Extracurricular activities shape children into well-rounded adults, taking them away from the monotony of classroom hours. Educational institutions have always understood the importance of involving their students in games, debates, drama and art. Included within the school hours, the extra costs of the extracurricular activities are being billed to the parents.

Suprabhat Bhandari, Chairman of Guardians Association Nepal, thinks that there are very few schools which try to provide the service that they charge the parents for. He feels that it has become a trend to charge fees for extracurricular activities. He says, “It’s ridiculous how they charge for computer classes for primary-level students. The supervisory system in schools has to be alert.”

Dharmadutta Devkota, Chairman of National Parents’ Association, is of similar opinion. He says, “Many schools are ripping off parents under the pretext of extracurricular activities. We monitor the schools and even submit report to the government. But then, the government officials and schools authorities are hand in glove. So nothing comes out of it.

“What needs to be done is that the government has to be very strong and responsible towards its citizens. If there are laws, then it needs to monitor them properly. If there is no law, then make one. The parents also need to be aware of their role, and responsibility they cannot let the schools rip them off. They also need to be ready to take action when necessary. Parents with money do not seem to find anything wrong with that. It is the lower middle class families who are suffering under the burden of excess fees.”

Sharmila Bajracharya’s children study in GEMS and Shuvatara School. “While I don’t feel that the schools provide as much service as they charge for, I think it depends on the child too. Is he utilizing the facilities available to him? The fee at GEMS is much lower than that of Shuvatara which is quite expensive. And I think Shuvatara pays more attention to extracurricular activities than on studies. I don’t think that’s right in Nepal’s context because we’re still looking for good grades at the end of the day.”

Geeta Rana, Principal of Galaxy Public School and President of National Private and Boarding Schools’ Organization of Nepal (NPABSON), explains that fees for extracurricular activities differ from school to school. It also depends on whether facilities are provided frequently or just once a week. The skills of the instructors also raise the fees, says Rana. “At Galaxy, we charge it under the annual fee as we don’t have a separate category for extracurricular activities. Students have seven games to choose from: basketball, football, badminton, table tennis, lawn tennis, cricket and chess. We also have gymnastics and swimming, which are optional. Since it’s seasonal and we need to hire coaches for the duration, students will have to pay extra. We have music lessons in flute, guitar, keyboard, tabla and violin. We charge around Rs 400 per month,” she says.

Ullens School offers horse riding classes to its students during winter, and through summer, students have swimming classes for one and a half hours once a week. This is under tuition fees as are other activities.

According to Vani Rana, Primary School Coordinator, the school allots 45 minutes for physical education thrice a week. While the lower elementary students run and skip, students of class four and five play football and basketball. The seniors choose from basketball, table tennis, football and wushu.

“We have music and art classes twice a week, and dance lessons are conducted once a week. We also have computer classes from class one when students learn the basics like switching on the computer and painting,” she lists.

Students seem satisfied with the various sports, music and dance lesson options that their school provides them.

“We have sports day, musical day, dance programs, quiz contests and debates in the school. However, it was only within the school, and as class 10 students had to focus on studies, I didn’t participate in any event,” says Paras Kunwar, 16, who has recently appeared for his SLC examinations from Jubilant Higher Secondary School.

Class eight students of Gautam High School in Bhote Bahal, Rohit Sarawagi and Sangam Timsina, are happy with their school’s extracurricular activities.
“Every Friday, we have almost a full day scheduled for extracurricular activities. From 9:30 o’clock in the morning till 3:30 pm, we have an hour each for library, music/dance and sports,” says Rohit, 14.

His bench partner, Sangam, says, “We’re also taken for swimming every Thursday for two hours. We have to pay Rs 80 per week for this. If we don’t go for swimming classes, we can stay back to study. But every one of us goes for swimming.

source:republica, 14 may 2013