Kathmandu, April 23:

Educationists today said the political leaders talk much about betterment of education sector and claim it as one of the major agendas but don’t take any concrete step for realising what they say.

They complained of low budget allocation for the sector, which eventually has affected the quality of education.

Speaking at an interaction organised by Global Campaign for Education, Prof Om Prakash Gupta from Tarai Madhesi Loktantrik Party claimed that the leaders had intentionally earmarked low budget for the education sector.

“The government fears that citizens will be wiser if it spends more budget to improve the quality of education and thus raise fingers at the mistakes committed by the political leaders,” he opined.

He stressed that the government should make all levels of education free and compulsory and should punish those violating the rule.

He also underscored the need to pay more attention towards improvement in primary education.

President of the Nepal Teachers’ Union Keshav Bhattarai said the slower development in the education sector implied education had no place in national politics. He said, “It seems that the education sector in Nepal is the concern of non-government organisations and the bureaucrats only.”

Suprabhat Bhandari, president of Nepal Guardians’ Association, stressed on the need to restructure education sector while restructuring Nepal. Other speakers urged the political leadership to ensure that the governments allocate about 25 per cent of the total budget for the education sector and to make it more accessible.