By Our Correspondent
Taplejung, Nov. 8: Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Yogesh Kumar Bhattarai on Saturday said that tourism education was necessary for the development and promotion of Nepali tourism.
As Nepal is one of the centers of world tourism, tourism education is necessary for the promotion and development of tourism here, said Minister Bhattarai.
Inaugurating an information and communication technology (ICT) lab established at Siwa Secondary School in Linkhim of Faktanglung Rural Municipality-3 on Saturday, Minister Bhattarai said that tourism education was indispensable for promoting mountaineering education.
Bhattarai said that tourism education was essential to produce manpower capable of running mountaineering activities in Taplejung as there are mountain ranges including Kanchenjunga and other attractive tourist areas in the district.
He stressed on the need to provide tourism education from the school level as tourism development is possible only if the necessary manpower including guides and Sherpas (porters) can be produced for mountaineering through tourism education.
He suggested the school to keep tourism education as an elective subject in Siwa Secondary School, which is the gateway to Kanchenjunga, the main tourist area of Taplejung. Minister Bhattarai also said that he would take initiative to provide support from the ministry in this regard.
An ICT lab has been set up at Simwa Secondary School with a budget of Rs 1.5 million from the federal government. The school has 24 computers, batteries, inverters, CCTV cameras and other equipment for the lab, said school principal Omnath Gautam.
Principal Gautam said that the materials for class management had been procured with the additional support of the state assembly members and Faktanglung Rural Municipality. At present, 450 students from Faktanglung and Mikwakhola Rural Municipality are studying in Siwa Secondary School.
On the other hand, ICT labs have been set up in seven secondary schools in the district, including Siwa, said Rajendra Shrestha, press coordinator of the minister.
Meanwhile, according to our Solukhumbu Correspondent, Minister Bhattarai has assured that the Kangeldanda Airport, which had remained closed for years, would be reopened from this month.
While inspecting the airport, which was built with an investment of millions in Thulung Dudhkoshi Rural Municipality-2 of Solukhumbu on Friday, Minister Bhattarai said that an environment would be created for the interested airlines to fly after holding discussions with the airlines.
He said that the flights can be started at least once a week and then added according to the flow of the passengers.