Sixth world conference of Global Campaign for Education in Nepal

Kathmandu — The sixth world assembly of the Global Campaign for Education was held recently.This conference is centered in Kathmandu, November 16-18, 2018

Speaking during the inaugural session as quoted by thehimalayantimes, Minister of Foreign Affairs Pradeep Kumar Gyawali said the government was making efforts to allocate 20 per cent of the total budget to the education sector.

The minister also said there was no alternative to quality public education for development and prosperity in the country. He informed the forum that Nepal had recently enforced laws related to free and compulsory education. He expressed hope that the conference would identify causes behind increasing social crimes, gender-based violence and unemployment worldwide despite the rise in literacy rate.

Also speaking on the occasion, United National Deputy General Secretary Amina J Mohammed underscored the need for collaboration between the government and civil society to meet the SDG4 by 2030. The SDG4 is about the quality education with a focus on inclusive and equitable education and promotion of lifelong learning opportunities for all.

UN Girls Education Initiative Secretariat Director Nora Fyles was of the view that any nation could achieve prosperity provided that it could deliver quality public education with the guarantee of inclusiveness, and fair and equal opportunities.

JCE President Camilla Croso said every government should allocate six per cent of the GDP and 20 per cent of the total budget to the education sector to meet the goal for quality and accessible education for all. She stressed on raising voice against increasing privatisation and commercialisation of the education sector.

At the conference hosted by the National Campaign for Education, social representatives, education campaigners and youth advocates from several countries will discuss issues related to the need for reforms in the public education system for justice, equity and inclusiveness.

Kumar Bhattarai, president of the National Campaign for Education, Nepal, said Nepal should promote public schools rather than private ones. “But the proportion of children enrolled in private schools has grown tremendously in the last 20 years, particularly in key urban areas where the private sector accounts for as much as 80 per cent of total enrolment,” he added.

He further said that private schools were virtually given a free hand in determining tuition fees. “Many private schools charge more than the state-determined fee due to poor monitoring and regulation by the state,” he claimed.

The conference that started with the theme ‘Transforming public education systems for equality, inclusion and justice’ will conclude on November 18. More than 339 member organisations working for equitable, inclusive, free and compulsory quality education throughout the world are participating in the programme.

The conference will conclude by electing a new leadership for GCE.

Indonesian Delegation

JPPI National Coordinator Ubaid Matraji became one of the panelists at the conference.

According to Ubaid, the conference took place quite productive and had a lot of experience attracting representatives of a number of countries, especially the good practices and strategies of civil society organizations in fighting for civil rights and ensuring that every citizen obtained the right to quality and sustainable education.

ASPBAE President Nani Zulminarni was asked to deliver a speech at the opening of the conference, and emphasized the importance of access to quality and inclusive education that will determine the future of all nations, especially in facing various challenges, realizing clean governance, while overcoming various obstacles to democracy and natural disasters.

Nani added, the world needs to cooperate more closely in overcoming various crises in order to realize decent, equal and sustainable education for all its citizens.