The conference on the theme 'Inter-Province Education Conference: Relationships, Collaboration and Future Directions', jointly organized by the Federalism Study Center under Madhes University and the Federalism and Localization Center, was held in Birgunj on Saturday.

The conference, held under the chief guestship of Madhes Province Chief Surendra Labh Karna, was attended by education ministers of all seven provinces and chancellors/vice-chancellors of various universities.

The secretaries of the ministries of education of all seven provinces gave presentations on the education situation, problems, challenges, opportunities and possibilities of inter-provincial coordination in their respective provinces. Secretary Khubiram Adhikari from Bagmati Province, Additional Secretary Damodar Subedi from Gandaki Province, Acting Secretary Dilip Kumar Thakur from Madhes Province and Deputy Secretary Yadav Prasad Dulal from Koshi Province shared their views on the provincial situation.

Speaking at the inaugural session, Province Chief Karna said that the Federalism Study Center of Madhes University is a matter of pride for the country. He said that the university should be understood as an independent educational institution, not limited to the federal, provincial or local levels. He said that the evaluation system needed to be improved and that students should be evaluated not only on the basis of answers but also on the basis of their ability to ask questions. He also said that it was sad that Madhes Province had not yet been declared a literate province, which worried him.

Program chairperson and Madhes Province Education Minister Rani Kumari Tiwari said that the goal was to declare Madhes Province a literate province within the current fiscal year. She also complained that the image of the entire province was affected due to the weak reliability of data on the educational indicators of the province.

At the conference, Bagmati Province Social Development Minister Kanchan Chandra Bade, Karnali Province Social Development Minister Ghanshyam Bhandari, and Koshi Province Social Development Minister Ram Prasad Mahato expressed the need for inter-provincial cooperation in the education sector.

Similarly, Gandaki University Chancellor Dr. Indra Prasad Tiwari, Bagmati Province University President Dr. Chandramani Poudel, Madhes University Vice-Chancellor Dr. Deepak Shakya, Vice Chancellor of Madhes Agricultural University Dr. Bidyanath Mahato, Registrar of Rajarshijanak University Satyanarayan Sah, Vice Chancellor of Lumbini University Dr. Binod Prasad Dhakal and Senator of Tribhuvan University Bhawani Prasad Poudel, among others, expressed their views on various aspects of education reform.