Dr Mangal Siddhi Manandhar
Dr Mangal Siddhi Manandhar (File Photo)
The government has formed a 13-member Education Policy Suggestion Committee under the leadership of Education Minister Dr Mangal Siddhi Manandhar including officials from the Finance Ministry, National Planning Commission and Local Development Ministry.
The decision was taken during the cabinet meeting on Monday.
The committee will provide suggestions to the Ministry of Education and Sports (MoES) regarding reforms that should be carried out in the changed political scenario and amendments that should be made in existing educational policies.
Most of the educational programmes are in an indeterminate state after the government decided to scrap all the previous ordinances on May 7. The positions of vice-chancellors, rectors, registrars of universities and chairman of the University Grants’ Commission (UGC) have been lying vacant due to the confusion over the king’s role in their appointment.
Similarly, the MoES also formed a nine-member team under the coordination of Laba Prasad Tripathi, secretary of the ministry, to hold dialogues for improving the quality of education, addressing teachers’ quota problem and making education accessible to all. The team comprises four members from the ministry and five from the teachers’ union and is given a mandate of two years.
In the meantime, the ministry has announced scholarships to the offspring of martyrs. While every child of a martyr studying in primary or pre-primary level will get Rs 1,000 every month, Rs 1,500 will be given to each of martyrs’ children studying in lower secondary or secondary level. Likewise, Rs 2,000 will be given to every offspring of a martyr studying in the higher secondary level. Those studying in universities will also be given scholarships.
The students must get recommendation letters, which verify their relation with the martyrs, from the District Administration Office to qualify for scholarships. The government announced 21 persons as martyrs during the recent people’s movement.