Kathmandu, August 24

Minister for Education, Science and Technology Giriraj Mani Pokhrel has said that the government should work together with the private sector to boost the education quality of community schools.

Inaugurating the second International Conference on Quality Education-2019,  Minister Pokhrel said, “Since the government implemented School Sector Development Plan 2016-2023, support of private education institutions has been crucial to scale up the quality of education in rural areas, mainly through classroom teaching methods.”

The three-day conference held at Rato Bangla School, Patandhoka, drew over 600 teachers of community schools from across the country. Hundreds of experts and stakeholders from across the country and delegates from six countries have converged at the event. The conference was held at the joint initiative of Centre for Education and Human Resource Development under the Ministry of Education and Rato Bangla Foundation.

Highlighting the importance of teachers in shaping the future of students, Minister Pokhrel said, “Quality of education depends on the quality of teachers. Therefore, we must focus on improving the skills of teachers if we want to upgrade the quality of education.”

Addressing the inaugural ceremony, Secretary at Minister for Education, Science and Technology Khaga Raj Baral said that investment on teachers of community schools had largely remained unproductive. He suggested that teachers of community schools should focus on capacity building more than anything else.

Chairperson of Rato Bangla Foundation Shanta Dixit said, “The conference will be helpful to replace the old teaching methodology followed by community teachers with modern teaching methods even as they are mindful of traditional values of society.”

She that said the conference would help teachers develop their students’ creative and critical thinking skills. “The conference will also help promote team work among teachers,” she said.

Veronica Cody, European Union’s ambassador to Nepal said that every child should have equal opportunity for quality education.