SEE stopped : school’s assessment to be recognized instead

11 June, Kathmandu : The government has decided not to conduct the Secondary Education Examination (SEE) and instead recognize the internal evaluation of schools amidst the continued risks of global pandemic of COVID-19.

The Wednesday meeting of the Council of Ministers took the decision acting on the proposal of the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology reasoning that it was not possible to conduct exams due to risks stemming from COVID-19 and its subsequent possible negative impacts on the study and psychology of the students.

Removing the obstacles emerged due to the pandemic as per the Article 20 of the Education Act-2020 BS, the government has decided to not conduct the SEE exams, informed government spokesperson and minister for communication and information technology Dr Yubaraj Khatiwada.

At a press conference held at Singhadurbar today to disclose the decisions of the cabinet, Minister Khatiwada said, “The concerned schools would send the details of year-end examination of secondary education grade 10, SEE and the final assessment undertaken by schools for the fiscal year 2076 BS to the Education Development and Coordination Unit of the districts and it would certify the evaluation details and forwarded to the National Examination Board”.

According to the government decision, the National Examination Board would prepare the results based on the details received and publish and issue certificates after scrutiny, Khatiwada informed. The Board could frame necessary work procedure to execute the decision accordingly. The directive would be published in the supplementary edition of the Nepal Gazette.

The Cabinet meeting decided to endorse the order of the Policy Research Academy Development Committee. The government also decided upon to accept Rs 400 million grant received in scholarship from the Government of Japan and promote joint secretary of the Ministry of Finance Udaya Raj Sapkota to secretary of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and secretary of the Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Dhana Raj Gyawali to secretary of the Office of Prime Minister and Council of Ministers.

Likewise, it was decided to promote secretary of the TRC Rishi Raj Bhandari to secretary of the Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs. The meeting decided to provide Rs 200,000 in relief each to 12 families of those who died from spurious alcohol consumption in Mahottari.

The cabinet decided to extend the term of the commission to investigate misuse of government and public land and conserve guthi land on the proposal of the Ministry of Land Management, Cooperative and Poverty Alleviation and appoint Punya Prasad Bhusal of Syangja district as its member. The meeting decided to appoint Guna Prasad Bhattarai of Mahottari as managing director of Railways Company. His term will be of two years.

The meeting also decided to purchase additional machinery materials, medical appliances and medicines to deal with COVID-19 outbreaks, supply PCR machines, increase tests and improve management of quarantine facilities and isolation across the country.