Three separate Memoranda of Understanding (MoU) were signed on June 4, 2007 by the Embassy of India, Kathmandu with concerned District Development Committees and school authorities for the new school buildings of (a) Shree Bhimgithe Secondary School in District Baglung with a grant assistance of NRs.4.3 million, (b) Shree Padmodaya Public Higher Secondary School, Tribhuvan Nagar, Bharatpur in District Dang with a grant assistance of NRs.26.8 million, and (c) Shree Chandannath Higher Secondary School in Khalanga Bazar of District Jumla with a grant assistance of NRs.24.9 million.
Established in the late 1940s and early 1950s, these schools are among the oldest and most reputed in their areas and together fulfill the educational needs of over four thousand students -- over 800 students for Shree Bhimgithe Secondary School in Banglung, over 2100 students for Shree Padmodaya Public Higher Secondary School in District Dang, and over 1100 students, of which almost half are girl students, for Shree Chandan Nath Higher Secondary School in District Jumla. These schools are presently functioning in old, dilapidated and inadequate classrooms and lack resources for their repair and upgrading. The current projects with the cooperation of Government of India will help in creating the requisite infrastructure for these schools in keeping with their high educational standards. In the case of Shree Bhimgithe Secondary School in Banglung, the proposed infrastructure to be built with the assistance of the Government of India will actually enable the school to upgrade to higher secondary level, thus further contributing to the development of education in a number of adjoining VDCs.
Under the MOUs signed on June 4, 2007, monitoring committees have been constituted for each project consisting of representatives from the respective school management committee, representatives of DDC and District Education Office to oversee the project, supervise the construction work and ensure effective utilization of the grant.
These projects, which include the second educational project in District Dang and first educational projects in districts Jumla and Baglung with the Indian assistance, are part of the on-going bilateral economic cooperation programme between India and Nepal, which presently has more than 200 large and small projects being realized in the sectors of education, health, community development and infrastructure covering all the districts of Nepal with an outlay of over NRs.2000 crores.
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