Surya Prasad Ghimire, 53, is the principal of Pragati Shikshya Sadan Higher Secondary School, Lalitpur. Established in 1950, the school currently has 32 teaching staffs and around 600 students.
Originally from Lainpur, Ghimire has been dedicated in the field of teaching for 33 years now. He was awarded ‘Bishesh Sewa Samman’ by Focus Nepal in 2016.
Here, Ghimire talks about his experience and challenges in conversation with Republica’s Sonam Lama.

How has your journey been so far?
I initiated my journey from the grass-roots level. After I did my SLC from a school in Lainpur, I decided to move to Kathmandu with my wife in search of better education and employment opportunity. I went on a search for jobs to make my living, it was then in 1985 I got appointed as a primary teacher at Pragati Shikshya Sadan. After teaching for several years, I was further appointed as a permanent secondary teacher. Henceforth, in 2003 I was appointed as the principal of the school.

What inspiration and obstacles did you witness on your way?
I grew up in a remote area of Lainpur where people paid high respect to head masters and teachers.

As a child of 14, I used to get charmed by the knowledge and the respect that they held amongst the people there. My early interest and initiation for imparting adult education shaped my way towards teaching. However, my journey didn’t take a pause although I got knocked down by certain challenges. During our early days in Kathmandu, I worked in a factory to earn for survival. Back then, balancing work between studies was very challenging. But the urge for learning and imparting education kept my grounds firm.

How do you find the status of education in Nepal?
I believe the situation of education in Nepal is still miserable though we have the potentiality to eliminate all the barriers that have been hindering our growth. I still remember the time when a student from a remote village got admitted to Pragati Shikshya Sadan, he was a grade eight student in the school that he previously studied whereas, we made his admission to grade 5 according to his test result here. This incident made me realize that students in remote areas have not been provided with the basic level of education despite the adequate number of schools and teachers. 

What do you think should be done to mitigate these obstacles?
I believe there is a huge gap between the policy-making level and the common people who have been deprived of most of the facilities. So, in order for the education sector to improve, the government should take a firm step to bridge the gap in between. Moreover, the priority should be placed as per the necessity of the rural and urban areas. If these factors are considered properly, I believe the status of education could take a new height for enhancing country’s development.

Would you like to convey any message to our readers?
Education is the light that frees a person from darkness. Having considered that, I would like to encourage everyone to take up their role as a teacher because teaching is all about imparting the education that you have gained.

 
• surya prasad ghimire
 
• priority
 
• necessity