The Ministry of Education's intervention against the recommendations made by the Parliament's Education Committee, similarity of proposed Federal and provincial programs in education, and demand of TU officials asking security at the university the news got priority in the media last week.

Kathmandu- A document submitted of the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (MoEST) to the Education, Health and Information Technology Committee (EHITC) of the House of Representatives, appears to be influenced by interest groups, the news published. It seems that the details presented by the Minister of MoEST Mr. Raghuji Pant to the committee to overturn the issues made in consensually by the EHITC on the School Education Bill (SEB) include vested interests of interest groups, mentioned the news. After the Subcommittee of EHITC could not reach to an agreement on the time frame for transferring privately invested schools to Guthi (a Trust) and the duration (years) of Early Child Development Education (ECED), the EHITC had sought the government's opinion on these issues. It now indicates that the Minister Mr. Panta took this as an opportunity to overturn the issues that had already been agreed upon in the Subcommittee, the news quoted. The issues made in a consensus in the Subcommittee include the local government to manage teachers according to the Constitution, bringing ECED within the school structure, abolishing the School Education Examination (SEE), establishing a School Education Quality Authority, Dismantling the District Education Coordination Unit. Mr. Panta is trying to overturn these issues with maintaining the existing system whereby private schools can be operated by educational trusts or companies, making ECED a year and not keeping it within the school structure, SEE will operate at the provincial level, maintaining a District Coordination Unit, making an Educational Quality Center, not an Authority, etc. Himalayan Television has broadcasted the news on Mr. Panta's proposal, calling it the Education Minister's ‘counter to the Parliamentary Committee’. The news stated that the Bill has been thrown into further confusion after Minister Panta introduced a proposal that overturned even an issue on which consensus had been reached in the EHITC, mentioned the news.

It seems that the Government's intent on interfering with the sovereign rights of Parliament. The Subcommittee formed to reach a consensus on the SEB has representation from all parties in Parliament. There is also a majority of MPs from the ruling coalition. No ministry or government has the right to overturn issues that have been made consensus upon by all parties in the Subcommittee. After long discussions in the EHITC most lawmakers were not satisfied with what the government had included in the SEB and wanted to change, so the EHITC formed the Subcommittee to reach a consensus to amend the Bill between the parties and MPs. The Subcommittee made consensus on those matters and submitted the report. However, the government's attempt to interfere with the sovereign rights of Parliament by presenting the Ministry's opinion to the parliamentary committee as a counter to the issues agreed upon in the committee, on the pretext that the Committee had sought the Ministry's opinion on certain issues. The opinion put forward by the Government seems to have pushed the SEB, which was in the final stages of being passed by the House of Representatives, back to its original state.

The opinion submitted to the EHITC by the Ministry appears to be aimed at keeping status quo rather than solving the problems and improving school education. The government had reached to an agreement with the Nepal Teachers Federation (NTF) to present the Bill in Parliament by 29 June 2025. This may imply that the government does not want to introduce the Bill on the agreed date and it has been pushed further.

The two main reasons why the Education Act has not been promulgated even in a decade after the implementation of federalism are a) the issue of public school teachers and b) private investment in school education. Ever since the Constitution placed the authority of school education under the Local Government, public school teachers with party affiliations have been opposing. Observers have concluded that they have come out against the provision because they fear the Local Government will closely monitor them even if they say otherwise. Minister Pant has emerged as the surefire messiah of the vested interests of the parties, who are completely consumed by the fear that their vote bank will collapse, even in the villages, if the law is not made as the teacher want.

Another reason for the not promulgating the Education Act is the private investment in school education, which is not in line with the provisions of the Constitution that enshrines free basic education as the fundamental right. There appears to be an agreement among the coalition of the Government including the opposition parties, letting education to keep as a commercial profit making enterprise instead of transforming it as service of public good. The Maoists, who raised the slogan of nationalizing private education during the conflict and came to power repeatedly, are now sitting back as if the issue does not exist.

According to unofficial statistics, it appears that there is a high number of cadres and leaders of the government-led UML party who have investment and stake in private schools. Maoist leaders have also been accused of squandering millions of rupees by  introducing the policy of retaining the old private schools only not allowing to open new ones when the country's Constitution was about to be changed. Instead of seeking a broader consensus and broad-based dialogue and take the Bill with few critical points to decide, an immature and under professional  Bill was presented in the Parliament at the time when the government was led by the Maoists. In the name of immediate response of private school owner's movement, it cannot be said that there was no premeditated conspiracy by the parties to immediately withdraw the deadline for the Bill to convert for-profit private schools into Guthis. It is ironic that these two leftist parties, even to the point of demeaning the word "leftism," consider the interests of investment of their followers to be above the provisions of the country's Constitution and broader interest of the population. The Nepali Congress party is the main culprit who has provided the opportunity to turn schools into companies and make education a profitable business by making legal provisions. These are the acts of deceit the history will register. None of them appear to correct their mistakes and image. 

Instead of Minister Pant taking the initiative to resolve these two complex issues, the Ministry's position is formulated with the intention of protecting these two interest groups, evident from his reluctance to implement the Right to Education. Although not everything has slipped out of the hands of lawmakers who feel some sense of self-respect and some sense of responsibility to the country and people. At least they can try until the party ‘whips’  them.

The Provincial Government has also prioritized the same issues that the Federal Government has given importance to, through the budget, the news published in Gorakhapatra. Public school teacher management, use of information technology in learning, review of teacher posts, establishment of model schools, operation of vocational education programs, increasing access to education for marginalized children, merging schools with small numbers of students and establishing large and residential schools are the programs the Karnali, Bagmati, Gandaki, Lumbini, Madhesh, Koshi, and Sudurpaschim Province Governments have introduced similar programs under different names, mentioned the news.

The 'Earning while learning,' program, run with the aim of teaching practical knowledge in public schools, is becoming effective in Manang. Students from Grades 9 to 12 at a Lokpriya Secondary School (SS) of Chame Rural Municipality (RM) have been growing vegetables in school premises. According to the news, the mushrooms and vegetables produced by the school are being sold in the Chame.

The obligation for daughters to drop out of school after studying up to 10th grade has ended after the Rastriya SS in Pashupati Nagar, Bardibas Municipality, Mahottari, starting 11th and 12th grade with computer education, there was the news.

Suryodaya Municipality of Ilam has signed an agreement for a scholarship program for 32 girl students to study in the first year of undergraduate studies at Karphok Multiple Campus under the 'Chhori-buhari' education program, the news published.

The government is facing criticism for releasing them on a bail of Rs 10,000 within two days after the Home Administration arrested the person who vandalized the office of Tribhuvan University (TU) Vice-Chancellor (VC) Khadga KC. It is said that the arrested Sanothimi Campus Free Student Union Secretary Dikpal Karki and Lokesh Kunwar were released under the influence of the government, the news quoted.

After being released within two days of their arrest, TU officials including VC KC met Prime Minister KP Oli and demanded security. According to the news, Prime Minister Oli has instructed Home Minister Ramesh Lekhak to take legal action against those involved in vandalism and violent incidents.

The VC's demand for security, increasing number of Nepali students going abroad to pursue higher education, a number of ‘padlocking’ of the university, and the teachers' protest are all the things that show the weakness of TU. Due to the agitation of part-time teachers, studies could not be conducted even in the university's main campus, and partisanship led to the university being disrupted, mentioned the news on Nepal Television.

Writing a Letter to the Editor in Kantipur, Bhuvaneshwar Sharma of Kathmandu mentioned that TU is overwhelmed with chaos. Tekendra Adhikari of Biratnagar wrote another Letter to the Editor in Kantipur, saying that the unrest in TU and the tacit approval of political parties have deliberately created a crisis in the country's educational future.

There was news that the date of the TU Assembly has been set for 6 July 2025.

Media reported that the TU Executive Council has tightened the provision of secondment by deciding not to second people other than to the Council of Ministers and the Office of the President.
Although an expert team has formulated a procedure for selecting the Member Secretary of the University Grants Commission, that requires a Professor, there was news that the Minister of Education is under pressure to do otherwise in the appointment of the Member Secretary.

Some ten services of the Office of the Controller of Examinations, Balkhu, TU, are now offered online. Registration application form, Examination application form, Transcript application form, provisional certificate, original certificate, application form for reinstatement, forms for correcting names and registrations in educational documents, various letters of recommendation, certification of certificates and copies of transcripts and mark sheets are available online, the news mentioned.

An agreement has been reached between the Ministry of Health and TU to provide treatment facilities to TU Students and Professors in Federal hospitals and medical institutes. According to the understanding reached at the Ministry in the presence of the Minister for Health and Population Mr Pradeep Poudel and TU VC Dr. Khadga KC, treatment facilities will be available in all Federal hospitals and institutions: 90 percent is paid from TU's treatment fund and 10 percent to be contributed by the individuals, quoted the news.

60 candidates have been taken action in the LLB (Bachelor of Legislative Law) Entrance Examination conducted at Mahendra Bindeshwari Multiple Campus in Rajbiraj, Saptari. The news mentioned that the action was taken as some examinees were found using mobile phones while others were found in an unacceptable activities in the exam.

The Ministry of Education has formed a five-member task force under the coordination of Mr Krishna Prasad Kapri, Director General of the Education and Human Resource Development Center, after Onlinekhabar news portal published the news that students going to study abroad have to bribe while obtaining a study permit (NOC).

This committee is like ‘a cat guarding milk’ (English corollary could be like ‘a fox guarding a hen’, although this is more of a governance issue than an academic one. Although it is not possible to say for sure since the members are not mentioned in the news, if the task force consists only of employees - the employees will try to protect their colleague. Perhaps the bureaucracy is a sector that is more united and driven by self-interest than any group is divided by a caste or a party. Would its credibility be slightly enhanced if at least two members who do not hold positions of direct benefit from the Government (such as journalists, civil society members, retired professors or teachers) were included?

The National Examination Board is preparing to publish the results of the SEE in the third week of Ashad (first week of July). According to the regular schedule, the results were to be released in the first week of Ashar (third week of June), but teachers protested 29 days from 2 April 2025, delaying the examination of answer sheets, and the date of the results' release has been postponed, mentioned the news.

In an article titled "What kind of teachers remain in our memories" by Pravigya Regmi on Setopati, it is mentioned that the only teachers who teach lessons as well as  nurture the students’ inner self, touch the emotions of students beyond formal education, and have empathy, remain in our memories.

The salaries of ECED teachers, school staff, and school assistants will increase from Shrawan after the government increased conditional grants in the budget speech.

The Electricity Authority has repeatedly cut off power lines of Trijuddha SS and Ramcharan Sah Pannalal SS in Parsa due to the government's failure to pay electricity bills of quarantine facilities run at those schools during the COVID-19 pandemic. The news stated that Trijuddha has an electricity arrears of Rs 200,000 and Pannalal has an electricity arrears of Rs 120,000.

An article by Rita Bhandari about reforms in educational system has been published in the Gorkhapatra. The article stated that the state must formulate a clear vision, approach, plan, and strategy to save universities, make the quality education, practical, and useful for life, and to encourage the new generation to choose domestic educational institutions for higher education.

Students at Dasharath Basic School, Tupa, and Janajagriti Basic School, Damchan, in Puthauttarganga RM, east of Rukum, are forced to study in huts throughout the winter due to lack of buildings. The news mentioned that despite the demand for the construction of the building, there was no hearing.

Students at Kedar SS, Deulikot, Bungal Municipality, Bajhang are forced to study without classrooms after last year's storm blew off the roof of the school building, there was the news. This school, with around 300 students studying up to Grade 12, is teaching in two or more classes in the same room due to lack of buildings.

Purpose of this news review is to classify and synthesize the educational content of the week and provide objective comments from the point of view of social justice and creative pedagogy including the environment. It is aimed to the policy makers and stakeholders to help make informed decisions. In this joint effort of the Center for Educational Policies and Practices (CEPP) and EduKhabar, material from daily newspapers - Kantipur, Gorkhapatra and The Himalayan Times, online news portals - Online Khabar, Setopati and Ratopati and the 8 o'clock news of Nepal Television and 7 o'clock news of Himalaya Television is summarized and presented with commentary on relevant issues. We have covered the contents from 14-20 June 2025 in this issue - The Editor.
 

Read this analysis in Nepali : सरकारी शिक्षक र निजी विद्यालयका लगानीकर्ताको स्वार्थ रक्षामा शिक्षामन्त्रीको प्रयत्न 

Also watch the video (Nepali) with the commentary : स्वार्थ रक्षामा शिक्षामन्त्रीको प्रयत्न [एक भिडियो टिप्पणी]

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