Community School Management Committees Federation Strongly Objects to Tenth Amendment to Education Rules
The Federation of Community School Management Committees Nepal, the national umbrella organization of community school management committees representing more than 26,000 community schools across the country, has expressed serious concern over the tenth amendment to the “Education Rules, 2059” recently issued by the Government of Nepal. The federation issued a press release on 28 Ashadh 2083 BS, objecting to the amended provisions and requesting their immediate correction.
The statement, signed by the federation’s Central President Kashinath Dangal, claims that the amendment, introduced while the country is awaiting a new School Education Act, will restrict the jurisdiction of community school management committees, undermine the existence and role of communities, and sever the relationship between schools and their communities. The federation concluded that the amendment was introduced with the intention of violating national and international legal provisions and practices and with the malicious objective of destroying community schools.
The federation has listed the amended provisions and its objections as follows:
Rule 16, Clause (Chha): Provision and Objection
Provision in the amendment: After consulting the principal, the Teacher-Parent Association, and teachers regarding whether the school is operating regularly in accordance with the Act and Rules, whether physical resources and teachers are adequate, whether the available resources are being used to their fullest extent, and whether teaching and learning are being conducted according to the prescribed standards, recommendations must be made to the local level for improvement if the required standards are not being met.
Federation’s objection: The Education Act assigns the school management committee responsibility for ensuring that the school operates regularly, resources are properly managed, and teaching and learning are conducted according to the prescribed standards. However, this section of the Rules has made a serious error by excluding the committee. The federation maintains that disregarding the principal agent responsible for improvement and the main body responsible for school reform when recommending improvements to the local level is a serious legal and theoretical error.
Rule 25, Removal of Clause (Ta): Provision and Objection
Provision in the amendment: Sub-rule (2), which provided for salary deductions when an inspector recorded a teacher as absent in the attendance register during a surprise check or inspection of a school, has been removed. The committee may also delegate some of its powers to the member-secretary as necessary.
Federation’s objection: Teaching and learning activities and the regular attendance or absence of teachers are matters of direct concern to parents, the community, and the school management committee. Excluding the school management committee from matters concerning teacher attendance and absence restricts parents’ rights and contradicts the authority granted to the school management committee under the Education Act to supervise the school.
Rule 26, Addition of Clause (Ja): Provision and Objection
Provision in the amendment: A person must not have held membership in any political party for at least five years before the formation of the school management committee.
Federation’s objection: This provision appears highly impractical from an implementation perspective. In a multiparty democratic system, citizens have a constitutional right to hold political beliefs and views and to be affiliated with a political party. Requiring a citizen who has had no political affiliation for the previous five years to serve on a school management committee is considered a ploy to weaken the participation of parents and communities. It also appears to be an attempt to separate community schools from parents and the community.
Rule 26, Addition of Clause (Jha): Provision and Objection
Provision in the amendment: A period of two years must have elapsed since a person retired from a teaching or staff position.
Federation’s objection: It does not appear reasonable to impose a two-year waiting period on retired teachers and employees who wish to serve in a voluntary body such as a school management committee and contribute to the development of a community school.
Rule 93: Provision and Objection
Provision in the amendment: The school management committee has not been given a role in the selection of the principal.
Federation’s objection: Community schools are community property, not administrative units of the government. A principal selected without the participation of the school management committee and the community cannot be accountable to the community and parents.
Rule 99: Provision and Objection
Provision in the amendment: Provisions concerning teacher transfers.
Federation’s objection: The provisions appear likely to obstruct schools from selecting and appointing the necessary and suitable personnel required for academic improvement.
Rule 12(Ka): Provision and Objection
Provision in the amendment: Provisions concerning school adjustment and consolidation.
Federation’s objection: This provision is directed towards eliminating community schools rather than protecting those located in rural areas. The Rules appear to aim at deliberately weakening and closing community schools instead of improving and strengthening weaker schools.
