Kathmandu, May 30

The National Campaign for Education-Nepal, a network of 286 NGOs working for quality education, has criticised the government for allocating low budget for the education sector.

Commenting on the budget, it said the allocation for the fiscal year 2016/17was very insufficient for ensuring quality education and developing infrastructure.

On May 28, the government had allocated Rs 26.25 billion in the budget for fiscal year 2016/17 with the aim of improving children’s access to quality education.

Issuing a statement, Raj Kumar Gandarba, chairman, NCE-Nepal said that only 11.6 per cent budget had been allocated for the sector for the next year despite the commitments made by the state to allocate 20 per cent budget to education at international forums.

The organisation concluded that the government had made a very irresponsible decision by allocating inadequate amount for education and it would create difficulty in implementing and ensuring the fundamental rights mentioned in the Nepal’s Constitution.

Likewise, reconstruction of school buildings destroyed by the devastating earthquakes last year and effective implementation of the School Sector Development Programme would be affected, stated the press statement of NCE-Nepal.

Similarly, the organisation also said the government was trying to privatise primary education with a management agreement between community schools and private schools.

The organisation urged the government to rethink the mentioned points and engage in strengthening community schools.

Public audit in every step of teaching and learning is positive and will help in making School Management Committees, principals and teachers accountable, said National Campaign for Education-Nepal.