Education Minister's mistrust of civil administration: Procedure for recruiting trainee staff

The employees of the Ministry of Education are angry that they are going to crack down on "outsiders" in the name of motivation to have access to government information like civil servants. A joint secretary of the ministry accused the education minister of approving the procedure with the intention of running the work from the trainees while disbelieving the employees. He expressed his displeasure saying that some branches of the ministry are useless and the employees are unemployed and they are being used as trainees. According to the

procedure, they will be mobilized according to the needs of the ministry, departmental work pressure, thematic area and the interest of the trainees. It is mentioned in the procedure that applications will be requested and trainee employees will be selected directly by shortlisting from among them. The Secretary of Education will be the Coordinator in the Selection and Recommendation Committee for Education Promotion, while the Joint Secretary of the Planning and Monitoring Division and the experts appointed by the Ministry will be the members.

The Deputy Secretary of Manpower and Planning Development Branch will be the Member Secretary. "The person who has been recommended as a catalyst for education should be mobilized as a trainee by the head of the relevant division of the ministry, the head of the office in the case of other subordinate offices and the head of the public body under it," said the procedure. Section 17 mentions the procedure by which promoters can coordinate and collaborate with other ministries, government and public bodies. If this arrangement is implemented, the trainee staff will be able to be employed in more than a dozen government offices under the Ministry of Education.

After completing the two-week trial period, the ministry will determine the tenure of the catalysts. Prior to that, at least two days of practical work in the ministry have been arranged to acquire practical knowledge. The Ministry will provide them with a certificate after the completion of their tenure. It is mentioned in the preamble that procedures should be issued to inform the human resources who are studying in universities and higher educational institutions, who have obtained higher educational degrees and who are waiting for degrees, about various aspects of the country's government management, system, and practice, to assist in service delivery, and to facilitate the collection of necessary facts for the work process. It has not been disclosed according to which law the procedure has been issued. In general, when issuing such procedures at the ministerial level, there is a provision to issue them according to the existing laws and regulations. A deputy secretary of the Ministry of Education claimed that the procedure was issued in Hachuwa. He also accused the minister and his secretariat of trying to conduct parallel exercises by appointing trainee staff.

Keshav Dahal, the spokesperson and joint secretary of the Ministry of Education, said that the procedure has been introduced targeting the students who are studying and who have completed their studies. "Students are going to get practice and government agencies will also get support," he said. He said he wanted to take it. They don't have access to things that should remain confidential. Catalysts only play the role of helpers,” said Dahal.

Former Secretary Gobind Kusum comments that trying to run the ministry by bringing in staff from outside will interfere with the bureaucracy. "Apart from the private secretary in the ministry, even the personal secretary cannot come and interfere in the work," he said, adding that when employees are appointed separately in the name of the trainees, it is a parallel practice. It does not give results, it increases mistrust.' But recently, he expressed his displeasure that the personal secretaries appointed by the minister dominate as the minister's representative and further weaken the bureaucracy.

It seems that the minister tried to walk away without trusting the current administration. There are good, decent people in the civil service. A trend of disbelieving them has begun. It is not good to be afraid of politics and bureaucracy. We have to walk together,' said Kusum. He also pointed out that when trainees are brought and employed, the non-system will be more active than the system. Former secretary Kusum said that special types of students can go to an institution related to that subject and get information about the work there and do an 'intern'.

In the beginning, the ministry staff proposed a draft of 'Trainee Student Mobilization Procedure-2080' to mobilize students studying in higher education only for a certain period of time. In the draft, it was mentioned that students can be taken as trainees for a maximum of 3 months for such practice. Arrangements were made to recommend students through the University Grants Commission. However, Minister Shrestha and his secretariat broke it and passed a procedure so that anyone can be made a trainee and can be mobilized at any time. In the draft, it was proposed that the students who are doing undergraduate and postgraduate studies will be selected and mobilized as teaching practice (interns) after evaluating them in 100 integers. However, it has been arranged in the procedure that it can be selected and recommended directly by making a shortlist by the recommendation committee.

It is also mentioned in the procedure that education promoters should not be involved in subject areas whose scope of work has been determined to be kept confidential by law, to be written or to remain confidential as a matter of policy, to be edited only by persons appointed or nominated or elected according to prevailing laws. However, an official of the ministry says that it cannot be ensured that confidential information and data of the office will not be leaked when trainees are assigned along with employees. "How can you believe that you sit in the office 10-5 but the information about the work and documents does not get out?" he said. Critical and analytical skills are prioritized in the selection of

catalysts. It is said that priority will be given to people who can conduct quick, fact-based research, identify problems and contribute to implementation through possible solutions, have knowledge of English and Nepali languages, are technology-friendly, creative, think innovatively and can independently lead and work in groups. . The

catalyst is said to determine the conditions of not working for other organizations in a conflict of interest, complying with prevailing laws, maintaining confidentiality, not misusing government property, and not engaging in activities outside of the area of ​​work responsibility in which they are involved. It is mentioned that the role of the trainee will be to work on research and writing and data analysis, data visualization, communication content creation. Their evaluation will be done by the monitoring committee or an officer designated by the committee.