Education Minister, Constituent Assembly members and other speakers today pledged to incorporate education as the fundamental right in the new constitution.

Speaking at an interaction, Education Minister Dinanath Sharma said all parties have agreed to recognise education as a fundamental right in the new constitution.

He said, “We can mention education as a fundamental right in the new constitution, but it has something to do with other rights as well. We are exploring ways to make it as free as possible.”

Current education is unproductive, so it should be revised in such a way that it sells in national and international markets, he said.

Technical education is the need of the hour, Sharma said, stressing the need to promote it and make it accessible in every part of the country.

“As technical education is limited within urban areas only, village and rural people are deprived of it,” he said, adding, “Technical education should be decentralised and made accessible.”

Sharma expressed doubts that the Parliament may not pass the proposed bill for the eight amendment to the Education Act 1971.

Pradeep Gyawali, politburo member of the CPN-UML and CA member, said education should be recognised as a fundamental right in the new constitution. Gyawali, who is also a member of the CA thematic committee on Fundamental Rights and Directive Principles, said no political party is against declaring education as a fundamental right.

He said, “There should be a tri-lingual education policy so that the academic institutions are obliged to impart education on three languages — mother tongue, Nepali as official language and English as international language.”

“There is a huge investment in private education. The private education sector remains unregulated, so the government should introduce rules and regulations to regulate the private sector in education,” he added.

NP Saud of the Nepali Congress said though people from almost all political parties have already taken charge of the education ministry, nothing has changed yet. He also outlined the need to invest more in the education sector for good results.

source:The Himalayan Times,9 may 2012