• The government allocates 9.1 per cent budget for education which is not enough

 Kathmandu, January 15

The quality of education in government schools has yet to improve despite efforts focused on  uplifting the education standard along with the extra income made from leased institutional properties.

Pashupati Mitra Secondary School in Chabahil earns about seven million rupees a year from its building rented to businesses. Of the total five ropani land of the school, one ropani has been rented by businesses.

“There are 18 shuttered rooms in the building which earn about Rs seven million annually,” said Bishnu Prasad Adhikari, Principal of Pashupati Mitra School. “Altogether 600 students are enrolled in our school and the government provides salary to only 38 school teachers. Salaries of other human resources and additionally hired teachers and other necessary educational materials for the school have been managed from the extra income earned through rent,” said Adhikari. He added that the government fund combined with extra income made from rented space was not enough to sustain the school.

Similarly, Mahendra Adarsha Vidhyashram Higher Secondary School in Satdobato earns Rs 600,000 per month from the rented space given to ‘Jhyapu Company.’ Principal of Mahendra Adarsha Vidhyashram Krishna Bhakta Joshi said, “In order to sustain the school, we have rented the school’s property for additional income. We have leased out land for thirty-years.” Joshi added, “Though our community school hasn’t got any fund from the government, we have been providing education at minimum cost.”

Low investment in education sector has been leading to privatisation in the education sector. Only 9.1 per cent budget has been allocated for education which is not enough to maintain the quality of education in public schools.

Secretary at the Ministry of Education Hari Lamsal agreed that low investment in education from the government side was leading to privatisation of the sector. “The quality of the public schools still has not improved and they can’t compete with the private sector,” he said.

The changing trend and the adoption of Information Communication Technologies has become even more challenging for public schools. “The government only pays salary of teachers and allocates very little to school development activities. In such a condition, public schools are unable to upgrade themselves to provide various facilities to students,” Adhikari said.

Every year, nearly 10 per cent of budget set aside for education gets frozen due to poor management of resources. So to maintain quality, schools that do have alternatives of income source have rented or leased out their facilities to run schools. However, other public schools that do not have alternative means of generating additional income tend to collect fees from the students under different titles.

“The government has made education free till grade VIII and very less has to be paid in grade IX and X to support schools. But public schools have been charging students under different titles such as calendar, dresses, diary etc.” said education expert Bidhyanath Koirala.

“People’s mentality has not changed as they think public schools are only for the poor and underprivileged groups and such schools are unable to provide quality education,” said Radha Krishna Mahat, Principal of Namuna Machhendra Higher Secondary School in Lagankhel. “Even staffers in public schools enrol their children in private schools rather than promoting public schools,” he added.