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Education Ministry mulling two intakes in schools, universities



Sumana Shrestha

Kathmandu, March 31: The Ministry of Education, Science and Technology has shared that it was mulling two intakes in a year in secondary school and universities.

Secretary at the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, Suresh Adhikari, said it during an inaugural session of a conference organized by the Monitoring Educational Foundation here Sunday.

Secretary Adhikari said that the policy was being mulled in response to latest fad among the youths that they quit education halfway once failing their annual exams or drop in the middle of their study for foreign employment.

He said that the new policy would be put in place acknowledging the need for policy review and institutional reform in education system since 43 per cent students in Grade 9 to Grade 12 had dropped the school while 15 to 20 per cent were admitted in the higher education and some 1.5 million students would go abroad annually.

“It is not that there is dearth of good college for higher education in Nepal but the students seeking higher education abroad seem to go abroad for their better future and lucrative jobs rather than for fulfilling university need,” asserted Adhikari, adding that this concern should be addressed by the new policy.

Secretary Adhikari also spoke of the need to develop universities also as research hub in addition to a centre for teaching learning activities. “The government does not always provide fund to the universities. They should be self-reliant,” he viewed.

Similarly, former Vice-Chancellor of Nepal Open University Prof Lekhnath Sharma urged all concerned to pay attention towards adopting IT relevant education policy and its pragmatic use so as to bridge the gap among different generations.

During the conference, experts and stakeholders held group discussions on the goals of SDG and education policy, vocational education, agriculture, health and environment education and fiscal sector among others. #Nepal