National Examination Board Leadership Vacuum Impacts Educational Reforms

Kathmandu. The National Examination Board, which has the main responsibility for conducting and managing secondary education examinations, has been without leadership for the past nine months. The board has been without a chairman since the term of the then-chairman Mahashram Sharma ended on Push 12. The board's vice-chairman is the secretary of the Ministry of Education and Sports as per the National Examination Board Regulations, so the current secretary has been holding the responsibility as acting chairman. Currently, the Education Secretary is Chudamani Poudel. The prolonged leadership vacuum has directly affected the strengthening and improvement of the examination system. The main tasks, duties, and responsibilities stipulated in the board's act and regulations have not been fully implemented due to the absence of a permanent chairman. The formulation of the board's short-term and long-term policies, plans, and programs has been affected. High-level coordination and equivalence work with domestic, foreign, governmental, and non-governmental organizations have slowed down. Board employees say that although daily administrative tasks are being carried out due to the interim leadership, the process of long-term decisions and policy reforms has stalled, creating uncertainty in the education sector. The board chairman is tasked with formulating and overseeing the formulation of the board's short-term and long-term policies, plans, and programs. Similarly, it has been determined to evaluate and oversee the progress of the plans and programs related to examinations conducted under the board. A board employee said, 'The planning, progress evaluation, monitoring, and inspection process of various examinations conducted by the board has become weak. There is a delay in preparing important proposals to be submitted to the board and submitting the annual report.' Stakeholders have begun to express dissatisfaction as plans to enhance the quality of secondary education and make the examination system technology-friendly have been halted. There is a demand for the government to immediately appoint a qualified chairman to prevent the board from becoming stagnant and to preserve the reputation of secondary education. Employees say, 'The secretary has to look after the entire education sector of the country. When work is needed, one has to go to Singh Durbar. If a chairman were appointed, at least they would give full time to the board.' Before the government led by Balendra Shah was formed, the name of Pushparaj Joshi, former controller of Tribhuvan University's Examination Control Office, was recommended for the post of board chairman. However, the current government canceled the recommendation, stating that it would appoint through a new process, and the board has remained without leadership. Applications for the selection of the chairman have not yet been called. The government had stated that it had canceled the selection process carried out by the recommendation committee formed for the appointment of the National Examination Board chairman. As per the rules, a recommendation committee comprising the chairman of the Public Service Commission and at least one woman from among the educationists and two members nominated by the ministry should be formed to recommend the appointment of the chairman to the government. Bir Bahadur Dhami, joint spokesperson of the Ministry of Education, said that the ministry has not moved forward with the process of appointing the board chairman. He said, 'Discussions are ongoing about how to appoint the board chairman, but no concrete decision has been made.' Although the Ministry of Education was preparing to appoint the board chairman after the process of appointing university officials was completed, it has not been able to move forward with the process yet. Board member-secretary Jang Bahadur Aryal said that there is no difficulty in administrative work. He said, 'Work has been going on smoothly so far. No difficulty has been felt.' The government had stated that it had canceled the selection process carried out by the recommendation committee formed for the appointment of the National Examination Board chairman. As per the rules, a recommendation committee comprising the chairman of the Public Service Commission and at least one woman from among the educationists and two members nominated by the ministry should be formed to recommend the appointment of the chairman to the government. After the committee recommends names, the government appoints the chairman of the board. A person who has at least a postgraduate degree from a recognized university and at least 12 years of experience in the field of education and examination is eligible to be the chairman of the board. According to the amended Education Act, the formation process of the National Examination Board and the qualifications of its officials have been specified. The vice-chairman of the board will be the secretary of the Ministry of Education, while the joint secretary of the ministry looking after school education, the director-general of the Department of Education, the executive director of the Curriculum Development Center, the member-secretary of the Council for Technical Education and Vocational Training, and the examination controller of Tribhuvan University will be ex-officio members. In addition, provisions have been made for the nomination of additional members to ensure inclusive and sectoral representation on the board. The board will nominate three members, including at least two women, from among experts with at least 10 years of experience in teaching, education administration, and examination fields. Provisions have been made for the ministry to nominate two members, including at least one woman, from among the principals of community and institutional secondary schools. The responsibility of the member-secretary will be given to an official of the first class gazetted rank of the Nepal Education Service or a senior employee of the board designated by the ministry for the daily administrative work and administrative coordination of the board.