As the House of Representatives election scheduled for March 5 approaches, major political parties have unveiled attractive and ambitious policies and programs in the education sector.
The Nepali Congress, CPN-UML, CPN, and the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) have pledged, through their manifestos, to ensure broad reforms and expanded access in school, higher, and technical education. The parties have put forward agendas including increased budgets, legal reforms, teacher and student management, digital education, model school establishment, university reform and research, and employment-oriented policies.
The Nepali Congress has announced plans to allocate 20 percent of the national budget to education, reform teachers and schools, implement digital infrastructure and smart learning systems, and develop universities as centers of research and technological advancement.
Similarly, CPN-UML has pledged to ensure free and compulsory education for all children and to base the education system on patriotism, entrepreneurship, and innovation, with emphasis on improving community schools and reforming higher education.
Likewise, CPN has promised to pass the Federal Education Act in the very first meeting of Parliament, establish smart residential schools, improve teacher and student management, and promote technical and employment-oriented curricula.
Similarly, the RSP has pledged to end political interference in the education system, establish modern, inclusive model schools in every province, provide necessary services to children with disabilities, and make universities research-oriented and employment-focused.
Nepali Congress General Secretary Gagan Thapa has presented attractive education policies and programs through his party’s manifesto. The party has committed to raising state investment in education to 20 percent.
According to the manifesto, separate acts relating to higher education, school education, and technical education will be passed within one year. It also pledges to pass the School Education Act to free the system from pressure groups and to remove the provision that designates the Prime Minister as Chancellor and the Education Minister as Pro-Chancellor.
Under teacher-related policies, issues concerning permanent, temporary, contract, relief, special, and ECD teachers will be addressed, and they will be provided benefits at least equivalent to those of civil servants.
Headteachers will receive an additional allowance of at least 10 percent of their salary, and teachers working in remote areas will be given special facilities.
The Congress has also proposed plans to develop digital infrastructure in schools, provide digital learning materials, implement smart teacher training, and enhance the digital competence of teachers and students.
Additionally, it has pledged to ensure the availability of new textbooks in the new academic year and to expand at least two model schools in every local level. The manifesto also includes provisions for learning in the mother tongue, Nepali, and English, entrepreneurship training, startup support, concessional loans, and business advisory programs.
It further includes commitments to collaborate with industry, business, and the service sector to ensure joint research, internships, technology transfer, and employment opportunities. A plan to establish deemed universities linking education, research, employment, and learning is also mentioned.
Similarly, UML Chair KP Sharma Oli has presented comparable commitments in school and higher education through his party’s manifesto. UML has prioritized issuing the School Education and Higher Education Acts.
The party has pledged to maintain academic autonomy in universities and to develop schools and universities as autonomous institutions with accountability. UML plans to ensure free and compulsory education for all children, including pre-primary education, and to ensure that no one is deprived of education due to geographical, economic, or physical conditions.
The manifesto states that the education system will not remain solely enrollment- and examination-centered but will focus on producing human resources that contribute to patriotism, entrepreneurship, social responsibility, innovation, and national capacity building.
To achieve this, plans include developing contemporary, practical, ethical, patriotic, and digitally friendly curricula and educational materials.
UML has also set a goal to reduce the trend of students going abroad for higher education by implementing a teacher calendar, employment-oriented technical education, and “earn while you learn” programs. It also pledges to ensure safe school environments, laboratories, libraries, drinking water, nutritious midday meals, and world-class creative and vocational education.
CPN, in its manifesto, has pledged to pass the Federal Education Act in the first meeting of Parliament, operate schools through local governments, and integrate the University Grants Commission and the Medical Education Commission into a fully autonomous and politically interference-free Higher Education Commission.
Its commitments include “one municipality, one model smart residential school,” promotion of technology-friendly education, and digital literacy. It also plans to use digital technology to ensure transparency in teacher attendance, student progress, and examination processes.
Similarly, through its pledge document, the RSP has proposed ensuring political independence for teachers, professors, and students. It has pledged to completely prohibit political affiliation of teachers and professors, control disorder and disruptions caused by student organizations, and develop a non-partisan academic student representation system.
To improve the quality, access, and competitiveness of public education, RSP has committed to establishing modern, inclusive model schools in every province, providing necessary services to children with disabilities, and making universities research-oriented and employment-focused.
It has also promised to introduce simplified procedures for operating foreign universities, affiliated campuses, and degree programs, facilitate foreign professors and students to study and reside in Nepal, and expand the health insurance program under a strengthened model.