Kathmandu, August 10:

In the absence of ‘proper’ evaluation and transparency, the role and contribution of NGOs

and INGOs in the education sector have been difficult to assess, speakers said at a programme today.

Speaking at a programme on the ‘Role of NGOs and INGOs in education and their investment effectiveness’, organised by the Education Journalist Group, in the capital today, speakers raised the issue of mentioning the source of funds of INGOs in the red book.

Dr Vidhya Nath Koirala, prominent educationist, said the INGOs are in the race for widening their reach rather than working to raise the overall standard of a particular district.

“The amount that is received from any particular international organisation is invested

in the sector they are interested in,” he said.

The establishment cost of INGOs being high, out of the total aid, only about 15 per cent reaches the target group; the rest is spent to meet the establishment costs of INGOs, he added.

Though the entry of NGOs in Nepal from the 80’s have brought new ideas, it has also made us dependent on them, Koirala said. Shiva Bhusal of MS Nepal admitted that the NGOs are focussed on getting projects rather than focusing on their relevance.

He also said that the funding agencies make sure that their funding has good impact on the sector they are working for.

“In a present scenario, it is hard to work and the NGOs are concentrating on the district headquarters. Community empowerment is necessary to work in the conflict-driven condition,” said Bhusal.

The mobilisation of society through critical engagement is necessary, said Roshan

Chitrakar of the Education Network. With little evaluation

of the work done by many INGOs and NGOs, the impact of the programme is hard to assess, he added.