How students select higher secondary schools? A case study in Kathmandu Valley, Nepal

The term education itself means 'to train', 'to lead out' and to 'bring up'. It is said that education is a life-long process, but the basic education that one undergoes during the formative years definitely contributes to the shaping of one's future and outlook. At this point, the school and high school education assumes importance. Even though the history of education in Nepal is relatively short, there has been a considerable growth in the number of educational institutes after the restoration of democracy in 1950 and particularly after 1990 AD. However, having no standard measuring rod to use when evaluating the institutes of higher education, students and parents have had trouble when selecting a college. Furthermore, beguiling advertisements make it impossible to decide which college is genuinely worth attending. Nowadays, it cannot be denied that numerous mediocre institutes exist which try to make a quick buck and cheat the students. This may not always be the case, but such incidents cannot be overlooked. Hence, this subject and possible solutions are analysed in this comprehensive study.

The author was born in 1975 in a small village of the Mahabharat hill area in the Parvat district, Western Nepal.He has an M.Sc. in Zoology (Gold medal), an MA in Anthropology, and an LLB from the Tribhuwan University(TU), Nepal. He has about ten years of experience in teaching at school and on TUs campus.Presently, he works as an Admin. Officer in the Nepalese Government's Company Nepal Telecom.