Kathmandu: The Ministry of Education today decided to shift the Sanothimi-based office of the Regional Education Directorate to Hetaunda, Makwanpur district.

As per the decision, the Bhaktapur-based office will resume its operation from the inner Tarai town, which is also part of the Central Development Region, from December 18. The shift will create difficulties for Kathmandu and nine other neighbouring districts in terms of ease of access.

However, acting secretary at the ministry Arjun Bahadur Bhandari said the decision is in keeping with the policy of relocating regional offices and is meant to give decentralisation a boost. He said the plan to shift the office got delayed because of the lack of building and other infrastructure.

The office distributes SLC certificates covering the period between 1995 and 2010, registers SLC examinees, monitors schools and carries out tasks related to school upgradation.

However, Director Dev Kumari Guragain said she is yet to receive formal communication from the ministry. Asked about the inconveniences that the office shift will cause, Guragain said some nine districts of the Tarai will benefit from the move, while Kathmandu and nine other neighbouring districts will suffer.

Though several important offices are based in Hetaunda, officials concerned are discharging their duties from the Capitalm making a mockery of decentralisation.

During King Gyanendra’s rule some seven years ago, then home minister Kamal Thapa had said regional offices should be relocated to other districts within a region to ensure decentralisation.

source: The Himalayan Times, 20 Nov 2011