JICA helps rebuild 274 quake-damaged schools

Kathmandu, May 11

Central Level Project Implementation Unit (CLPIU) of the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (MoEST) has completed the reconstruction of 274 schools with 760 blocks and over 4700 rooms.

The reconstruction of those schools damaged in the devastating 2015 Gorkha Earthquake in Gorkha, Dhading, Nuwakot, Makwanpur, Rasuwa and Lalitpur districts was managed under Emergency School Reconstruction Project (ESRP) with Rs. 14 billion in investment.

The reconstruction was based on the earthquake-resistant type design guidelines jointly formulated by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and ADB under the principle of 'Build Back Better' (BBB).

The reconstruction of the school structures is part of the Emergency School Reconstruction Project (ESRP) supported by JICA. The Project was implemented by the CLPIU at the Education Ministry.

Speaking at the programme, Minister for Education, Science and Technology, Ashok Kumar Rai, thanked the Government of Japan for the assistance in the reconstruction of education infrastructure. He also expressed his commitment to improving the quality of education in the schools.

Former Chief Executive Officer of the National Reconstruction Authority, Sushil Gyawali, expressed his happiness over the completion of the project and said that the quality infrastructure is the foundation of quality education as well. He urged the school management, teachers and stakeholders to work to improve the quality of education.

Meanwhile, he also said that there is a need to adopt BBB principles in the remaining schools across the country.

The ESRP was implemented based on designs and structural guidelines which comply with the Nepal National Building Code. All the 274 school buildings are reconstructed with multi-hazard resilient structures – which are child, gender and disable-friendly – to provide an improved learning environment for the students based on the concept of BBB which increases resilience not only physically but also socially.

Besides the school buildings, the support also includes classrooms well equipped with furniture, laboratories, early childhood development centres, separate toilet blocks for boys and girls, solar back up, playground, boundary fences and footpath pavement, informed JICA.

Secretary of MoEST, Ram Krishna Subedi, said that the Japanese support has been instrumental in enhancing access and quality education and the capacity of the education system in Nepal.

Ambassador of Japan to Nepal, Kikuta Yutaka, said that Japan’s assistance contributes to the improvement of education services and earthquake resilience for sustainable socio-economic growth and hoped for further strengthening of cooperation between Nepal and Japan.

Okubo Akimitsu, Chief Representative of JICA Nepal, expressed his commitment to making further efforts so that the children studying at schools of ESRP will inherit a more resilient Nepali society as a result of our cooperation.

 Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 12 May 2023.