KATHMANDU - The three sub-committees formed by the Law, Justice and Human Rights Committee (LJHRC – please note that this is not the regular Committee that is bestowed with the formulation of the Bill – ed.) of the House of Representatives to conduct a reality-check on the ground of Madhesh, Lumbini and Sudur Paschim Provinces have concluded that it is already quite late to replace the Education Act 1971, there was the news. The sub-committees suggested that a Federal School Education Bill should be formulated to facilitate the powers to the local government as bestowed by the constitution, the news mentioned.

The sub-committees suggested that the constitutional rights should be taken into consideration in relation to teacher transfer and other issues, the Onlinekhabar news portal quoted. The LJHRC sub-committee has included in their suggestion about the provision of Municipal Education Committee for the management, supervision and coordination of schools operating within the municipal jurisdiction, should be included in the Education Act, the news mentioned. 

A Working Group formed internally by CPN (UML) has prepared a report to form a collective view of the party about the Bill, there was the news. Similarly, it is mentioned in the news that the Nepali Congress is discussing on the Bill and soliciting suggestions.

The Education, Health and Information Technology Parliamentary Committee of the House of Representatives discussed the Federal School Education Bill (FSEB) with students, parents and teachers at Red Cross Secondary School in Narayan Municipality of Dailekh and collected suggestions, the news published. The Committee is preparing to take FSEB  to the parliament in this Winter Session after preparing the final draft based on the suggestions collected from the seven provinces, mentioned the news. 

The Nepal Teachers' Federation has met Nepali Congress General Secretary Gagan Thapa to drawn his attention to pass the School Education Bill in the forthcoming Winter Session of the Parliament, there was the news. 

The Teacher's Union (of Nepal - TUN) creates controversy on the clear fact that since the right to run schools is a prerogative of the Municipalities, the right to manage teachers is automatically the matter of their jurisdiction. Controversy is created whether the teachers belong to Federal or Local Government in the school education Bill when political leaders and parliamentarians are influenced by TUN. While the discussion of the school education bill is going on, it appears that the sub-committee of LJHRC made clear that the SEB should also move forward in the direction of the Constitution and the Local Government Act to give all the authority up to the secondary level to the Municipalities in the School Education Act. If the top leadership, to some extent the party workers did not sway with such sentiments, it will be better for the country and the citizens. As the government and the ruling parties as a whole do not have the option to amend the Constitution immediately, it is better not to captivate the decisions under the demands of teachers, especially aged teachers. It is better for the teachers' organizations to pay attention on every teacher’s well-being rather than the appeasement of few teachers on the debate of whom they are kept under. Decision makers should also be ware with the fact that interest of private schools and teachers may also come together where it comes to maintaining the status quo. 

There was news that 35 permanent teachers of Kaski have resigned en masse in protest against the Ordinance made to amend some Nepal Acts related to the promotion of good governance and public service delivery, to provide teachers with contribution-based pension. By amending the Contribution Based Pension Act, 2075 through an ordinance, teachers who have been permanently appointed since 4th Chait 2075 (18 March 2019) have been included. They argue that the law cannot come to affect to a back-date. Teachers and staff organizations such as Nepal Teachers Federation, Pension Deprived Teachers Struggle Committee, Nepal National Teachers Organization, Nepal Teachers Association, Progressive Teachers Organization, etc. have warned of a strong protest if the teachers are taken to the contribution-based pension scheme, the news mentioned. 

The selection committee for Vice Chancellor of Kathmandu University published the list of 16 candidates including Prof. Dr. Navin Pokharel and Prof. Dr. Manish Pokharel nephews of the Coordinator of the Committee and former Vice-Chancellor (VC) Dr Suresh Raj Sharma, question has been raised in the integrity of Mr. Sharma, the news published. Even though the Medical Doctors went to the court saying that they were deprived of applying for the post of VC, the Medical Doctors could not apply for the post of VC after the Supreme Court did not issue an interim order, the news mentioned. 

There was news that the dispute lingering for about four years between Kathmandu University and Dhulikhel Hospital has been resolved. It was mentioned in the news that the dispute was resolved with the suggestion of the Dispute Facilitation Committee formed by the Government.

There was news that Data Science and Cyber Security course has been started at the postgraduate Level of Nepal Open University. A Bachelor's degree or equivalent in Information Technology is the requirement to enroll to the two-year, four-semester online program, mentioned the news. 

There was another news that Tribhuvan University (TU) has extended the admission date for undergraduates till January 23rd. As the number of students coming for enrollment is low, the deadline has been extended in the hope of enrolling more students.

Similarly, Dilli Ram Prasain, Co-Examination Controller of the TU's Regional Examination Control Office, Biratnagar, has resigned after the protest against him for his early claiming of PhD - without completing the course, the news published.

It has been two months since the Free Student Union of Bhaktapur campus barred the campus head Kavita Luintel from entering the campus alleging that the campus land was given to the Bhaktapur Municipality, there was the news. 

It was report that when the Executive Council of the TU appointed the Campus Chiefs in 24 campuses, none of them were woman. The Students Union affiliated to the Nepali Congress, has demanded the resignation of the Vice-Chancellor, Rector and Registrar of the University for appointing the Campus Chiefs biased to partisanship in the name of meritocracy, the news quoted. 

Even though the fifth month of the financial year is about to elapse, there was news that the work of Madhesh Agricultural University has been affected because the budget has not been passed by the Assembly of the University.

It was reported that the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (MoEST) has called for applications for the post of two members, including a woman, for the Teachers Service Commission. Similarly, there was another news that the MoEST has called for experts to be listed as education experts. The ministry has called experts to be listed in early childhood development education, school education, higher education, vocational skills and training, technical education, statistics, information technology, etc. mentioned the news. 

Teachers Service Commission (TSC) has advertised 367 teachers for secondary level, third grade, there was news. According to the news, Commission has asked for applications for Nepali subjects 51, English 84, Mathematics 75, Science 84, Social Studies 52, Office Operations and Accounting 10 and other various subjects 13 for all seven provinces. 

There was news that the National Examination Board has announced the examination schedule for SEE 2081 starting from 7th Chait (March 20, 2025).

In Pratappur of West Nawalparasi, the eye of a student studying in UKG was damaged due to the beating of the teacher, the report published. In the news, the left eye of a 6-year-old student studying in UKG was broken when Sanju Chaudhary, a teacher of Ech Pathshala in Pratappur Rural Municipality, hit him with a stick. 

Jagriti Basic School located in Fidim, Panchthar, has been providing full board free education to the community deprived of educational opportunities, there was the news. The school dropout rate among Majhi and Tamang community children was high, and after the residential provision was started, the school dropout rate decreased by 70 percent, mentioned the report. 

Rong Rural Municipality of Ilam has launched a mobile application to make parenting education effective, there was news. The Municipality has been providing parental education to the parents of the students studying in the public schools of the rural municipality to increase their interest in the school and has launched a mobile app to make it more effective, the news mentioned. Similarly, there was news that Resunga Municipality Gulmi has started a parent education program in community schools to increase the quality of education.

In most of the school canteens, potato chops, pakodas, chow mein, momos, puri-curry, pasta are cooked and most of the tiffin is made from highly processed ingredients i.e. Lacking fiber, report published on the Onlinekhabar. After parents complained that the school who should be teaching 'health and nutrition' is compelling children to eat unhealthy food. During the monitoring by the food research team of Kathmandu Metropolitan City, it was found that the food of the canteen of Rosebud School located in Buddhanagar is not healthy for children, mentioned the news. 

In an article 'Give or not to Give Homework to Students?  Mr Pravigya Regmi in Setapati wrote that homework often disrupts family relationships. In the article, conflict is created when parents put pressure to do homework and children try not to do. Besides, homework reduces children's time for independent play, extracurricular activities and rest, he wrote. 

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 Nepal Television and Himalaya Television is summarized and presented with commentary on relevant issues. We have covered the contents from 11-17 January 2025 in this issue - The Editor.

Read last two week's analysis in Nepali : शिक्षक स्थानीय तह अन्तर्गत !?

Read last week's content : Last week in education