The Ministry of Education (MoE) today decided to provide maximum Rs 300,000 to fully damaged schools.

A meeting held at the MoE today decided to allocate budget to create an environment for resuming classes that were halted after the April 25 earthquake and its aftershocks.

MoE has decided to provide Rs 75,000 to a primary school that runs Grade I to III classes and Rs 125,000 for those that run Grade I to V classes.

Similarly, it is going to provide Rs 200,000 to lower secondary schools running classes from Grade I to VIII and Rs 250,000 to Secondary Schools and Rs 300,000 to Higher Secondary Schools.

Khagendra Nepal, spokesperson, MoE, said this fund was to begin academic activities in the schools soon.

He said, “This fund will be used to clear the debris of destroyed buildings and begin classes at the earliest.”

He further said the school could use the fund in its way on a needs basis, while a separate package with textbooks and other necessary materials will be provided later.

Likewise, the government has decided to provide fund to partially damaged schools too. It has decided to provide Rs 35,000 to schools running Grade I to III, Rs 60,000 to school with Grade I to V, Rs 100,000 to school with Grade I to VIII, Rs 135,000 to schools with Grade I to X and Rs 150,000 to schools from Grade I to XII.

MoE had asked the Ministry of Finance for Rs three billion for renovation of school buildings and Rs 160 million for immediate relief to destroyed schools and to create an environment to reopen schools from May 15.

Shiva Prasad Upreti, under secretary, DoE today said teams of engineers will visit academic institutions in the Valley for rapid visual damage assessment.

He said, “Ten teams of altogether 30 engineers were going to be mobilised from tomorrow in the Valley to find whether schools were safe to resume classes.”

He stated that engineers were supposed to visit from today but they were busy in an orientation programme so they would be going to the field from tomorrow.

He further said another team of 30 engineers would visit Dhading, Nuwakot and Kavre for rapid visual damage assessment. He informed that teams visiting outside Kathmandu Valley were volunteers from engineering colleges who would be oriented before the visit. “Each team will include one engineer, one data entry officer and one either Resource Person or School Inspector,” he said.

The government had decided to establish Temporary Learning Centres in the schools where schools have been fully damaged. “Education stakeholders have been discussing and planning to resume classes,” he added.

As per data with DoE, 3,552 schools have been damaged in 14 districts, including districts in Kathmandu Valley. Within 3,552 schools, 12,550 classrooms have been fully damaged, 4,070 classrooms have major damage and 6,889 schools have suffered minor damage. Similarly, 1,637 toilets, 808 compound walls and 1016 water supply system have been damaged in the worst-hit districts.

source:the himalayan times,11 may 2015