The Higher Secondary Education Board has revived a programme, which it once deemed ‘futile’, to send officials and their spouses on foreign study trips.

While HSEB vice-chairman Hem Kumar Mishra and his team recently returned from a 10-day visit to New Delhi and Mumbai, yet another group is all set to leave soon.

Three years ago, the board had scrapped the programme stating that the visits were not fruitful and were costing it a pretty penny. However, this fiscal, the board set aside Rs 2.7 million for tours to study examination boards in SAARC member-states.

Acting Controller Durga Aryal, spouses of Mishra and Aryal, computer section chief Krishna Khanal, accounts section chief Raju Karki and a software engineer were in the team that recently returned from the trip.

Asked about the cost of the tour, accounts section chief Raju Karki said the trip was part of the board’s ‘corporate-forced’ leave. He declined to detail the expenditure saying that Rs 1 lakh was allocated per person for the 10-day trip. Sources said a member of the tour party gets money for a pair of suits and an additional $125 (Rs 11,250) as allowance for each day on the trip.

HSEB Nepal National Employees’ Organisation said such trips have never yielded benefits for the board and lashed out at officials for not taking decisions in a transparent manner. Prakash Awale, chief of the organisation, said officials are only frequenting Indian examination boards.

An official at HSEB said the top brass deliberately decide on the itinerary of their trips at the eleventh hour to keep protesting employees at bay. Spokesperson Narayan Koirala was not available for comments. HSEB member-secretary Bhim Lal Gurung said the visits were part of efforst aimed at establishing National Examination Board.

source: The Himalayan Times,10 June 2012