KATHMANDU, Jan 10: The Ministry of Education, Science and Technology made school-level registration free in its endeavor towards making school-level education free.
Minister for Education, Science and Technology, Bidya Bhattarai, informed that the ministry has made these arrangements so that secondary-level students will not have to pay registration fees from now on. She told an interaction organized by the Education Journalists Network Nepal (EJON) in Kathmandu on Thursday that the ministry has decided that students in grades 9 and 11 will not have to pay registration fees.
Currently, students are paying registration fees twice at the school level, in grades 9 and 11. This fee is deposited in the government's account as revenues. The National Examination Board has been collecting the registration fee. This has challenged the government's implementation of the law on free education. 'It has been decided not to collect registration fees from students in grade 9,' said Minister Bhattarai. 'Now, free registration is done only once at the school level, in grade 9. The implementation of free school education has started from here. This will be addressed in the upcoming budget.'
She said that the provincial examination for class 10 and the national examination for class 12 will be conducted by the National Examination Board. Minister Bhattarai said that preparations are underway to revise the school-level curriculum to make students familiar with the country. She indicated that history and environmental subjects will be revised by linking them with the country and environmental resources in a timely manner.
NEB to implement single registration system for students of gra...
Foreign-affiliated colleges to face action
The Ministry of Education has initiated the process of regulating and taking action against colleges operating in Nepal in affiliation with foreign universities. She informed us that the ministry is preparing to regulate and manage them by formulating guidelines with criteria related to the operation of foreign colleges.
She said that a task force formed by the ministry has submitted a report showing that out of 59 colleges operating in Nepal affiliated with foreign universities, only 14 have fulfilled the procedures and standards.
Although the task force formed by former Education Minister Sumana Shrestha under the coordination of former Secretary Shankar Koirala had suggested that such colleges should be regulated by formulating guidelines, another task force was formed as the Koirala-led task force failed to complete works, she added.
The new task force formed under the coordination of Professor Vinil Aryal has suggested drafting a guideline to bring such colleges within the standards, she said. "The ministry has so far been allowing such colleges to operate through the Economic Administration Act. Now, the ministry has worked to draft a guideline as per the report that these colleges should run under the Good Governance Act."
She informed us that the directive will be implemented from the first week of Magh, adding that colleges that have not completed the process will be given a year to come under the legal ambit and that action will be taken against those who fail to comply.
Collaboration to provide healthy snacks
Minister Bhattarai admitted that it was not possible to provide quality mid-day meals to students for Rs 15 and said that a policy would be adopted to link it with local products. She said that the government is responsible for providing free education and mid-day meals.
She said that collaboration will be made with development partner organizations working in the free education field to provide quality lunches. "Rs. 15 by itself cannot provide quality snacks, and they are possible only by combining our local products. We have developed a procedure for this and are moving forward," she said.
A recent UML Central Committee meeting discussed making university education free of all kinds of politics. The meeting decided that no organization close to the UML would create obstacles in university works by locking it down, she added.
