The Boudha-based Samata Sikshya Niketan today inaugurated Master’s programme in Business Studies and Humanities with the admission fee of Rs 150 and monthly fee of Rs 100 for students belonging to poor economic background.

The programme was jointly inaugurated by Upendra Mahato, Anuradha Koirala and actors Madan Krishna Shrestha and Hari Bansha Acharya.

Speaking at the programme, Mahato, the founding president of Non-Resident Nepali Association, said an initiative with good intention would be successful by all means.

He congratulated Uttam Sanjel, founder of Samata Sikshya Niketan, for his initiative in educating needy students of Nepal. “The stakeholders, government, students and general public should support such campaigns which provide education to poor children with a monthly fee of only Rs 100,” he said.

Addressing the programme, actor Haribansha Acharya said, “Samata should expand its network to get financial assistance from other stakeholders like the Asian Development Bank, the World Bank, INGOs and government.”

He stressed that Samata must focus on quality education rather than attracting a huge influx of students to establish a strong foundation for the institution.

According to Sanjel, there are 45,000 students studying in Samata Sikshya Niketan’s institutions in 43 districts. Around 80 per cent of the students in these institutions are females.

The institution will enroll 40 students for Master’s level this year as per the rule of Tribhuvan University. The institution plans to take in more students from next year.

Koirala, founder of Maiti Nepal, said, “Lack of education and gender inequality is the major reason behind violence against women and children. These kinds of initiatives to make education accessible to people belonging to poor economic backgrounds will help reduce issues related to violence against women and children.”

Samata Sikshya Niketan had started its education campaign from Boudha with 850 students 14 years ago.

source: the himalayan times,11 March 2015