Nepal Funds I.C.T Education for Schools

“By improving our education policies, we can become an education hub for the entire South Asian region.”

In this recent statement given in Kathmandu, Minister of Education (MoE) Madhav Prasad Paudel cast his vision of Nepal’s future. He also added, “The gulf between the rich and the poor is widening due to the current education system. The government should focus on ICT (Information and Communications Technology Education) to narrow down the gap between the rich and the poor.”

The MoE mandated the ICT in Education five-year Master Plan in March 2013. This ICT in Education Plan hopes to provide the necessary ICT skills to students, increase access to learning material, and encourage the effectiveness and efficiency of education governance.

The government of Nepal has allocated one billion Nepalese Rupees (USD 10.3 million) to provide its 8,711 government-run secondary schools with computers and internet access. The Department of Education (DOE) informed District Education Offices that they would be receiving the required funds to purchase five computers, one printer, and internet access. The Education Manpower Development Centre would arrange for skilled teachers to be assigned to conduct interactive ICT classes with the goal of integrating ICT infrastructure into the course program.

According to the Prioritize Minimum Education Condition (PMEC) report last year, only two thousand Nepalese schools have computers. An additional 7,140 secondary schools would receive updated ICT technology–leaving 19,860 of the remaining 34,782 schools still without computer facility. Currently, ICT coverage has reached 1,571 schools. With these incremental steps, Nepal hopes to move closer to bridging the education and economic gap with its investment for the future in ICT technology in government schools.
Creative Commons Love: World Bank Photo Collection on Flickr.com

 

Written by Melody Chiang