Kathmandu, August 25

Chief Information Commissioner Krishna Hari Baskota stressed the need of progressive taxation system in the education sector of the country so that local levels could manage schools in their respective areas smoothly.

He claimed that local levels could sustain schools in their constituencies by putting aside some amount from household tax and drinking water and electricity tariffs and investing the sum in local level education.

Speaking at an interaction on education tax generation at local levels, Baskota said not every local level could invest in education due to limited local resources and therefore the central government should work to collect taxes from non-education sectors and distribute resources equally at the local levels.

Speaking at the programme, former education minister Dhani Ram Paudel said local levels should concentrate on sustaining schools in their areas on their own. He stressed that the government should develop model schools across the country in terms of quality education and improved teaching-learning environment.

Dr Hari Lamsal, Secretary of Ministry of Education, was of the opinion that the government had allocated enough budget to the education sector. He attributed the freezing of budget every year in the education sector to lack of proper utilisation of the budget.

He also stated that local levels now had the authority to handle secondary level education and generate income for school education. He stressed that the country’s teaching workforce should be deployed proportionately as per the needs of schools.