KATHMANDU, August 16 (Nepal Foreign Affairs)–Japan has extended grant assistance of up to three hundred million Japanese Yen (¥300,000,000), equivalent to two hundred eighty million Nepalese Rupees (NRs280,000,000) to Nepal for the School Sector Development Program (SSDP).
Japanese Ambassador to Nepal Masashi OGAWA Finance Secretary of Nepal Shanta Raj Subedi signed notes to this effect at the Ministry of Finance on Tuesday, according to Japanese Embassy in Nepal.
Another set of grant agreements for implementing the program were signed by Jun SAKUMA, Chief Representative of JICA Nepal, and Baikuntha Aryal, Joint Secretary of the International Economic Cooperation and Coordination Division of the Ministry of Finance.
Speaking at the event Ambassador OGAWA said that education is an investment in human capital and the foundation of a nation’s sustainable social and economic development.
He added that education can help eradicate poverty and contribute towards nation building and that the assistance intended to support Nepal’s poverty reduction efforts through exclusively executing the SSDP.
The Ambassador said that Japan is aware of the strong commitment Nepal has for implementing the SSDP for assuring access to quality education for all children and added that proper implementation can enable Nepal to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
In addition to this support, Japan has been assisting Nepal through various programs in education to support Nepal’s efforts to attain sustainable socio-economic growth. The Government of Japan has been implementing the Emergency School Reconstruction Project for rebuilding and retrofitting schools in the districts severely affected by the 2015 earthquake.
OGAWA said that Japanese support would lead to the provision of equitable, efficient and quality education, while also helping to develop the governance and management of the education sector, and make the nation more resilient to future disasters.
“Embassy of Japan is confident that the objectives envisaged by the program will be achieved, and contribute towards further strengthening the existing relationship of friendship and cooperation between the peoples of Japan and Nepal,” the embassy stated in a press statement.