JICA Nepal sign pact on school development program

Kathmandu / July 23: The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) signed an agreement with the government of Nepal to provide a grant assistance of 300 million Japanese Yen (Rs 335 million) for the 5th year of the “School Sector Development Program (SSDP).

According to a press statement issued by JICA, the agreement was signed by Masamichi Saigo, ambassador of Japan to Nepal, and Sishir Kumar Dhungana, secretary at the Ministry of Finance, on behalf of the Japan and Nepal governments.

The program, which started in 2016, aims at consolidating the gains from previous reform programs and continues crucial reforms needed in the school education sector through the SWAP modality. “The overarching mission of the SSDP is to produce the needed human resources to elevate the country’s status from a least developed country by 2022 and to reach the goal of achieving the status of the level of the middle-income country by 2030,” reads the statement issued by JICA.

“The purpose of the SSDP is to improve the equity, quality, efficiency, governance and management of the education sector. The program also focuses on capacity and knowledge enhancement of both students and teachers by developing relevant teaching and learning methods and materials that ensures quality development. Lately, SSDP also focuses on strengthening school-level disaster management and resilience to develop school as a conflict free zone,” the statement reads.