Editorial»
Grants for education
JAN 14 - Nepal is a signatory to the April 2000 Dakar Framework for Action that pledges to meet the deadline of “education for all” by 2015. In the name of basic and primary education, international financial institutions and bilateral donor countries have poured millions of dollars into this country since the early 1990s. Ironically, the State has made no spontaneous move as yet that really attempts to meet the Dakar set deadline. The 70 State-run schools facing closure in Bhojpur is an example of how seriously the State has undertaken the task of educating children.
Until recently, Village Development Committees (VDCs) provided regular grants to the State-run schools which helped meet the expenditure of schools, including the salary of teaching and non-teaching staff. In fact, a number of schools in the rural Nepal are run without adequate teachers as well as physical facilities. Obviously, these schools badly need regular grants in order to appoint additional teaching staff and develop their physical infrastructures. But what has happened is that the regular grants meant for such schools have been redirected to Defense since 2002. As a result of this, the government discontinued providing the regular grants to VDCs, which have in turn pushed scores of schools to the brink of closure, jeopardizing the studies of over 24,000 students in Bhojpur alone.
On the one hand, thousands of students, especially of government colleges, are on the streets, leaving the academic calendar in a state of disarray. Besides, the Maoists have often called for the closure of educational institutions. On the other hand, the smooth functioning of private educational institutions has posed a threat to government educational institutions. All these illustrate that the prevalent educational system is not only widening the gap between the private and State educational institutions but also gradually paralyzing the State-run educational institutions. This naturally divides the society and, at the same time, deprives the students, who attend State-run educational institutions, of fundamental right to education.
The government cannot ignore the State-run educational institutions if at all it attempts to meet Dakar set deadline. Neither can it redirect the financial support for education of bilateral donors and international financial institutions for security. Such financial support, after all, is given to those schools for meeting their regular expenditures. In fact, the investment made in education so far has been meager. Otherwise, the success rate of making children attend schools would have been higher than what the State initiated Basic and Primary Education Programme claims. The 70 schools in Bhojpur badly need the grants to meet their regular expenditures. These educational institutions cannot let their students remain out of schools. The government can meet the deadline of education only if it puts genuine efforts by investing in education and maintaining an academic calendar. Posted on: 2004-01-14 01:41
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