The President Educational Reform Program funds have been allocated by the Ministry of Education, Science, and Technology, which designated the funds to 4,250 schools for the program. According to the Center, the program's budget will soon be distributed to schools at the local level.
In the current fiscal year 2077/78 BS, the government has set aside Rs. 5.6 billion from the overall budget for different programs to complete the program within the current academic session. The selected schools have received between Rs. 650,000 to Rs. 10 million in funding.
Director-General of Center for Education and Human Resource Development (CEHRD), Baikunhtha Aryal said that the budget under the scheme had been allocated on the basis of priority. The priority sectors have been identified as; the construction of the buildings, construction of child development centers, the addition of floors, trust-building, retrofitting of buildings, construction of toilets, construction of girls' bathrooms, construction of drinking water and sanitation facilities, learning materials / educational materials, computers, science laboratories, and libraries. He also mentioned that funds had been set aside to construct educational materials, such as solar panels, an internet grid, digital screens, smart boards, projectors, the development of online and offline materials, emerging technologies for quality education, and other priority sectors.
There were 18 applications registered at the President's office forwarded then to the Prime Minister's office, besides that 101 other schools were registered with the President's Office within the notice period, 5,557 schools registered with the Centre for Education and Human Resource Development during the time frame, and 1,345 schools registered with the Ministry of Education. A total of 14 billion 351.9 million applications were received from 6,921 schools for various programs. But the Ministry of Education had selected 4,250 schools owing to the budget of Rs 5 billion.
The Ministry translating its plans of developing infrastructure for advancing the use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in education into action has approved the establishment of the data center. It has also approved the application of the 16 schools that submitted their application to the President's office. Construction of two schools in Taplejung and one in Tehrathum, whose buildings were destroyed in a fire, and a community school for HIV-positive students, Educational institutions for specially-abled students have been selected by the Ministry.
According to the ministry, drawing design, as well as the cost estimate and maximum cost cap for the production, repair, and physical infrastructure protection, are more than 2.5 million.
In selecting the schools, applications for retrofitting work and proposals for cost-sharing were prioritized. The number of pupils, teachers, and physical facilities that are currently enrolled in the school was also taken into consideration in the selection process.
A grant of Rs. 1.8 million per two rooms have been allocated to construct school buildings with a minimum of two rooms and a maximum of four rooms. Other than the classroom, the construction may be for the purpose of early childhood development centers, science laboratories, information technology (IT) laboratories, and libraries. A grant of Rs. 700,000 per school will be provided to the schools that submit proposals for toilets. Similarly, Rs. 700,000 per school has been provided for the schools demanding drinking water.
According to the plan for infrastructural development to expand the usage of ICT in education, Rs. 50,000 per computer has been allocated. Similarly, schools will get a grant of Rs. 650,000 for lab equipment.
Six hundred fifty thousand per school has also been provided for secondary schools that have applied for science laboratory materials and library materials.
