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| Kathmandu, Monday May 13, 2002 Baishakh 30, 2059. |
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Quality
education
Decentralisation is
key to democracy. There cannot be people’s participation in policy making unless the
policy making process is decentralised. The government has apparently realised it and
chosen to speed up the process of decentralisation in the most crucial sector —
Education. The country has made no progress in the education sector at all despite its
centralized approach. Although decisive measures have not been taken to reform education
system, successive governments have always listed it as their priority. The Education
Act-1973 (Seventh Amendment) is an example that clearly indicates some progress made by
restructuring the governance of country’s education system. As part of the global
campaign, the government has also pledged to introduce laws to ensure "education for
all" by 2015. As part of the government’s priority for reforming education
sector, it is planning to hire a foreign consultant. The key purpose of this will be to
have education standard improved and to ensure decentralisation of the educational policy
decision mechanism. The action will be judged mainly by the outcome of this exercise, but
there is little scope to differ with the aim and objective behind hiring such a
consultant.
The
government-drafted proposal suggests that it is a move for total overhaul and
decentralisation of the education system. There is nothing wrong in hiring an education
consultant group from outside as our education system needs to be at par with other
countries qualitatively. DANIDA, the main funding agency for the purposed reform, has
agreed to hiring the firm. But the onus to prove that there will be sincere moves to
decentralise and ensure quality education to all — equally for urban and rural sector
— lies with the government.
The government has to
take due notice of suggestion that the budgetary allocation for education should be
increased. This is more relevant in the present context as development and key sectoral
funds are diverted to the security or defence sector. The government also needs to clarify
how more than six million children living mainly in rural areas, without any access to
quality education, will be benefited under the new project. Of them, about 34 percent,
mostly belonging to socially and economically deprived castes, have education beyond their
reach, while a substantial number of schools have far inadequate infrastructures than
required. These are areas which require prompt attention and follow-up action even without
the consultant group’s recommendation. This also goes against Nepal’s pledge
made before the international community. The government’s failure on this aspect,
however, does not give it an excuse to delay reform and decentralisation of education
system. The hiring of a foreign firm, let us hope, is not at the cost of some equally
competent groups in the country. It should be a well calculated decision with a long term
perspective plan and goal. |
