Education Minister Chitra Lekha Yadav decided to form the commission following directives from the Parliamentary Committee on Women, Children, Senior Citizen and Social Welfare on December 28 last year saying that such panel is necessary to formulate the new policy to guide the education sector in the republican set-up.

The proposed commission will be the seventh one formed to reform the education sector after democracy was established in the country in 1950.

Hari Lamsal, spokesperson at the Ministry of Education, said the decision was made on Monday and preparations are under way to select its members. “The Ministry will forward its proposal to the Cabinet after decision on all members of the commission is made,” he said. Ministry sources said the commission will be formed under the leadership of Kedar Bhakta Mathema, former vice-chancellor of Tribhuvan University and a renowned education expert in the country. A report on revamping School Leaving Certificate examination, drafted a decade ago by a Mathema-led committee, is considered an excellent plan though it is yet to be implemented.

Mathema also heads a committee working to draft the Health Education Policy which will guide the health education in the country, including the affiliation process of medical colleges. Ganesh Man Gurung, coordinator of the parliamentary panel’s Education Sub-committee, said the commission is necessary to draft a new policy to guide the education sector in the changed political context.

Sources said the decision to form the commission was made just to show that Yadav did something while in term. “Reports from various commissions earlier remain unimplemented. Therefore, it is useless to form a new commission unless there is assurance for the implementation its recommendations,” the sources said.