The Federal Parliament is currently debating bills related to education. According to the agreements or agreements made with the teachers in the past, the country has to make relevant laws and regulations in order to create a national policy covering all aspects of the education system as much as possible. But there is one aspect that is forgotten here, how much manpower will we produce for the country? What manpower is needed?

Or even if we send young people abroad, if we send young people of what kind of qualifications, which countries can bring many times more than the remittances coming now? These processes had to be furthered by seeking in-depth answers to such questions. But unfortunately, the discussion could not focus on that. It is a great misfortune for the country that no interest has been shown in a thorough discussion of these questions as pressure groups, interest groups active in this field and unions of teachers and staff active in various fields dominate.

In the context of Nepal, what kind of human resources can contribute to increase the national production is the most complex issue today and should be the focus of everyone's attention. This question has been important for decades. The Sixteenth Plan has pointed out that technical manpower is necessary, but it remains to confirm it and work on the basis of intensive study and research.

Today, we are providing various types of education in Hachuwa, but it is not sure where the manpower produced from it will go for employment or self-employment. If policies like education and health are decided only on the basis of market demand and supply, we cannot achieve the planned development that we think. Making policies based only on supply and demand will lose relevance after 10 years.

Therefore, invested education cannot give the desired results without determining how much manpower we can consume or need in the next few decades. Nor can it bring an increase in the national product as expected. There does not seem to be any significant discussion on such a serious matter. 

Education should either increase employment or self-employment, in the current situation our education is failing in both. Even discussions on education bills have not touched this failure. Keeping this in mind, the 16th plan says that 70 percent of students should be taught technical and vocational education. 

Manpower Directed System

Only after determining what kind of manpower we want to make the country's economy run, it is necessary to develop the education system needed to produce the manpower accordingly. How much construction work can we do in the next two/three decades? What kind of manpower is needed for that and how much? In other words, we are developing engineering education without determining how many engineers, supervisors and assistants are required. The same is true in the field of health.

How many medical officers, how many skilled doctors, nurses and pharmacists are needed, we still do not have accurate data. We are saying that it is an agricultural country, but even now it is not sure how many skilled manpower related to agriculture is needed in Nepal. Even now, if we think about how many manpower is needed in the service sector for the next 10 years, we do not have an answer. 

We don't even have a certain basis of how many students should be taught in which category in different levels of schools and higher education institutions. It is not known how many students are going to study abroad. Data systems in the educational sector are still traditional today. Neither the people leading the organization are able to take initiative to improve these things. All these things are hijacked by the group of people who are driven by the interests of the

party. Therefore, without dealing with what kind of manpower is required for sustainable production and how to produce those manpower, we are trying to make bills, rules and bylaws related to education policy. It is clear from this, where we are taking this country. If the leadership of the parties in democracy does not think about such things, how can the system become fruitful?

pointless controversy

Pointless debates are going on in Nepal from time to time regarding the education system. That is to restrict the private sector in education, which is neither practical nor financially feasible. We are talking about upgrading from an underdeveloped country to a developing country, even to maintain that level we need a lot of investment.

infrastructure investments are still rarely focused on sustainable infrastructure. Infrastructure investment has not been able to raise enough resources. There is a situation where the state spends much less than the required budget for the existing public schools. Meanwhile, we suddenly talk about restricting private investment in education. Apart from the increase in investment in education, investors are also losing confidence.

If we discourage private investment in this way and cannot increase public investment, it is clear that our students will go abroad to study and this trend will increase. What is surprising is that those who make such noises are the ones who make loud speeches about the students going abroad. Such is the result of suggesting policy without understanding the problem well.

Which parent would spend more money and enroll their children in private schools when the quality of public education is better? Can private schools thrive by improving the quality of public schools? What do you say to the politicians who talk against private schools without even understanding the basics? Again, the belief that government schools should be destroyed in order for private schools to flourish is completely wrong.

Therefore, private schools should live up to their competitive potential, while the state should improve the quality of public schools. The model schools operating in Ruppandehi district have proved that if the quality of public schools is improved, they will become the standard in the education sector. There are some such examples in other districts as well, this trend will continue to increase. Yes, the government agencies need to look into how we align the curriculum between private and government schools.

Investing in early child development

Investing in early child development can contribute to better manpower building, but investing in education for children in later years cannot. The investment made before the age of three is considered very important for the overall development, mental-physical and psychological development of the child.

Another thing, the better the child gets to grow up in a good environment for about two years before entering the first grade of the basic level, the better his overall development is and the more likely he is to be transformed into a good manpower. During these two years, it is becoming a mandatory requirement that his parents should be active in some productive work to earn income. Especially because of our family structure and the age of our parents.

Having early childhood development schools in place can increase parents' productivity and income. Therefore, the role of early childhood development programs is important in many ways. But unfortunately, the teachers who work there are exploited by the state and society. Because they are working for much less than the minimum wage. No government can develop the education system without being concerned about such problems. It is necessary to be serious about this. 

Improving the quality of basic education, course delivery on time, school management and laboratories need to be comprehensively improved require huge investments. If about 20 percent or more of the total budget is not invested in education for a few years, what the state wants to do in this area is not possible. Therefore, only by increasing investment in this sector in the form of current expenditure or capital expenditure, the specific goals can be achieved and the manpower produced will be able to provide good support to the national production.

But for that, as mentioned above, what kind of manpower will be produced and how many will be produced and in which field of employment or self-employment, the education policy will have to work by setting short-term, medium-term and long-term objectives. It is imperative that the proposed bills, rules and regulations ensure these things.

Higher education also requires huge investment. In order to expand technical and professional education and research education, quality sustainable infrastructure should be built in a result-oriented manner. The manpower that we have built should be built targeting certain markets of the world according to international standards, so that even in the absence of employment and self-employment in the country, it can contribute to increasing remittances. The education system also needs to pay serious attention to this.