KATHMANDU: This year, 29 schools under the Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC) have changed their names to better reflect Nepali identity and heritage.
The KMC Education Department confirmed that the changes were made in line with a request issued by the Metropolitan City last year to promote national culture and identity.
According to Keshav Gyawali, acting head of the KMC Education Department, the Metropolitan City currently oversees 784 educational institutions. These include 26 basic schools, 58 secondary schools, four special schools, 23 alternative schools, 11 religious schools, 28 community learning centers, and 425 institutional schools. In a related development, KMC announced that 30,779 students from its affiliated schools received scholarships in the academic session 2081 BS.
Following the implementation of KMC’s scholarship system, 5,895 female students received general scholarships, 1,322 Dalit students were awarded Dalit scholarships, and 455 students received scholarships designated for students with disabilities and residential needs. Additionally, Gyawali said that 19,306 students from grades 1 to 10 and 3,801 students from grades 11 and 12 in institutional schools benefited from scholarships.
For the current fiscal year, KMC allocated a budget of NPR 3,29,47,77,000 to the education sector. Of this, 53.8 percent (NPR 1,77,34,42,000) has already been spent. For internal regular programs, NPR 1,04,85,27,000 was allocated, with 30 percent (NPR 31,56,05,000) utilized so far.
According to KMC, of the NPR 600 million allocated for the “Education for All, Metropolitan’s Wish” initiative, only NPR 51.66 million (8.4 percent) has been spent. Similarly, out of NPR 111.4 million earmarked for golden plans in the education sector, NPR 43.2 million (38.8 percent) has been expended.
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