The Education Ministry recently issued a directive in this connection and sent a proposal to the cabinet for necessary amendments to the Education Regulations to implement the decision.
With this, the provision of free education till grade eight will be truly implemented, officials claim. "With this program in effect schools will be provided adequate resources," said deputy spokesman of the ministry, Dr Lekhanath Paudel. "As of now, schools have been collecting fees under different heads despite the government declaration. But it will be all free from this year."
The government had been working on a School Sector Reform Project (SSRP) for two years, aiming basically to extend school-level education to the +2 level.
SSRP has formally begun with the introduction of ´Basic Level´, it will last for five years and 2,626 million US dollars will be spent on it. The two chief donors of the project, Asian Development Bank and World Bank, recently agreed with the government to provide grants of US dollars 95 million and 130 million respectively.
Total contributions from nine different donors cover some 22 percent of the project budget and the Nepal government is to bear the remaining cost. Dr Paudel said all donor agencies are expected to offer their share of the money by November, as per the commitment.
The government endorsed SSRP last year. Accordingly, the central School Leaving Certificate examinations will be held at the end of class 12 while the class 10 final exams will be conducted at the regional level.
"Though full implementation of SSRP will begin in 2012, the project will continue for two more years to help schools run well with the system," Dr Paudel said.
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