By Our Reporter Japan has extended grant assistance of two hundred eighty million Nepalese to Nepal for the School Sector Development Program (SSDP). Japanese ambassador Masashi Ogawa and secretary at the Finance Ministry Shanta Raj Subedi signed notes to this effect  at the Ministry of Finance on 15 August. Another set of grant agreements for implementing the program were signed by Jun SAKUMA, Chief Representative of JICA, and Baikuntha Aryal, Joint Secretary of the International Economic Cooperation and Coordination Division of the Ministry of Finance. Speaking at the event the ambassador 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.