Failure to read the donor’s interest, lack of our internal national preparedness and the tendency of leaving the national ground to touch the international targets have misled us from the urgent national needs through the wrong prioritization of the agendas

With an investment outlay of one trillion rupees, the School Sector Development Plan (SSDP) aims to materialize the dreams initiated with SSRP in seven years’ time.

It seeks to make basic education (from grade one to eight) completely free and compulsory and to strengthen access, participation and learning outcomes of students.

It also has an ambitious plan of bringing the dropout rate to zero, introducing technical education from grade nine and making a mandatory provision for Plus Two colleges to have own schools, thereby ending zero plus two higher secondary schools.

They focus on quality enhancement and restructuring of education.

There is the provision that the central government will bear the expenditure of the basic education as a step towards safeguarding everyone’s right to education. The government hopes to manage the required budget through the support of 17 bilateral and multilateral donors supporting our education sector.

SSRP was ambitiously launched under sector-wise approach with the joint support of a number of development partners with a view to improving access, quality and equity of education.

It also sought to transform four tier structure of school education into two tiers comprised of the basic level from grade one to eight and the secondary level from grade nine to twelve. Owing to the lack of political consensus the amendment bill of Education Act was not endorsed by the parliament.

The government failed to form a Central Education Board by dissolving the Higher Secondary Education Board owing to the lack of proper legal provision. In these circumstances SSRP was scheduled to be completed in July 2016.

Recently through the eighth amendment of the Education Act the government has aimed to bring about structural transformation and quality enhancement in the field of education in Nepal by implementing SSDP.

It has envisaged the provision of school education up to grade 12, dissolution of HSEB and bringing it under a National Examination Board, 12 years of general education and 13 years of technical education, free and compulsory basic education and free secondary education, establishment of educational quality examination center, establishment of National Education Council under the chairmanship of minister or state minister of education etc.

However the lack of infrastructure and difficulties of human resource management, the dilemma regarding free secondary education, the complications in the transformation of private company schools into Guthi schools, prevailing corruption in the existing Guthi schools etc can be clearly seen as the stumbling blocks on its way towards successful implementation.

Education has been one of the most debated sectors of Nepal from various perspectives like budget allocation, meeting international targets, the gap between local needs and international agendas, hidden interests and ideologies or the long-drawn debates and attempts for the development and adoption of timely and relevant pedagogical approaches.

However, blind adherence to international targets and non-contextual high sounding educational philosophies has been detrimental towards the holistic development of the nation.

We have seen that donor driven development agendas or projects with decisive roles of the donors usually turn out to be successful in reports but weak in real outputs, outcomes or impact. Isn’t it high time we turned the lens towards ourselves?

At the onset of the launching of SSDP, a donor supported educational development program, it is necessary to have a critical and reflexive analysis of school sector reform plan that has basically failed to bring about substantial structural and quality reforms in the school sector in particular and in the entire education sector in general even with the extension of the program.

It is clearly justified by the fact that schools are basically running under the same pattern with School Leaving Certificate Examinations held in grade ten and Higher Secondary Education Board still existing as a body distinct from Ministry of Education Office of the Controller of Examinations.

Different education reform programs have been run in Nepal at different times with their own claims of upgrading the sector. However owing to some of the crucial weaknesses on our part, we have been facing recurrent failures in the field.

Failure to read the donor’s interest, lack of our internal national preparedness and the tendency of leaving the national ground to touch the international targets have misled us from the urgent national needs through the wrong prioritization of the agendas.

Similarly some of the established educational experts and consultants are seen to be acquiring the contracts applying full might and handing over the sole responsibility to kith and kin without desired expertise or qualification and preparing illusory reports.

Lack of political willpower and preparedness has been a stumbling block on its way.

Similarly the egocentric leaders guided by petty interests and lacking proper vision, mission and goals for our bright educational future are equally responsible.These and many other factors have made our educational dream a mirage.

Gautam is associated with Kathmandu University School of Education