The draft paper on education sector for discussions at the upcoming Nepal Development Forum meet has once again proved that Nepal’s tardiness in meeting education goals is not for lack of imagination, blue prints and right goals. Because of reasons such as resource crunch, not to mention alleged irregularities, Nepal is least forthcoming when it comes to meeting its own goals and objectives. It is true that a lot more needs to be done to revamp the education sector so that Nepal produces competent and professional manpower in the newly emerging fields. The education sector functions under four broad bands, such as the section to ensure Education For All (EFA) by 2015, secondary and higher secondary education, technical and vocational education, and higher education. Mindful of resources required to address the concerns of different wings of education, the government has now outlined the need for an extra US$ 82 million to work out its objectives set for the next five years.

The resource gap affects most sub-sectors of education. The EFA programmes, for example, have a resource gap of US$ 29 million in the capital expenditure. The gap could be wider if there is slow progress in this sub-sector, as a result of which the “understanding” with potential donors may not provide the promised US$ 158 million. Secondary education has also problems with resource gap. There is no donor support for higher education in the current fiscal year ending mid-July. Yet, the fact remains that higher education at the Tribhuvan University remains several times cheaper than pre-school or primary schools in the Kathmandu Valley. It is also true that recurrent expenditure, meaning regular expenses like staff salary, claims the larger share of the educational expenses and this leaves less than half of it allocated for capital expenditure for restructuring and introducing reforms in the sector.

This calls for a major review in the financing of the education sector in Nepal. The cost sharing needs an urgent and serious look. There is no point in investing donor aid without satisfactory results. Hence, it is about time the government ensured that the objectives and goals did not get sidelined. Amazingly, the education sector has been able to muster funds through aid and loans. But this cannot continue for ever. Hence the need for introducing sustainable and practical measures. If universities in South Asia can generate funds on their own to a large extent, there is nothing to stop universities in Nepal from doing so. Cutting down on needless expenses and putting a halt to financial irregularities and spending the money where it is needed most will certainly yield better results.