Kathmandu, July 7

The government has introduced National Examinations Board Rules to improve the standard of school examination.

The rules come into effect following their publication in the Nepal Gazette, last week. The provisions stipulated in the rules make National Examination Board responsible and accountable towards putting an end to existing anomalies in the school examination system.

Key functions, duties and power of the board include approval of programmes for improvement of examination system by identifying its weaknesses through study, research and evaluation. It is also empowered to manage human resource required for the board, verify educational certificates and credentials in accordance with the records maintained by the board and to carry out necessary activities to reform the examination system.

The new rules have also stipulated qualifications of a candidate to be appointed as the chairperson of the board. “Non-Nepali citizen, person convicted of criminal offence involving moral turpitude like corruption and rape, person obtaining permanent residency of a foreign country and mentally unstable person shall be disqualified from being appointed in and taking charge of office of the board,” it read.

The chairperson shall be responsible for formulating short-term and long-term policies, plans and programmes of the board, maintaining coordination with the government and non-government organisations, carrying out evaluation of plans and programmes pertaining to examinations, and monitoring and inspecting examinations. The chairperson may delegate some of the powers conferred on him/her to the member-secretary or any officer-level employee of the board.

There shall be an investigation committee led by a secretary of the Office of the Prime Minister and the Council of Ministers to conduct an inquiry as to whether the chairperson has fulfilled the responsibilities of his/her office honestly. Its members include a deputy attorney general and a joint secretary of the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology.