Valley
Amendment to Education Act: Decks cleared for SSRP
Six years after adoption of the School Sector Reform Programme (SSRP), the government has finally approved the bill for amendment in the Education Act, clearing the legal hurdles for the programme’s implementation.Six years after adoption of the School Sector Reform Programme (SSRP), the government has finally approved the bill for amendment in the Education Act, clearing the legal hurdles for the programme’s implementation.
The plan to restructure school level education, provide compulsory education, form Central Examination Board after dissolving the Higher Secondary Education Board has not been implemented due to the legal hurdle.
The SSRP envisions restructuring the school level education at basic (grade one to eight) and secondary levels (grade nine to 12) from the existing primary (grade one to five), lower-secondary (six to eight), secondary (nine to 10) and higher secondary (grade 11 to 12) levels. The donor-funded programme was launched in 2009 aimed at completing it by 2015. But the programme was extended by two years after it did not pan out as expected.
Asian Development Bank, European Union, Finland, Australia, World Bank, Unicef, JICA and Norway have agreed to extend their support for the SSRP. According to te Ministry of Education, the donors would contribute around $170 million (around Rs 14.45 billion) to the programme for the extended period. The government had sought around Rs25 billion for the programme.
Dr Hari Lamsal, spokesperson for the Ministry of Education, said the aid volume may increase after the support from Global Partnership for Education and other INGOs.