The National Education Planning Commission was founded in 1954, the All Round National Education Committee in 1961, and the National Education Advisory Board in 1968 in order to implement and to refine the education system. In 1971 the New Education System came into operation as an integral part of the Fourth Five-Year Plan (1970-75) of His Majesty’s Government of Nepal; it was designed to address individual, as well as societal, needs in concert with the goals of national development.

Formal schooling in modern times was still constrained by the economy and culture. Children were generally needed to work in the fields and at home. Many students began school late (at ages nine or ten); more than half left school after completing only one year. Educating females was viewed as unnecessary; as a consequence, their enrollment levels were far lower than those of males. Regional variations often hindered the effectiveness of uniform text materials and teacher training. Although the government was relatively successful in establishing new schools, the quality of education remained low, particularly in remote regions where the majority of the population lived. Terrain further inhibited management and supervision of schools. Read the rest of this entry »

Every woman, man, youth and child has the human right to education, training and information, and to other fundamental human rights dependent upon realization of the human right to education. The human right of all persons to education is explicitly set out in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenants, the Convention on the Rights of the Child and other widely adhered to international human rights treaties and Declarations - powerful tools that must be put to use in realizing the human right to education for all. The human right to education entitles every woman, man, youth and child to:

The human right to free and compulsory elementary education and to readily available forms of secondary and higher education.

• The human right to freedom from discrimination in all areas and levels of education, and to equal access to continuing education and vocational training.
• The human right to information about health, nutrition, reproduction and family planning. Read the rest of this entry »

The first major plan of RTEF is to develop the “Janata Primary School” a government school run by the local community in Siraha District in eastern Nepal as a model community school. This involves a number of smaller projects. The project being worked out at present is the building of the boundary wall around the school complex. The school abounds in 5 katthas (about 1690 square meters) of flat land. It requires approximately 400 meter of boundary wall. The cost of the brick wall is estimated to be around Rs 2,50,000 (i.e. US $ 3,500).

In the absence of the boundary wall, the school has not been able to protect its premises from the unattended cattle, which are left by the villagers to graze around, and other intruders. That is the reason that children are always under the risk. Similarly, once there is a boundary wall, it is possible to develop a small garden in front of the school, and protect the playground of the children and their toilets and water pumps. At present, there is no vegetation around the school, and this has affected the children’s quality of life. Read the rest of this entry »

The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) held the launching ceremony of a book titled Building Capacity of National Human Rights Institutions: The Case of Nepal today at the Commission.The book has been published by the Right to Education Foundation (RTEF).  

The Chairperson of the Commission, Rt. Hon. Nayan Bahadur Khatri formally launched the book. In his address, Chairman Khatri appreciated the efforts of Dr. Adhikari. He further added that the book not only showed the intensive working spirit at the Commission, but also a welcome contribution helpful to many readers in Nepal and abroad, who are interested to know how the Commission is developing its capacity in the resolution of the ongoing conflict.  Read the rest of this entry »