Organizing a press conference on Friday, Minister Pokhrel informed that the government is printing some 56,000 copies of guidebooks on three school subjects -- Science, English and Mathematics -- targeting the same number tenth graders who are expected to appear in the upcoming School Level Examinations (SLC) from eight districts of the Tarai.
"The guidebooks will have high-quality reading materials which are expected to help the students deprived from studies during the 100 days of school shutdown," said Pokhrel claiming that the reading material would reach the students within a week.
The SLC appearing students from Sarlahi, Dhanusha, Mahottari, Rautahat, Bara, Parsa, Siraha and Saptari districts would receive the guidebooks to prepare for their upcoming exams, which is scheduled to start from March 31.
The Ministry of Education (MoE) has also formed a special mechanism for the reconstruction of quake-damaged schools in various districts. The Project Implementation Unit (PIU) is headed by regional directore Krishna Prasad Kafle. The catastrophic earthquake had destroyed around 8,000 schools across the country affecting studies of about a million students. The unit in each quake-hit district would be responsible for further coordinating with the District Project Implementation Unit led by an engineer.
In a context of over 400 government undersecretaries under the Ministry of Education (MoE) lacking proper roles and job responsibilities, the government is mulling over creating a new position named "Municipal Education Officer" to mobilize those undersecretaries to utilize their knowledge for strengthening the education sector. Such officers would be responsible for monitoring the schools and seeing to it that the government's plans and policies are properly implemented at the local level.
"We can better utilize our existing human resources in this manner while federating the education sector as well. Municipal education officers will ensure that the education sector remains effective at the local level," mentioned Pokharel.
This new plan, if implemented, would uphold the spirit of the federal constitution. As per the new constitution; the federal government is responsible for creating plans and policies, while provincial and local governments are responsible for implementing and monitoring plans and policies effectively.
The MoE has also made it clear that the private educational institutions including those affiliated to foreign universities operating in Nepal without meeting the set criteria will face closure from the new academic session beginning in mid-April.
"No excuse will be accepted for not meeting government set criteria, and such educational institutions will be shut down forthwith," Minister Pokhrel cleared. A committee led by Education Secretary Bishwa Prakash Pandit has already warned such institutions to contact the relevant authorities and do the needful for getting government recognition.
Pokhrel has further pledged to unveil a clear plan for 31 quake-affected districts once he completes his interaction with the local stakeholders by the second week of February.
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