BUDGET 2010/11
New budget to declare secondary education free
MILAN MANI SHARMA
KATHMANDU, Oct 26: The government is declaring education up to
secondary level free for all under the budget for the current fiscal
year, said Finance Minister Surendra Pandey. It is also providing
incentives to all enrolled students to discourage dropouts.
The new program under the upcoming budget, if it comes into force,
will directly benefit some 6.5 million students studying up to 10th
grade in public schools across the country. So far, public schools
have been providing financial support for books to students who cannot
unafford them.
The incentives for students from dalit and underprivileged groups will
be even higher; for others it will be nominal.
Under the program targeted specially at developing human capital, the
government has settled on providing Rs 70 per month to all dalit
students to encourage them to continue their studies.
All girl students will get Rs 60 per month and others, Rs 50 per month.
If the legislature-parliament allows him to present the budget and
endorses it, Pandey will spend as much as Rs 5 billion for
implementing the new program.
"We have worked out the financial burden it will create. But as
education holds the key to the development of the country, we are
ready to bear the cost," Pandey told Republica.
Ministry of Finance (MoF) officials, however, said that they have not
yet worked out the modality for issuing the incentive to students.
"We want to make sure that the incentive is not misused, but have not
finalized the modality," said a source. He indicated that the
government could decide to hand over the incentive amounts to the
mothers of students to make sure of their proper use.
He stated that the government has sought the support of donors to
implement the program. So far, donors have been contributing Rs 17
billion a year in the development of Nepal´s education sector. Apart
from that the government spends around Rs 40 billion a year on
education.
All students to get incentives to attend school
Dalit students to get Rs 70, girls Rs 60 and others Rs 50 per month
Govt plans to entrust incentives to mothers
Program to cost Rs 5b annually
The government will also continue to spend on an incentive system at
schools on the basis of admission rate, dropout rate and pass
percentage, in order to improve the quality of school education.
"A special incentive to check dropout is necessary, especially if we
want to retain students from poor and underprivileged groups in the
schools," said Vice-chairman of the National Planning Commission
Jagadish Chandra Pokharel.
He noted that the new program could make a meaningful contribution in
attaining universal primary education, one of the Millennium
Development Goals (MDGs). Currently, enrollment in primary education
stands at 93.7 percent and the government has set itself a target to
raise that to 97 percent in the next three years.
Published on 2010-10-26 03:00:06
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