GOOD DAYS AHEAD

Though it is no laughing matter, I couldn’t help but smile on reading your recent editorial (‘Going for gold,’ September 2) that backs the government’s statistics. Many people will be happy to just read the morning sensational headlines that states: ‘Nepal is 95 percent literate’. However, it is important to look carefully and with a fair amount of scepticism at the data produced by government surveyors. According to Unicef, youth (15-24 years) literacy rate between 2008-2012 for males and females was above 75 percent. So it comes as no surprise that the literacy rate among the youth is higher. However, the literacy rate among the entire population should be viewed with a pinch of salt.

I am no enemy of Nepal being a fully literate society. It is a good thing for society and the nation as a whole. But I am not sure how literacy is defined and in what context. Are we simply defining it by the number of educated people from a certain age? Or are we defining it by the simple tasks people perform on a daily basis, like visiting hospitals, filling out official forms, writing cheques etc? In the latter case, it is not astounding that people are literate. The government should be applauded for promoting national literacy programmes targeting illiterate and semi-literate people from disadvantaged groups.

Santosh Kalwar, via email

Published: The Kathmandu Post

Posted on: 2014-09-05 09:40

JOB DILEMMAS

I really enjoyed reading your editorial concerns regarding jobs and unemployment (‘No country for young,’ August 15, Editorial). The job dilemma is a very big issue across the world, a worrying trend that will not diminish easily. Unemploy-ment is rising not only in developing nations like ours but also elsewhere. The rise in unemployment or unemployability is not just because of a lack of skills or talent but a major shift in markets and economics, albeit Nepal has a higher unemployment rate. However, many of these job statistics are not particularly accurate or are occasionally misleading, and they don’t provide a clear picture of the unemployed young people in the country. Young people have limited choices, but they are also useful human resources. That is not the reason they migrate abroad for work. They move abroad primarily to earn more than they will at home; gain security for themselves and their families; escape the lack of political stability; secure jobs; and finally utilise their skill set.

It is a pity that our bureaucrats who are making laws, policies and bills cannot come up with a working solution to build a developing economy that can provide adequate jobs. Undeniably, there is no easy solution. One can either have a utopian or a dystopian vision as this trend will only aggravate further. The only solutions that come to mind are tourism, IT, and hydropower sectors.  

Published: The Kathmandu Post

Posted on: 2014-08-17 09:08

FLOWN THE COOP

Your editorial (‘Grounds for suspicion,’ August 8, Editorial) gives a fine review of the Dinesh Adhikari aka Chari situation. A morally clean person who helps the poor and needy gets marginal attention but a criminal gets front page coverage. Therefore, I must critique the Nepali media, including yours, for your coverage of a thug. Maybe this is because he was directly or indirectly linked with CPN-UML Chairman KP Sharma Oli. But a martyr? This is insane and not acceptable as there are hundreds of people who died in the landslide that struck Sindhupalchowk. 

The Nepal Police should be praised and applauded for preventing heinous crimes in the future. Of course, they don’t have the right to kill people without a fair trial or proper investigation but one cannot say for sure what happened at the scene.

Santosh Kalwar, Chitwan

Published: The Kathmandu Post

Smart studies

JUL 24 -

SMART STUDIES

I think your editorial (‘Leaving home,’ July 3) hits the nail on the head. The No Objection Certificate does not reveal the true picture, though it does gives some indication about the number of students leaving abroad for studies. There are way-too-many of these unmonitored education consultancies in Nepal and they hardly play by the rulebook of the Educational Consultancy Association of Nepal or the Government of Nepal. Although there are some written rules on how to go about providing consultations, nobody follows these. Many of these consultancies do nothing other that deceive students and charge them hefty sums of money.

Personally, I have heard of so many cases of fraud that I do not recommend my friends or family to approach consultancies at all. For example, a friend of mine was cheated of Rs 0.6 million rupees when he failed to get a visa to leave for Australia and the CEO of that education consultancy is at large since. There is no need to visit consultancies when you can easily do your homework on the internet: read brochures and send e-mails to get more information. Maybe, there is a solution to this problem. First, students should avoid dubious education consultancies. Second, do your homework clearly before thinking about studying in any educational institution abroad. Third, talk to friends and relatives who have visited or studied abroad. They will prove to be more helpful.

Santosh Kalwar, Chitwan

Published: The Kathmandu Post

Letter to the Editor

Posted on: 2014-07-25 09:12