Kathmandu, June 15

Deputy Prime Minister and Education Minister Gopal Man Shrestha said reconstruction of quake-damaged schools was moving ahead at a snail’s pace.

Speaking at a programme organised here yesterday, Deputy Prime Minister Shrestha said reconstruction of the schools damaged in the 2015 earthquakes was not progressing as expected. He said delay in reconstruction of schools was affecting thousands of students in the quake-hit districts.

“Some 9,000 schools were damaged in the earthquake, but only 1,000 have been reconstructed so far,” he said, adding that recontruction work should be expedited.

Former education minister Chitralekha Yadav lauded support extended by various organisations to reconstruct schools.

Likewise, lawmaker Ram Chandra Pokharel said employment-oriented education was necessary to reduce unemployment in the country and stop brain drain.

Lawmaker Umesh Shrestha rued that despite an investment of 20 to 24 per cent of the country’s total budget in the education sector, the results were not as expected.