KATHMANDU, Aug 23: Education and Sports Minister Sasmita Pokharel has said the government should gradually increase the budget allocated to education to at least 20 percent of the total national budget.
Speaking at a consultation seminar, Minister Pokharel said global practice suggests allocating up to 20 percent of the total budget to education, while Nepal currently allocates less than 11 percent.
She said the education budget has increased in recent years and is expected to rise further in the current fiscal year.
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“In the best-case scenario, global practice is to allocate 20 percent of the total budget to education. We are currently below even 11 percent,” she said.
Minister Pokharel said local governments also have an equally important responsibility in improving the education sector because a large portion of the education budget is transferred to them.
According to her, around 70 percent of the total education budget is provided to local governments as grants, while around 2 to 3 percent goes to provincial governments. The remaining budget is spent by the federal government on areas including universities.
“When 70 percent of the total budget is going to local governments as grants, the greatest responsibility, along with authority, also lies with the local governments,” Minister Pokharel said.
She also said local governments should supplement the federal government’s grants with their own resources to provide remuneration to early childhood development (ECD) facilitators and school support staff.
Minister Pokharel clarified that the amount provided by the federal government is not a full salary but a conditional grant allocated to local governments.
She said the budget has been allocated with the expectation that local governments will add funds from their own sources to the federal grant and provide the required remuneration to employees.
“Previously, amounts of Rs 10,000, Rs 12,000 and Rs 15,000 had been allocated. Now it has been increased for everyone to between Rs 15,000 and Rs 20,000,” she said. “This is not an amount allocated solely as a salary; it is a conditional grant intended for local governments to supplement and pay the employees.”
