Japan hands over a school lunch preparation center in Kathmandu

Japan today handed over a School Lunch Preparation Centre at Budhanilkantha municipality in Kathmandu.

The handover ceremony of a School Lunch Preparation Center constructed with Japanese assistance of $87,499 under the Grant Assistance for Grassroots Human Security Projects (GGP) of the Japanese Government, according to a press note issued by the Japanese Embassy in Kathmandu.

On the occasion, ambassador Kikuta sent a congratulatory message to all those involved in the project. He also appreciated the efforts of all who worked together with the embassy to complete the project and hoped that the center will improve the educational environment for the students of public schools in Kathmandu district.

Food for Life Nepal was established in 2015 with the aim of providing 'mid-day meals' to children in public schools in Budhanilkantha, Kathmandu.

Previously, Food for Life Nepal did not have sufficient kitchen space to prepare all the required school lunches. With the construction of this centre, it is now able to provide school lunches to more than 7,000 students in public schools in Budhanilkantha municipality and Tokha municipality.

The Embassy of Japan, in its press note, said that it believes the new centre will provide nutritious school lunches to students and contribute to improving their educational environment. The embassy also believes that the support will contribute towards further enhancing the friendship between the peoples of Japan and Nepal, it added.

GGP was established to implement projects directly benefiting people at the grassroots level for the community's socio-economic development. Since 1991, over 200 GGP projects have been implemented in Nepal.

Japan constructs classrooms for specialised courses in agriculture

 An official of the Embassy of Japan handed over a school building for specialised courses in agriculture to the Shree Nepal Rastriya Tribhuwan Secondary School in Gulmi district.

Approximately 90 per cent of the population in Gulmi district is engaged in agriculture, but productivity has remained low. The low productivity is also among the reasons that has caused the younger generation seek employment abroad. According to a report in 2018, Gulmi district generates the largest number of migrant workers.

In order to address this situation, the Shree Nepal Rastriya Tribhuwan Secondary School planned a curricula of specialised courses in agriculture, according to a press note issued by the Embassy of Japan in Kathmandu. "The curricula offers full-time courses for students of Grades 9 and 10," it reads, adding that the courses are designed to include subjects such as animal husbandry, sericulture, farm land management, and agricultural processing. "With the implementation of the project, the school also aims to interest the younger generation in agriculture."

Youth in rural areas generally tend to think that farming does not guarantee a stable income, which however, can change if it is done with the necessary knowledge and skills, it adds.

The Embassy of Japan expects the project to contribute to improving the lives of local farmers in Gulmi district and also promote the Nepal's rich agricultural resources. The Embassy also hopes the assistance will further strengthen the bilateral relationship between Japan and Nepal,

India builds Shree Laxminiya Janata Secondary School in Dhanusha

 The new building of Shree Laxminiya Janata Secondary School at Kumhrauda in Dhanusha District – built with the Government of India’s financial assistance of Rs 26.24 million – was jointly inaugurated by representative of the Embassy of India in Kathmandu, Department of Urban Development Building Construction, Federal Project Implementation Unit in Dhanusha at Janakpurdham, School Management Committee and local representatives today. 

The Indian government grant – under ‘Nepal-Bharat Development Cooperation’ – was utilised for construction of three floor school building, including 15 class rooms and sanitation facilities, according to a press note issued by the Indian Embassy in Kathmandu. “The project was taken up as a High Impact Community Development Project (HICDPs) under an agreement between Government of India and Government of Nepal,” it reads.

India has already completed 428 HICDPs in Nepal, of which 45 are in Province 2, including 10 in Dhanusha District, it reads, adding that some 21 government of India funded projects are under various stages of completion and implementation in Province-2, including 9 in Dhanusha district. “The most recent project memorandum of understanding was signed on March 16 for construction of Baidyanath Devnarayan Public Higher Secondary School at Tulsiyahi in Dhanusha. Nepal has appointed Mukhiyapatti Musarniya Gaunpalika as the Implementing agency for the project and is it yet to complete the tendering process,” the press note further reads.

Shree Laxminiya Janata Secondary School was established in 1956 in Kumhrauda in Dhanusha District. The school has 1,107 students, and more than 50 per cent of them are girls. The newly built infrastructure of the school is expected to boost learning environment for students. The project is a reflection of India’s development partnership with Nepal and complements effort of government in augmenting infrastructure in the field of education, the press note adds.

India builds Bhimsen Adarsha Higher Secondary School in Nawalpur

 The new building of Bhimsen Adarsha Higher Secondary School built with Indian financial assistance of Rs 25.83 million – under the Nepal-Bharat Maitri Development Cooperation – was jointly inaugurated via video-conferencing today by representatives of the Embassy of India in Kathmandu, District Coordination Committee (DDC), School Management Committee and local representatives, including students and faculty of the school.

According to a press note issued by the Embassy of India in Kathmandu, the school located in Devchuli-07 of Nawalpur district was established in 1969 and offers classes till 10+2. “Over 55 per cent of the students of the school are girls,” it reads, adding that the construction of the school building, funded by India and implemented by Nawalparasi DCC, has three floors and includes 16 classrooms, labs, administration and staff rooms, meeting hall, canteen, medical room and sanitation facilities. “The new school building, constructed under the long standing High Impact Community Development Projects, earlier known as Small Development Projects (SDP), is another example of robust cooperation between India and Nepal in the education sector.”

The action complements the efforts of the government to improve physical infrastructure for learning, particularly in public schools, the press note reads.

India builds secondary school in Nuwakot

Government of India built Aiselubhume Secondary School in Kispang of Nuwakot, District as part of its post-earthquake reconstruction in Nepal.
The school was ceremonially inaugurated today by former Prime Minister and chairman of Nepal Communist Party (NCP) Puspa Kamal Dahal (Prachanda), according to a press note issued by the Indian Embassy in Kathmandu.
“Minister of Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation Barsaman Pun (Ananta) also graced the inaugural ceremony, where first secretary (earthquake reconstruction) Shuchita Kishore represented the Embassy of India,” the press note read, adding that the project was implemented by Central Level Project Implementation Unit of the Education Ministry.
Aiselubhume Secondary School was established in 1990 (2046 BS). The school is affiliated to National Examination Board and is providing quality education to nearly 637 students.
The newly built infrastructures constructed with the Government of India’s grant assistance of Rs 39.57 million, consist of three blocks – a three storied academic block containing six classrooms, a two storied academic block containing four classrooms along with furniture and separate sanitation facilities for boys and girls – reads the press note, expecting that the newly built infrastructure is expected to boost learning environment of students. “Government of India remains committed to continue collaborating with government and people of Nepal for completion of post-earthquake reconstruction projects in Nepal.”

Japanese assistance for rehabilitating school

Japan is helping Nepal rehabilitation of schools.
Charge d’ Affaires of the Embassy of Japan in Kathmandu Yuzo Yoshioka today signed a grant contract for Rehabilitating School and Building School Resilience to Disaster in Sindhupalchowk under Nepal Phase II with team leader at the Programme Department of Child Fund Japan Miho Nakajima.
The project is funded by the Japanese government and involves a grant assistance of $860,808 (approximately Rs 97.52 million).
At the grant signing ceremony, Charge d’ Affaires Yoshioka said that the project will foster and strengthen the capacity of public schools in Sindhupalchowk district in safeguarding children from natural disasters. In achieving this goal, ChildFund Japan, in partnership with local partner NGOs like Gramin Mahila Srijansil Pariwar, will provide multifaceted support to schools, School Management Committees (SMCs), and government officials by constructing seismic-resistant classrooms, conducting training on disaster risk reduction and Child Protection in Emergencies, and developing School Safety Plan which integrates earthquake drills in school.
The project will rehabilitate the School and Build School Resilience to Disaster in Sindhupalchowk district of Nepal and Yoshioka is certain that this project would give people more confidence to rebuild back better and also hoped that the project will contribute towards strengthening the cordial friendship between the peoples of Japan and Nepal.

Japan hands over school building in Myagdi

An official of the Embassy of Japan handed over a newly built school building to Shree Deurali Basic School in Myagdi District. The building was built with support of about Rs 9.2 million, according to a press note issued by the Japanese Embassy in Kathmandu.
At the handover ceremony, second secretary of the Embassy of Japan Yoshiki Sando said that the support will assist in improving the educational environment in this remote area. “The project for constructing a new school building with eight classrooms at the Shree Deurali Basic School was funded under Japan's Grant Assistance for Grassroots Human Security Projects (GGP) for fiscal year 2017,” the press note reads, adding that the school has about 200 students, from pre-primary level to Grade 8 and previously they studied in three buildings, two of which had become vulnerable owing to poor maintenance.
This new two-storied building has capacity to accommodate all eight grades and is a part of the Japanese government's efforts to support safe schooling in Nepal. The Embassy of Japan believes that the project will contribute towards improving the educational environment in the district. It also believes that the project will contribute towards enhancing the bilateral relationship between Japan and Nepal.

India Builds Shree Mahendra Model Higher Secondary School in Darchula

Ambassador of India to Nepal Manjeev Singh Puri today inaugurated Shree Mahendra Model Higher Secondary School at Khalanga in Darchula District.
The Deputy Prime Minister and minister for Helath and Population Upendra Yadav, Nepali Congress leaders and Member of Parliament of Darchula Dilendra Prasad Badu, Mayor of Mahakali Municipality Hansraj Bhatt, Chief of District Coordination Committee of Darchula Karbir Singh Karki alongwith the political, community leaders also attended the inaugural ceremony, according to a press note issued by the Indian Embassy in Kathmandu.
Shree Mahendra Model Higher Secondary School – established in 1960 – is situated at Khalanga VDC in Darchula District of Sudurpashchim Pradesh. It is affiliated to National Examinations Board (NEB) and offers 10+2 programmes in Science, Humanities, and Management streams. Mahendra Model Secondary School at Khalanga in Darchula provides primary to 10+2 level programmes with moderate fees structure. It also provides various scholarship schemes for deserving and the marginalized students as per the decision of school management committee. Mahendra Model Secondary School (MMSS) provides various facilities like Sports, Library, Computer Lab, Science Labs, Counseling, Conference, Multimedia, Scholarship, Educational Tours, Classrooms etc. The School has over 2000 students, about 50 per cent of whom are girls.
The new infrastructure constructed with the Government of India’s grant assistance of Rs 30 million, is a two storied building comprising 13 class rooms, one meeting hall, separate sanitation facilities for boys and girls on each floor and furniture, the press note reads, adding that the newly built infrastructure is expected to boost learning environment of students. “Government of India is happy to be associated with the project which compliments effort of Government of Nepal in augmenting infrastructure in the field of education.”

India builds school building

Deputy chief of Mission at the Embassy of India in Kathmandu Dr Ajay Kumar inaugurated the school building of Kuleshwor Awas Secondary School located in Kathmandu-14 today.
The new school building constructed with the Government of India’s grant assistance of Rs 38.60 million is a three-storey building comprising 20 classrooms, separate sanitation facilities for boys and girls on each floor, underground water tank, septic tank and furniture. “The project was implemented by Kathmandu District Coordination Committee (DCC), according to a press note issued by the Indian Embassy in Kathmandu.
Chairman of DCC Shiva Sundar Raj Vaidya, chairman of the ward-14 Shova Sapkota and District Coordination Officer Pitamber Adhikari, along with political and community leaders also participated in the inaugural ceremony.
Kuleshwor Awas Secondary School – established in 1989 by Kuleshwor Awas Pariwar Kalyan Sanstha – is run with community support. At present, over 800 students are enrolled in the school out of which over 50 per cent are girls. Most of the students come from marginalised communities.
The newly built infrastructure is expected to boost the learning environment of students, the press note reads, adding that India is happy to be associated with the project which compliments effort of Nepal in augmenting infrastructure in the field of education.

India builds Shree Schoolchaun Higher Secondary School in Jhapa

Attorney General Agni Prasad Kharel and ambassador of India to Nepal Manjeev Singh Puri today jointly inaugurated the School Building of Shree Schoolchaun Higher Secondary School at Gauradaha Municipality-05 in Jhapa district.
Minister of Internal Affairs and Law of Province No 1 Hikmat Kumar Karki and chairman of Jhapa District Coordination Committee (DDC) Somnath Portel were also present during the inauguration session, where political and official representatives of government, State Government of Province No 1, community leaders and a large number of friends of the India-Nepal partnership participated.
Established in 1965 as a primary school and subsequently upgraded to Higher Secondary level in 2008, Shree Schoolchaun Higher Secondary School is affiliated with National Examination Board (NEB) and offers plus two  (10+2) programmes. The school has about 1150 students of which 60 per cent are girls. Shree Schoolchaun Higher Secondary School is an educational institution of repute in Jhapa District.
The new infrastructure constructed with government of India’s grant of Rs 35.70 million, is a two-story-school building comprising 25 class rooms, including one room for laboratory, one room for principal, one room for library, one room for staff, one room for accounts section, multipurpose-hall, separate toilets for boys and girls on each floor, compound wall and furniture, according to a press note issued by the Embassy of India in Kathmandu.
The newly built infrastructure is expected to boost learning environment of students. Government of India is happy to be associated with the project which compliments effort of government in augmenting infrastructure in the field of education, the press note adds.

South Asia has made progress in education enrollment but quality remains a challenge

The South Asian countries, including Nepal, have made remarkable progress in increasing school enrollment. The number of out-of-school children at the primary level has decreased three times in two decades, from over 35.7 million in 1999 to 10.3 million in 2017. There has been significant improvement even at the lower secondary and secondary levels.
Reports of the UN agencies show girls outnumber boys in the school system in most of the countries in the region, including Nepal. If Nepal government’s data is anything to go by, the net enrollment rate for grade one is over 97 per cent in Nepal with less than 90,000 students remaining out of the school system. However, maintaining the quality as envisioned in Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 4.1 remains a challenge in the region.
According to education specialist at UNICEF Regional Office for South Asia Ivan Coursac, on current trends, only 34 per cent children of school going age will learn minimum secondary level skills in 2030. He said 27 per cent students will not even learn basic primary level by that time.
Different researches by the Education Review Office, under the Ministry of Education, show a drop in the learning achievement of the school level students. One of the recent reports made public last year shows the performance levels of eighth graders in Mathematics and Science has dropped considerably in 2017 compared to 2013.
The study, carried out among 46,266 grade eight students in 1,950 public and private schools in 26 districts, shows the students do not even grasp half of what they meant to learn in the particular grade. “Mobilising more and better domestic financing and increasing international financing for education could be a step towards improving the learning achievement,” said Coursac during his presentation on South Asia level workshop on SDG 4, which is related to inclusive and equitable quality education, in the capital today.
He said South Korea presents the perfect example to the world in improving the education system both in terms of access and quality. The country first invested hugely on pre-schools than gradually to elementary, middle and high schools. The Korean school level education, in terms of learning and access, is considered among the best in the world.
An educationist, who has long experience in working on education policy in Nepal and abroad, Min Bahadur Bista says though the progressive incremental approach – where the different levels of education is prioritised gradually – might not be relevant to ‘our country at this point’, however, Korea provides ample cases on how education education sector needs to be prioritised. “Korea made adequate investment realising human resource development, laying the foundation for country’s prosperity which we are yet to realise,” he added.