HEADLINE NEWS THE RISING NEPAL (DAILY)

IT sector will get priority, says Chaudhary

Kathmandu, July 2 (RSS): Minister for Science and Technology Surendra Prasada Chaudhary has said that his ministry is committed to giving emphasis to sustainable development of science and technology and work towards developing human resources by maintaining coordination with other ministries.

Furnishing replies to queries raised by MPs during debate on appropriation heads pertaining to his ministry at the House of Repesentatives today, Minister Chaudhary said as development of science and technology provides huge boost to the development of the country, the Ninth Plan also gives emphasis to the development of this sector aimed at contributing to poverty alleviation and resolving the problem of unemployment.

He also informed the House that the ministry is working to develop necessary infrastructure and manpower to set up a satellite system and a national science information system in the country.

Stating that programmes will be carried out to protect and promote natural heritage in the country, Mr Chaudhary said works will also begin towards building up an information technology park to move ahead the information technology sector as a priority sector for the sustainable and overall development of the country.

Mr Chaudhary also said that programmes for developing and promoting alternative sources of energy like solar, bio-gas, hydel, etc. will be carried out in every district.

Royal Nepal Academy for Science and Technology (RONAST) will be restructured in order to upgrade its efficiency, a bill on intellectual property rights will be introduced and the Department of Hydrology and Meteorology will be developed as a reliable weather forecasting body, he added.

MPs Raghuji Pant, Ram Kumar Chaudhary, Dhanendra Basnet, Om Prasad Ojha, Fatik Bahadur Thapa, Urmila Aryal, Kunta Sharma, Ratna Prasad Sharma Neupane, Sushila Nepal and Ananda Prasad Pokharel had sought clarifications from Minister Chaudhary.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Education and Sports is to constitute a national education coordination committee to provide suggestions on policy matters by maintaining coordination between the bodies associated with education on the recommendation of the National Education Commission.

Responding to questions raised by MPs concerning the appropriation head under his ministry at the House of Representatives today, Minister for Education and Sports Amod Prasad Upadhyaya said a plan of action also has already been prepared to gradually implement the suggestions stated in the two reports of the high-level National Education Commission.

The ministry has adopted the policy of expanding pre-primary education for four or five year old children in the kingdom, there is a policy for providing teacher training programme and making available textbooks free of cost to the schools that have adequate infrastructures for pre-primary education, the disabled children constituting nearly five percent of the children's population will be brought into the primary education mainstream and special education programmes have been also proposed.

Annual administrative grants being provided at the rate of Rs 10,000 to primary schools, Rs 12,000 to lower secondary school and Rs 20,000 to secondary school will be continued in the next fiscal year, he said, adding Rs 9.5 million has been allocated for the districts that lack basic and primary education project.

Stating that an arrangement has been made for providing scholarship to poor and genuine local students, scholarships for students from remote areas, women scholarship and scholarship for dalits, the education minister noted that one district from each of the five development regions and one VDC each from 35 districts have already been selected for implementation of compulsory primary education.

An arrangement has also been made to provide scholarships to the children of martyrs who laid down their lives for the sake of the nation and the people, he noted.

Ten thousand primary school teachers and three thousand lower secondary and secondary school teachers will be provided training in fiscal year 2057/58 B.S. in order to ensure quality of education, Mr Upadhyaya said, adding that efforts are being made to make timely changes in curriculum, lay stress on the application of educational materials and bring about improvement in the evaluation system.

Noting that efforts will also be made to reduce the number of drop-outs and the primary school nutritious food project will be made more effective in the 12 districts with low quantity of food and low admission of students, he remarked that an amendment bill to theEducation Act-2028 BS will be presented in this parliamentary session in order to make private schools more accountable to the society.

Curricula of up to fifth standard of nine mother tongues schools have already been prepared so far and classes up to third standard have already started in seven mother tongues, he said, adding that the literacy campaign which is now operational in 10 districts will be expanded to 10 more district in the next fiscal year.

The programme for establishing a polytechnic school with the Chinese cooperation is also moving ahead and a total of 654 higher secondary schools have already been opened in various parts of the country, the minister said, noting that the government has pursued the policy of gradually shifting the proficiency certificate level into the higher secondary school from the university.

The government has also initiated the process for setting up an Agriculture and Forestry University and a university in the far-western development region.

As regards the universities to be set up, potential institutes in the concerned region will be given priority and the task of preparing regulations of the National Teachers Service Commission is going on speedily, he added.

The programmes for developing infrastructure for South Asian Games, sports development and for setting up the Dal Bahadur Rana Memorial Trust have been proposed for the next fiscal year, the minister said, adding the building of stadiums in the eastern and far-western regions have also been proposed.

Those asking questions to the minister were Kunta Sharma Ramesh Datta Lekhak, Shankar Nath Sharma Adhikari, Homnath Dahal, Ratna Prasad Sharma Neupane, Ram Bahadur Bista, Asta Laxmi Shakya, Shiva Raj Joshi, Netralal Shrestha, Hridayaram Thani, Ram Kumar Chaudhary, Ananda Prasad Pokharel, Om Prasad Ojha, Narayan Prakash Saud, Laxman Prasad Mehta, Pradip Kumar Gyawali, Ghanendra Basnet, Sherdhan Rai, Sohan Prasad Chaudhary, Damber Singh Sambahamfe and Mrigendra Kumar Singh Yadav.

Dr. Mangalsiddhi Manandhar, Mahendra Bahadur Pandey, Dilliram Sharma, Harinarayan Chaudhary, Urmila Aryal, Krishna Prasad Dahal, Prakash Jwala, Bijaya Subba, Janakraj Giri, Mahendra Prasad Yadav, Durga Linkha, Basanta Kuamr Nemwang, Tirtha Gautam, Renu Kumari Yadav, Fatik Bahadur Thapa, Devilal Thapa, Nara Bahadur Hamal, Jagat Bahadur Bogati, Kamal Prakash Sunwar, Dr. Banshidhar Mishra, Yadav Bahadur Rayamajhi and Sabitri Bogati Pathak had also demanded clarifications.

The Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation, the Minister for Industry, Commerce and Supplies, the Finance Minsiter, the Health Minister, the Minister for Information and Communications and the Minister for Land Reforms and Management are scheduled to reply questions concerning their ministries at the House of Representatives tomorrow.

Other Stories