Ending the monopoly of private and institutional schools in providing 10 percent scholarship, the Department of Education (DoE) has endorsed a working procedure that authorises the District Education Offices (DEOs) to select students eligible for bursary.

After widespread criticism that private schools were misusing the quotas allocated to the students from poor and marginalised communities, the Ministry of Education (MoE) had decided to transfer the scholarship right to respective DEOs a month ago.

The Education Regulations 2006 states that the private schools are required to award scholarships to 10 percent students out of the total number.
According to the new procedure, a seven-member district level committee led by a DEO officer will be formed to select three percent students, while the remaining will be chosen by respective schools. “However, there should be transparency in scholarship distribution,” said DoE Director Tek Narayan Pandey.

He said that the scholarship aspirants should submit applications by mid-April indicating which school they would wish to enrol in. Students should also mention the names of five schools on a priority basis and the concerned district level committee will finalise the school based on quotas.

In addition to the schools in the regional level, students from Mid-Western and Far-Western Development Regions can apply for the schools in Lalitpur district, while those from Western and Eastern Development Regions can choose schools in Kathmandu.

Though the MoE had decided to implement such a policy from the schools having more than 500 students in the first phase, it has been expanded to all schools to increase the number of students. Every year over 15,000 students from poor and marginalised communities will benefit from the new initiative. More than 6,000 private and institutional schools are in operation at present.

source: The Kathmandu Post,31 march 2013