Editorial»
An overview of BPEP
DEC 13 - While considerable progress has been achieved in the expansion of basic and primary education, basic education is far from universal. Exclusion is higher for girls and economically poor and backward, particularly in rural areas. Moreover, the challenge of quality and equity is proving to be more daunting. There are over 300,000 (25 percent) primary-aged girls deprived of schooling. And about 19 percent of the primary aged children are still deprived of their right to basic and compulsory education
Today, the most important challenge before the government is mainstreaming these unschooled 19 percent children, bridging the 25 percent gender gap in education and providing quality basic education to all by the year 2015. For the new generation of children growing up in a highly competitive world, basic education is a ticket to their future and the future of the country.
In the last five years or so, much of the talks on the education sector focussed on Basic and Primary Education Programme (BPEP –II). Much of the seminars and programmes that were conducted in star hotels and resorts in Kathmandu were also of BPEP-related issues.To make the public primary schools most desirable for children and to provide basic quality education, the government had launched the BPEP–I in 1992. This programme was extended for five years from 1999 and is closing next year in around July 2004. The government data shows that the most visible achievements of BPEP –II were reduction in repetition rate to 39 percent. Another was dropout rate from 23.8 percent in 1998 to 14 percent by 2003.With the aim of ensuring access to quality basic education to all the children, this programme was launched with the financial and technical support from Denmark, Norway, Finland, the European Commission (EC), and the World Bank.
Indicators prepared by the government show some improvements in the access to basic and primary education in Nepal over the span of five years after BPEP II was launched. Foremost is an increase in the Net Enrolment Rate (NER) from 70.5 percent in 1998 to 81 percent in mid-2003. However, the achievement still falls short of meeting the target of achieving 90 percent NER by 2004. It also failed to improve the promotion rate. For instance, the Gross Enrolment Rate (GER) now stands negative with 125. It was 123.8 percent when the BPEP II was implemented in 1999.
Girls’ NER at the primary level was 61.2 percent in 1988. It has now marginally increased to about 75 percent.The project also has the goal of reducing gender-gap in education, which stands at 11 percent. From about 75 percent of total primary-aged girls enrolled in schools in 2001, the enrolment rate for boys stood at 86 percent in the same year. The project had the target of reducing the gap by 10 percent by 2004 that was about 20 percent in 1998.
BPEP-I, which covered 40 districts, consumed a total of Rs 4,708.8 million. A major chunk of the BPEP budget was earmarked for the construction of classrooms. But the effort is not worthy of praise since the construction of a mere 3,060 classrooms took almost four years. The project expires in a few months but there are still over 2000 new classrooms or 1000 school blocks to be constructed. And it is only adding to the expense and taking longer time than planned.
The first phase of the BPEP had constructed some 14,207 new classrooms out of the target of 19,000. It rehabilitated 7,536 classrooms out of the target of 6,000 and built 406 resource centers out of the target 633, according to information obtained from Department of Education (DoE). DoE implements this ambitious primary education programme.
BPEP–II had the target of constructing 54,000 new classrooms in 56 districts but so far only about half of them have been completed. The government has allocated a major chunk of the budget, approximately Rs 1.2 billion, in classroom construction.According to engineers, construction of a new classroom takes less than 45 days. But they argue that it was delayed due to the international bidding process, which takes from 18 months to two years.
Public sector schools in Nepal have a great challenge, in future, to retain and attract pupils. In a recent recommendation submitted to the government, the fee recommendation committee has suggested that the government should invest more in upgrading the physical facilities of public sector schools. The government has been giving high emphasis on enrolling more children in schools, recruiting more teachers, training them, licensing them and constructing more classrooms, but it has not given serious thought on quality aspect such as developing a quality curricula, providing skill development training and improving school facilities.
The construction part was slow. While JICA had taken three years for the construction of about 2,500 new classrooms, the BPEP-II, which has about five major donors under the basket funding, has taken almost four years for the completion of the same number of classrooms. And a majority of these constructions are not child-friendly and disabled-friendly.
Sambhu Prasad Uprety, senior divisional engineer at the DoE, physical section, says, the international bidding process and the procurement of materials by the contractors was buying considerable time thus delaying the construction. However, he claims that the materials are already in stock now and the construction will be completed on time.
But, despite this enthusiasm, poor infrastructure continues to be a perennial problem in public sector schools, 50 percent of which have no toilets. Every year, there is a shortage of classrooms and the teachers are forced to hold classes under trees. This is particularly so in the case of the Terai, mid and far-western districts.
A total of 2,334 toilets were constructed by the end of 2002 but the target was 5400. Uprety says the government has readied a new school building model for future. "They are both child-friendly, inclusive for the disabled and are earthquake proof."
The upcoming EFA 2004-2009 programme should ensure that it is carried out in line with the broader policy of decentralisation as suggested by the mid-term review of the BPEP-II. Only well-calculated, well-planned and pro-poor efforts would make the ambitious US $ 814 million programme successful.
The programme, which is being reviewed currently by donors, should not only focus on investing huge money but also designed in such a way that it can provide education that contributes towards peace and development of Nepal.Posted on: 2003-12-14 03:12
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