Kathmandu, August 18:

The Ministry of Education and Sports (MOES) will provide scholarships to 34 per cent of total students of the public schools this academic year. The Education Minister, Radha Krishna Mainali, said the scholarships and other incentives will help achieve the government’s goal of providing quality education for all by 2015. They will also help 18 per cent of the children, who are out of school, receive school education. The programme will give priority to the education of disadvantaged groups, such as the Dalits and girls. Under the programme, 5.83 lakh Dalit students will be provided full scholarships. Apart from that, 6.16 lakh girls will benefit from the scholarships programme.

Janaradan Nepal, the director-general at the Department of Education (DOE), said: “The programme is being introduced so that the students enrolled at schools during the School Enrolment Campaign can give continuity to their studies.” According to the DOE, “The campaign succeeded in getting over two lakh students enrolled at schools this year.” “Under the EFA programme, 25 scholarships will be given away to the children of those who received martyrdom before 1990,” Mainali said. Altogether 10, 800 disabled people will get scholarships this year. All students of the Karnali zone will receive scholarships. To cope with the shortage of teachers, the government is also allocating budget for 6171 teachers this year.