KATHMANDU, Dec 7: The Ministry of Education, Science and Technology on Sunday sent a letter to the Home Ministry demanding action against two organizations for making public the report of the High-Level National Education Commission without seeking consent of the government.
The Education Ministry is seeking action against two non-profit organizations--National Campaign Nepal and Global Action Nepal--which made the report, which the government had kept hidden for almost two years, public.
The Education Ministry has said that the organizations misused the logo of the government of Nepal, and publicized the report without approval from the government.
Last Friday, the Commission led by Education Minister Giriraj Mani Pokharel publicized the report after the government refused to do so.
Report of high-level national education commission made public
Although the Commission prepared the report recommending government to bring changes in education policy, the Education Ministry refused to make the report public as education mafias have pressured the government not to bring changes in the current policy, senior government officials told Republica.
The Commission had submitted the report to the government almost two years ago, but neither the government nor the Education Ministry was preparing to make it public.
One of the members of the Commission said that the government refused to make the report public despite several requests from the Commission. “The government was not interested in making the report public, and so we had no other option,” the member said.
In the report, the Commission has made several recommendations to the government to bring reforms in the education sector. The Commission has recommended that private schools should be operated under a trust.
As per the recommendation, private schools should be converted from company to trust within the next 10 years. Likewise, the Commission has also recommended that political appointments in universities be stopped, and the Prime Minister and Education Minister should not assume the roles of chancellor and vice-chancellor in universities.
The Commission, formed by the government itself, comprises education experts, government officials, teachers, former education ministers, among other education stakeholders.
“It should have been publicized by the government. The government has full rights to the report. After some organizations made the report public without the consent of the government, the Education Ministry had to seek action against those organizations,” said Puran Khadka, personal assistant of the Education Minister.
