled into educational institutions. Private ones, believed to be free of hassles of disruption in the form of protests.
Why should parents dole out more money for their children’s education here? And isn’t it extraordinarily audacious of us to disparage foreign medical schools when the state of our own is so pathetic?
It was like déjà vu. This was the second time the exact same thing had happened. Two months back, the call for submission of forms for the medical entrance test was announced in the newspaper. I had downloaded the form and driven all the way to the campus – surviving what I mentioned earlier – to submit it, only to find out that a strike had shut the college and the test had been shelved to a later indefinite date. When the date was finally announced, I went to the university again. This time, after the same ordeal, I was informed yet again that a protest group had stalled the exam. The first strike was by one group, the second by another. But the all-important exam had been postponed all the same. Another test is supposed to take place a couple of months from now. All I can do is keep my fingers crossed and hope no more demands crop up as an excuse not to hold the exam on the scheduled date.
The demands of the students are legitimate. When you pay exorbitant fees, you would expect, and rightly so, to be guaranteed the best of education. According to the student protestors, the education they receive is far from satisfactory. So much so that they claim not to even have carried out autopsy practices. But the way they put forth their demands deprived aspiring students of their right to study! Everyone seems to think that the only way to make their voices heard, their wants met and their problems resolved is through disruption of regular activities, not through disciplined discussions. I see the sense in their protest, I do agree with them, but not as vehemently as they agree with themselves.
Medical colleges in Nepal are respected for the education they provide, but they are equally notorious for their sky-high fees. Worse still is the meteoric hike in the sum by a considerable amount. Fees of some colleges have doubled in less than a decade. Even so, people are increasingly eager to deposit such hefty figures. Why? Because medical education in Nepal, in comparison to colleges abroad, i.e. China, Bangladesh, etc. is considered to be better. Under that claim, they charge almost ludicrous tuition fees and we readily buy into it.
But if entrance tests and term exams are interrupted and postponed because of just about anybody’s whims and students have a never-ending list of reasonable complaints against their institution, how can the quality of education be considered any good?. News of hospitals being shut by outraged patient parties is commonplace. Doctors and health professionals on duty are threatened and attacked physically as if negligence on their part is the only reason for the deaths of patients.
So why should parents dole out more money for their children’s education here? And isn’t it extraordinarily audacious of us to disparage foreign medical schools when the state of our own is this pathetic? While tuition fees are getting dearer and dearer, education is becoming cheap. The educational institution, far from being sacrosanct, is turning more into a station of lawlessness than a place of learning.
With our education in question and future in jeopardy, those of us who have decided to stick to the country through thick and thin may be left with no option but to leave after all. Steering clear of public colleges marred by political games alone doesn’t seem to be the solution. Even private institutions are not left untouched. If not by politics per se, but by the pervasive sense of anarchy brought about by it. So what are we to do? Chop off our hands and give up? It’s time we overcame this terrible inertia that we have and realized the seriousness and urgency of the situation. Giving up going out and staying home to study for a “deadline” has become a joke.
When even before the start of the academic year there are these many complications, given the increasing culture of impunity in the nation and strikes becoming the norm, would it be foolish of me to expect things to get better in the coming years? Will I regret my decision to stay back and pursue higher education in my country? Will I have to admit that the grass really is greener on the other side?
samragyee@hotmail.com
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