Minister Pokharel Meets Japanese Ambassador Toru Maeda

Kathmandu. Minister of Education and Sports, Sashmit Pokharel, held a courtesy meeting with Japanese Ambassador to Nepal, Maeda Toru, on Thursday. Discussions were held at the Ministry in Singha Durbar regarding the long-standing friendly bilateral relations between Nepal and Japan, common interests, and strengthening multifaceted cooperation. Furthermore, potential areas of cooperation in the education sector in the coming days were also deliberated upon.

During the meeting, Minister Pokharel, who is also the spokesperson for the Government of Nepal, expressed his belief that the historical, friendly, and trust-based relationship between Nepal and Japan would further deepen in the coming days.

He mentioned that the government is moving forward with commitment to improve public education, stating, 'There are challenges in improving public education. But accepting challenges is the initial prerequisite for improvement. The Ministry of Education and Sports is fully committed to that.'

Minister Pokharel opined that although the results of investment in education take time to yield, the process of improvement and change must begin immediately. As an example, he stated that the work of evaluating the physical infrastructure of schools has been initiated, and based on that, budgets will be allocated to schools as needed in the coming days. He also expressed the Ministry's commitment to prioritize work in areas such as physical infrastructure, educational facilities, and teacher training.

He mentioned that cooperation with the Japanese government could be undertaken in areas such as safe school infrastructure, digital and smart learning, professional development of teachers, and school health and nutrition. He also expressed the view that Nepal could learn from Japan's practice of teaching cultural values and discipline to students from the school level, and that programs could be conducted to develop Nepali culture, values, and a spirit of cooperation. Minister Pokharel stated that the government is moving forward with new thinking and reforms in line with the changing context and that Nepal is ready to cooperate with the Japanese government in potential areas.

Japanese Ambassador Toru expressed confidence that the Japanese government would continue to support the efforts initiated by the Government of Nepal to improve public school education. He mentioned that long-term political commitment, a capable bureaucracy, and overall system trust are necessary for the improvement and good governance of school education, and stated that Japan would provide necessary support for such initiatives.

He noted that teacher training is essential for quality school education and suggested that the Education Development and Coordination Division or related bodies should be effectively utilized for conducting teacher professional development programs.

Ambassador Toru stated that the reform efforts initiated by the Government of Nepal in the education sector are commendable and emphasized that their direct benefits should reach the general public. He stated that long-term commitment is necessary to establish good governance in the overall education system for the improvement of public education.

He mentioned that since reforms in the education sector take time to yield expected results, strong commitment and patience are necessary from the initial stage.

Ambassador Toru expressed the view that if policy stability, administrative facilitation, and infrastructure development can be further accelerated, Japanese private sector interest in Nepal could increase further. Similarly, he mentioned that there are ample possibilities for expanding cooperation between Nepal and Japan in the information technology sector and stated that cooperation between the two countries can be further strengthened in areas such as digital infrastructure expansion, technical human resource development, innovation, and investment promotion.