Kathmandu, April 6

The Ministry of Federal Affairs and General Administration has urged all 753 local levels to conduct student enrolment campaign in such a way that no child of school going is deprived of his or her right to education.

The annual student enrolment campaign set to start from April 15 and will be conducted by the concerned local levels from this year as per the constitution and the Local Government Operation Act.

A circular issued by Decentralisation Section at the MoFAGA today asked the people’s elected representatives, chief executive officers and employees of municipalities and rural municipalities to embark on a door-to-door programme in their areas.

“The local levels have also been requested to ensure participation of representatives from child development organisation, tole development organisation, civic awareness centres, communities and stakeholders in the campaign by holding interaction with them. Each teacher, secondary level student, and office-bearer and employee of municipality/rural municipality will enrol at least one child in community school on his/her behalf,” the circular read.

As part of the campaign, chief executive officers and employees of the local levels will have to allot at least one day to engage themselves with students in the schools falling under their jurisdiction. Similarly, the local levels have been told to ensure that all students get textbooks before mid-May.

“We also request the local levels to create an environment for dropouts and others who have not been enrolled to resume studies by announcing incentive package like school meals programme, extra-curricular activities, safe drinking water, gender sensitive toilets and library, among others.

As per the Census 2011, 14.3 per cent of children aged between five and 12 years are out of school which is 0.77 million of the total population in this age group.

Likewise, school is out of reach for many children from disadvantaged families, despite the great strides Nepal has taken in improving education system over the past decades, according to the 2016 government report. It states that 35.2 per cent of the out-of-school children reside in the districts of central Tarai, mainly in Rautahat, Sarlahi, Mahottari, Dhanusha and Bara. Majority of the remaining 22 per cent are in eastern Tarai.

The key barriers to education for children included poverty, social exclusion linked to caste/ethnicity, disability, migration, child labour, child marriage, trafficking, harmful social norms and gender biases, poor school infrastructure and staffing, language barriers, natural disasters and civil strife, and financial bottlenecks, it says.

Meanwhile, Minister for Education, Science and Technology Giriraj Mani Pokharel said student enrolment campaign would begin, along with distribution of textbooks. Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli is set to launch the campaign by enrolling a student in Karnali district.

Minister Pokharel said 97.2 per cent children between the ages of five and nine years were admitted to school in 2017. Still 2.8 per cent children are out of school. He requested all governmental and non-governmental organisations to help the government make the enrolment campaign a success. “We hope to ensure free education to all children in our country,” he said.

The government has already released budget to the local levels for distribution of textbooks.

“We aim to make education compulsory and free,” said Baburam Paudel,  director at the Department of Education.