Kathmandu, Nov 1: Lawmakers, policymakers, experts and human rights activists have univocally stressed the need of ensuring right to free and quality education through the upcoming law on school education.
They said it during a discussion on the proposed School Education Bill organized by the National Campaign for Education (NCE) Nepal here today. The School Education Bill must help enforce constitutional rights of free and quality education, they added.
According to the experts, public education is the responsibility of the state, so a clear division of powers is warranted among the federal, provincial and local governments in governing education and related budget.
Chairperson of the National Human Rights Commission, Tap Bahadur Magar, said although education sector witnessed improvement compared to the past, there is still much space for policymakers for further improvement. Education should be child-friendly, inclusive, he said, adding that school safety and availability of minimum infrastructures are other imperatives.
A member of the House of Representatives elected from the Rastriya Swatantra Party, Kusum Maharjan, urged the government and parliament to bring educational reform through comprehensive discussion on the pressing issues of the Bill. She sought suggestions on the Bill.
Another HoR member elected from the Nepali Congress, Dr Pramila Kumari Gachhadar, argued at least 20 percent of the total budget should be allocated to education. The stakeholders’ concern count much for improving the Bill, according to her.
HoR member from the CPN (UML), Guru Prasad Baral, said if the government brings the School Education Bill through proper procedure, they would try to make it more implementation-oriented.
Another HoR member of the UML, Sajida Khatun Siddiqui, stressed that the Bill should be influenced by external party.
A member of the Bagmati Provincial Assembly, Hari Prabha Khadgi, argued it was urgent to clear confusion over the distribution of powers among three tiers of government. Bureaucracy should not dominate policymaking, she added.
Joint Secretary at the Ministry of Education and Sports, Shiva Kumar Sapkota, however, informed that the Bill would not deviate from the essence of the Constitution, so the suggestions received from the concerned sides would be taken into consideration.
Former Secretary at the same ministry, Balananda Poudel, suggested that the proposed Bill clarified the policy aspect of education.
Educationist Prof Dr Bidyanath Koirala viewed the Bill needs taking into account the provision that every local level can implement the constitutional provision of compulsory and free education.
Another educationist Prof Dr Balchandra Luitel spoke on the demographic situation and the resources for education.
Other stakeholders also put forth their views on the proposed Bill.
