We have had a reply today to the email sent to Asian Development Bank and it is copied in it's entirety below. The letter is from Barry Hitchcock, the Nepal ADB Director, and before we offer a follow up response we would welcome comments from our readers, either sent direct to us or as Comments on the Blog below.
"Thank you very much for your email and we appreciate your concern about the quality of education in Nepal. We do acknowledge that while the education reforms in Nepal have been very successful in improving access and equity, the progress in improving quality has been slower than anticipated. As a result, we are making greater efforts to improve the quality of education. Our new program, School Sector Program (SSP) has been designed to support the Government of Nepal's 7 -year (FY2Q1Q-FY2016) School Sector Reform Program (SSRP) which includes a strong component of need based teachers training programs. Currently the SSRP is supported by ADB and 8 other development partners (Australia, Denmark, European Union, Finland, Nonvay, UNICEF, United Kingdom and World Bank) using a sector-wide approach.
Building on the achievements of the Education for All Program (2004-2009), the SSRP aims to (i) expand access and equity, (ii) improve quality and relevance, and (iii) strengthen the institutional capacity of the entire school education system. As part of the SSRP implementation, the government and development partners have been working collaboratively with different stakeholders such as the associalion of international non-governmental organizations (AlN) and the national federation of non government organizations. Representatrves from these institutions have been participating in our joint consultation missions, annual and quarterly reviews, sharing their concerns and providing important feedbacks. Further, the members of AIN have also attended regular meetings of development partners. In the upcoming Joint Consultation Mission (1 'l-13 December 2011), the representative from AIN will provide their observations on the implementation of SSRP on 13 December 201 1 at the Ministry of Education. We have been, and will continue to accept insights from non-state and other stakeholders in order to further the quality of education reforms.
ADB welcomes the concerns raised by the stakeholders so that we can all work in partnership towards improving the quality of education in Nepal. ADB is currently the focal point for the development partners. We look foruard to your suggested meeting with us so that we can discuss your concerns and your involvement for improving quality of education in Nepal.
With kind regards,
Barry Hitchcock"
Our own immediate comments are first that we are very grateful for a reply, something we rarely get from our own DFID, second we find the reply to be positive in nature, and third we look forward ourselves to meeting with ADB in the near future.
1 comment:
This comment is directed towards Mr Hitchcock whose response to NSA demonstrates genuine openess to listen to all who have a desire to improve education in Nepal.
It is encouraging that ADB recognises that the largest of philanthropic organisations may not necessarily have all the necessary information to create the essential impact required. Support has been supplied in many forms historically with no significant impact so 'doing more of the same' is unlikely to work.
NSA has created a blue print for quality education that is not currently addressed in SSRP. NSA's Academy training programme targets the heart of quality learning which requires skilful and motivated teachers. Bricks and mortar and statistics of increased attendance look impressive providing evidence and data that is simple to collect but it is the interaction between effective teaching and children that will raise standards and the quality of education for the future citizens of Nepal.
Dr Brian and Champa Metters have established a practical, innovative training programme providing a key to open the door to quality education. It is not too great a statement to suggest that NSA's Academy 'blueprint' has the potential to transform learning for children and young people in Nepal should it's principles be adopted and supported by Nepal's Ministry of Education and rolled out nationwide.
Post a Comment