As these schools had been witnessing continuous decline in student enrolment, their only hope at making a recovery was emulating their private counterparts. And to that end, as many as 85 community schools decided to introduce their own academic calendar and adopt the same textbooks as private schools. Like private schools, they also started conducting terminal examinations and extracurricular activities.

To oversee the transition, the Board of Community Schools for Educational Movement (BCSEM) was constituted. It conducts teachers’ training, monitors the performance of member schools and provides logistic support, among others.

BCSEM Chairperson Chandra Dev Tiwari said the campaign began four years ago with about one dozen public schools taking part. “Headmasters from these schools came up with the idea of changing the pedagogy after the student enrolment rate started to dwindle sharply,” he said. “It was obvious, the parents preferred private schools for their children and we had to match up.”

The BCSEM is being formally registered this year with the consent from the Department of Education and the Ministry of Education. Over the years, the number of member schools has increased considerably, thanks to the success the movement has had so far. The enrolment rate has gone up in many schools.

Jana Sewa Higher Secondary School at Chormara, where Tiwari is the headmaster, had only 350 students as of 2011. After adopting English medium education, the school witnessed a rise in its student enrolment rate; today, the school has 841 students.

District Education Officer Khadga Bahadur Kamal said even students from private schools are joining public schools that are under the BCSEM. He added the students’ performance in School Leaving Certificate (SLC) examinations has also improved. All students who sat for the SLC test from four BCSEM-associate schools passed last year. This year, students from 11 schools are appearing in the exam.

The success story of the schools affiliated to the BCSEM has spread far and wide. More than 100 schools in Chitwan, Palpa, Makwanpur, Tanahun and Rupandehi are joining the campaign from the upcoming academic session.

Meanwhile, the National Centre for Education Development (NCED) has initiated a special English medium training for teachers in three districts, including Nawalparasi, following the success of the BCSEM.

“The performance of these community schools was quite impressive. So we have decided to pilot similar programme in Jhapa, Surkhet and Nawalparasi as well,” said NCED chief Khag Raj Baral.

Officials asked to enrol kids in govt schools

The Communi-ty School Management Committees’ Federation of Nepal has asked the government to come up with a legal provision making mandatory for teachers, government officials and the members of school management committee to enrol their students in community schools.

Making public its 10-point demand for improving the quality in the public schools the federation said that lack of ownership among teachers and government officials is the main reason behind the degrading quality of education in public schools. The organisation claimed schoolteachers and government officials will become sincere only if they enrol their children in public schools.  The federation also demanded that tenure of school management committee members be extended from existing three years to five. Meanwhile, addressing a programme on “Education in Federal Nepal” in Kathmandu on Friday, Federal Affairs and Local Development Secretary Som Lal Subedi said those who educate their children abroad or in private institutions should not be allowed to prepare education policy in the country. (PR)