National
Experts propose 40 pc local contents in school curricula
An expert panel has submitted a preliminary report, suggesting local and provincial governments incorporate 40 percent local contents in school curricula.An expert panel has submitted a preliminary report, suggesting local and provincial governments incorporate 40 percent local contents in school curricula.
In a roadmap for education in the new federal set-up, the 15-member committee, comprising education experts including Suresh Raj Sharma, Bidhya Nath Koirala, Sushan Acharya, has suggested that the local and provincial government should each contribute 20 percent local contents into the courses with the central government filling out the remaining 60 percent.
The curriculum will incorporate interesting facts, potentiality and other information of the respective areas. The curriculum has so far been prepared by the Curriculum Development Board, mobilising the experts from the respective field.
Once the new provision comes into effect, each of the 753 local level units can have separate curriculum for the students.
The constitution mandates the local bodies to manage education upto school level. Under the current arrangement, the local level units conduct the examination of grade eight, the provincial government will be responsible for the Secondary Education Examination and the Central Examination Board from the central level will conduct the grade 12 exam—the final test to clear the secondary level.
The panel has also suggested revamping all the schools in two structures 1-8 and 9-12 as per the eighth amendment to the Education Act-1972.
“The local and provincial governments should be responsible for providing free and compulsory education,” reads the report.
While the report does not speak about free education in private schools, it authorises the local government to fix the fee for the private schools. It has also recommended
that the local governments should ensure the education in the mother tongue at the school level.