Kathmandu - Professors and employees of Tribhuvan University (TU) drawing pensions counting unpaid leave as service - the news emerged in many media last week. Both current and former officials are involved in this illegal and immoral act, mentioned the news. This has not only added to the financial burden on TU but has also raised questions about the university's academic reputation, the news quoted. The decision of the TU Appeal Commission has resulted in an additional amount of Rs 67.3 million (USD 0.485 million) being spent on pensions annually for 126 professors; the Onlinekhabar news portal published the investigative reporting. 

The Supreme Court has invalidated the provision of making employees ‘permanent’ through an internal competition in the Regulations related to the service of teachers and employees of TU, there was the news. In a writ petition filed against the regulations in January 2022, a joint bench of Justices on February 18, struck down the said provision of the Regulations, mentioned in the news. With this decision the court has blocked the path for teachers and employees to become automatically permanent in the name of internal competition, quoted the news. 

Although interviews were held on February 14 and 15 for 10 shortlisted candidates for the post of Vice-Chancellor (VC) of Kathmandu University (KU), the names for the VC have not been recommended yet for failing to reach a consensus among the Recommendation Committee members, the news published.

Similarly, 13 KU officials have jointly sent a letter to the Chancellor andthe Prime Minister, drawing his attention to immediately finalizing the recommendation process for the university's VC, the news covered.

Man Prasad Wagley wrote a Letter to the Editor in Kantipur urging KU not to tamper with the 'merit' list created through a process. Whether the Minister of Education and the Prime Minister have the right to demand a reason for not recommending a name, he questioned and demanded in the letter that this committee be dissolved and a new selection committee formed, or else the prepared 'merit list' should be made public.

KU has directed 10 private medical colleges affiliated with the university to provide stipend similar to those of government officers to the resident doctors (PG) studying in their college, there was the news.

TU, KU and Purbanchal University (PU) have proposed to arrange 'credit transfer' for Nepali students who have returned from the Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology of (KIIT) India, the news published. Nepali universities have announced that they will make study arrangements for students who returned home after the mistreatment at KIIT, and are calling for applications, mentioned the news.

Similarly, various local governments and schools have refused to appoint teachers who were selected through an open competition and recommended for appointment, the news published in the Gorakhapatra daily. Teachers who received appointment letters were unable to start the job for the refusal to assign them the job, the news mentioned. Recently, teachers recommended for appointment in schools in Bhaktapur Municipality have also been facing such hardships, quoted the news. According to the news, two people have been prevented from signing in attendance register at the lower secondary level using various excuses.

The Teachers Service Commission has made the names of candidates from 11 districts of Bagmati and Gandaki Provinces that have been recommended for the appointment to the primary level third grade public, report published. A list of 640 candidates from Gorkha, Kaski, Myagdi, Parbat, Manang, Mustang, Sindhuli, Sindhupalchowk, Rasuwa, Dhading and Chitwan has been made public, mentioned the news.

There was the news that the Kathmandu Metropolitan City organized an exhibition of the impact of the of 'Book Free Friday' programs on students initiated by the Metropolis to improve educational outcomes in schools as well as the knowledge and skills students acquired. In the exhibition students showcased their learning through dance, acting, drama, and dialogue, mentioned the news. The interest and results of 'Book Free Friday' were displayed at stalls by 35 educational subgroups.

Similarly, the school's Head Teachers interacted with Metropolitan City Mayor Balen Shah and Deputy Mayor Sunita Dangol on the work done to improve the standard of school education, the results of the work, and future plans, the news published. According to the news, during the interaction, Mayor Shah said that the standard of a school is determined by the level of attraction of students, more in some schools and less in others. The discussion has built an enthusiasm among public school Head Teachers, mentioned the news.

News of the Rastriya Samachar Samiti (RSS) studying through smart tabs (computers) by students of Ram Tulsi Model Secondary School (SS) in Rampur Municipality, Palpa, has been published in almost all media outlets. With the introduction of technology in public schools, the school is currently attracting the attention of not only students, but also parents, public representatives, and locals, the news mentioned.

This news shows that not only the common people of Nepal, but also media workers and journalists are fascinated by technology. Various studies have concluded that children around the world are spending more time in front of television, computer, or mobile screens, which could lead to future problems. Based on this, there have been reports that various countries have started campaigns to ban children up to a certain age from using mobile phones and to make classrooms free of smart screens. But we are oblivious to that and encouraging children staring at screens longer and longer. Technology can aide learning but it is not learning itself. Studies tell that technology has much smaller contribution to learning other than faster reach unless it also comes with new ways of learning. It is important to consider what children are learning from devices like tablets and whether those devices sharpen or stifle children's creativity, desire for exploration, and original thinking.

The Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (MoEST) has sent a budget and program of Rs 5 million (USD 0.36 million) to Biratnagar, Pokhara Metropolitan Cities, Janakpur, Hetauda, Ghorahi, Dhangadhi Sub-metropolitan Cities and Surkhet Municipality to operate mega kitchens in 7 municipalities of 7 provinces, according to a news report quoting the Education and Human Resource Development Center. Mega Kitchen is a program that provides integrated lunches to students in schools within the Municipality.

In the article titled "The Future Destination of Technical Education," Pramod Bhatta writes that the time has come to review whether the state has achieved the goals for which it established CTEVT and other structures to conduct technical and vocational education.

Federal State Minister of Forests and Environment Rupa BK has said in the news that the government will work towards building green schools in Nepal.

It’s a welcome statement. It would be good if the concerned Ministries cooperated for it. This statement makes unsure if the State Minister of Forests is aware of the Green School program of MoEST. 

There was news that the 'My School, My Responsibility' campaign has been launched to improve the educational quality of public schools in Lumbini Province. The news report stated that this campaign will be effective to increase trust of public schools, where 71 percent of children study.

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Urban Development Prakash Man Singh, while addressing the 29th International Conference of the Nepal English Language Teachers Association, said that a collective effort is needed to improve the quality of education through curriculum development, teacher training, and policies.

While it is a good that an international conference has held in teaching English in Nepal. One needs to ponder if to what extent it has hijacked students’ learning in the name of quality. Hope, such an issue has also been discussed in the conference: what is worth learning English if they are not equipped with other life skills and competence in other subject matters. 
The news reported that a single family has hold the Shree Rahman Primary School in Ishalampur Village, Gujra Municipality, Rautahat. The school's management committee is chaired by Mr Majibu Rahman, a retired teacher from Islampur for a decade, his son Mohammad Afroz Alam, is the principal, Afroz's daughter Gulshan Nesa, a teacher, and Afroz's wife Sabrin Khatun is a helper, the news report stated.

There was news that ECD teachers are demanding that they be given the same service facilities as primary level third-grade teachers and that ECD be incorporated into the school structure.

It was reported that a fixed fund of Rs 7 million (USD 0.5 million) has been established for the operation of Jala Kanya Devi SS in Sulikot, Gorkha. The news reported that an eight-room building constructed with financial support from the Singapore Red Cross and the Singapore Nepali Society to operate Class 11 and 12 has been inaugurated. Similarly, Kantipur reported that 13 women aged 35 to 65 have been admitted to Krishna Basic School in Barpak, Gorkha and are attending school regularly.

There was report that Sainamaina Parameshwar Model SS in Sainamaina Municipality, Rupandehi, is providing training in folk singing and Panche Baza (traditional music system with five organs), as well as necessary equipment, to make students self-reliant.

Ramesh Prasad Gautam has written an article in Gorkhapatra titled "Let's make education free from political parties."

Purpose of this news review is to classify and synthesize the educational content of the week and provide objective comments from the point of view of social justice and creative pedagogy including the environment. It is aimed to the policy makers and stakeholders to help make informed decisions. In this joint effort of the Center for Educational Policies and Practices (CEPP) and EduKhabar, material from daily newspapers - Kantipur, Gorkhapatra and The Himalayan Times, online news portals - Online Khabar, Setopati and Ratopati and the 8 o'clock news of Nepal Television and 7 o'clock news of Himalaya Television is summarized and presented with commentary on relevant issues. We have covered the contents from 22-28 February 2025 in this issue - The Editor.

Read last two week's analysis in Nepali : बेतलबी बिदा जोडेर पेन्सन ? [अडियो/भिडियो सहित]

Read last week's content : Last week in education