th
K AMAL P P OKHREL
D IRECTOR , D EPARTMENT OF E DUCATION , N EPAL
1

P RESENTATION O UTLINE
– Legal Provision (Constitution and Laws)
– Sector Plans, Programs
– Provision on proposed RtE Act
– Access
– Quality /Student Learning/ Quality
– Infrastructure and holistic coordination mechanism
– Teachers management
– Resources for Education
2

• Political transition stage – Post conflict
• Population 26.5 million
• 42% under age 18
• 66% of the population is literate (5+)
• Culturally rich and diverse – 123 different language groups
• Geographic diversity – mountains, hills and the plains.
• Ranked 147 out of 187 countries on the HDI
(a least developed country)
3

1.2 E DUCATION AT A G LANCE
Nepal Education Budget NRs. 81000 m = US$ 810 m (2013); 4.3% of GDP, 65% of
National Budget
For Basic Education
Legal Instrument : Education Act, Regulations, Guidelines, Circulars
Apex Institution : Ministry of Education
Current National Program : School Sector Reform Plan (2009-2016), Free and Compulsory education Program.
Enrolment : Total: 8.7 million
Basic (Grade 1 – 8; Age 5-12 years) : 6.5 million
Secondary (Grade 9 – 12; Age 13-16 years) : 1.2 million
ECD (Age 3-5 i.e. 36 to 39 months : 1.0 million)
GPI, almost 1:1 at all level
No. of Schools: 34782 (with 14% share of private) and secondary level-grade 9-12 : 8711)
Teachers: Total : Govt pay roll: 152,909 + community hired + private school teachers
Female teachers 41.5%
Indicators: Net Enrolment Rate : 95.6% (Primary)
Survival : 84.1% (Primary)
Cohort graduation 75% (Primary)
Out of School Children 1.1 m aged 5-16 years and 0.6 m aged 5-12 years
Literacy : 65.9% (2011 Census) and 69% (2013 estimated)
4

2.1 L
P
: R
E
N
Nepal’s
Commitment on Int’l forum
(HR-
Declaration,
CRC.
EFA,
MDGs)
Interim
Constitution of Nepal 2006
Fundamental
Rights :
Article 17: Right to Education and
Culture
Education
Act – 1971
Education
Rules -
2002
Child Act,
1992
Child Rule
- 1995
Child
Policy
2012
Right to
Education
Act:
(in the process of ratification)
5

Nepal and int’l Conventions/Declarations
Nepal being a signatory of various Declarations has devised policy and legislative instrumentation to ensure the right of children to education
• Universal Declaration of Human Rights 1948: Article 26
• Declaration of the Rights of the Child 1959
• U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child 1989 (Ratified: 14 September 1990)
• International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights 1966: Articles 13
& 14
• Minimum Age Convention 1973
• Optional Protocols to the CRC on Sex Trafficking, Armed Conflict 2000
• International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights 1966
• Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women
1979
• Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention 1999
• International Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Racial Discrimination
1965
• International Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities – CRPD 2006
(Signed: 3 Jan 2008)
6
• Salamanca Declaration on Special Needs Education 1994

(1) Each community shall have the right to receive basic education in their mother tongue as provided for in the law.
(2) Every citizen shall have the right to receive free education from the State up to secondary level as provided for in the law
(3) Each community residing in Nepal has the right to preserve and promote its language, script, culture, cultural civilization and heritage.
(1) Every child shall have the right to have their own identity and name.
(2) Every child shall have the right to get nurtured, basic health and social security.
(3) Every child shall have the right against physical, mental or any other form of exploitation. The exploiting actions shall be punishable by the law and the person who is treated in such manner shall be compensated in accordance with the law.
(4) Helpless, orphan, mentally challenged, conflict victims, displaced and street kids at risk shall have the right to get special provision from the state for their secured future.
(5) Any minor shall not be employed in factories, mines or for any other hazardous work or shall be used in army, police or in conflicts.
7

– Each community shall have the right to basic education in mother tongue as provisioned in the law
– Each community shall have the right to free education up to secondary level as provisioned in the law
– Free education includes, inter alia, absence of all forms of tuitions, free midday meals and school dress, and provision of hostel and scholarships as per need.
8

•
•
•
•
•
9

•
•
•
10

2.2 R IGHT TO E DUCATION IN P LANS AND PROGRAMS
2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
Basic and Primary
Education Program
Education for All EFA Education for All EFA
Years 1 to 12 Sector-Wide
Approach
Tenth Plan Eleventh Plan 12th Plan 13th plan
Education for All - Global Programme
 Education for All National Plan of Action (EFA/NPA-2001-2015, long term) – Goal 2

EFA Core Document (2004-09, medium term) – Goal 2

Thirteenth Plan (2013-15) NPC:

Education Sector Plan: School Sector Reform Program (2009-15) – Component 2

Out of School Strategy Paper (2013-2015), FCBE 1093 VDCs, 13 districts – Pilot
FCE
 Literacy/NFE Policy and Program Framework – Related with FCE

Community School Support Program (CSSP, 2003- 2009) – Contributes to FCE

Construction of Primary Schools (EFA 04-09; JICA, 03-06) - Contributes to FCE

Teacher Education Project (TEP, 02-07) - Contributes to FCE

Various Programs of UN agencies, such as UNICEF, UNESCO, UNDP, WFP, ILO

Various programs of I/NGOs such as Save the Children, Plan Nepal, World
Education, World Vision are contributing to FCE of Nepal
11

R T E IN S CHOOL S ECTOR R EFORM P LAN (SSRP) 2009-15
Goal of basic education
‘to ensure equitable access to quality education through a rights-based approach and promotion of a child friendly environment in schools’ (p. 13)
Objective of the basic education
‘to ensure equitable access to quality basic education for all children in 5-12 age group’ (p. 13)
Strategic Interventions
‘A phased plan for a compulsory basic education policy through statutory arrangement, appropriate at national and local levels’ and
‘Incentive schemes to encourage local governments to adopt and declare basic education free and compulsory in their respective areas’ (p. 15)
12

2.3 Right to Education Act (RTE Act)
In the Cabinet for endorsement
to ensure the school age children's right to free and compulsory education
– Free = not to charge any kind of fees (monthly tuition, admission, readmission, sports, extra-curricular, lab, library, exam, maintenance, primary aid, etc) and removal of any financial burden by the state that prevents a child from completing specified years of schooling
– Compulsory = mandatory provision of admission, attendance, retention and completion of specified level of education, parental duty to admit their children to school
13

The Beneficiaries
– 5-12 years age children, gradually up to grade 12
Right of a child:
– All children shall have right to free and compulsory education at the neighborhood school.
Duty of the Government:
– to ensure free education to every child including immigrants residing in the country for more than three months;
– establishment of school unit in each community to ensure access at child’s neighborhood;
– ensure no child with disability remain out of school;
– ensure school Minimum enabling conditions (teacher, curriculum, textbooks, school calendar, incentive and support system to the students)
14

Entitlements:
– Textbooks, Midday meal, materials, other incentives, special attention to children from in danger community (socially, financially or other reasons)
– Voucher system/ incentive coupon for poverty card family is under discussion
Community Participation :
– Majority of SMC members from among parents of children in the school
– Empowered SMC by giving extra powers e.g. evaluation of the teachers
Quality Measures :
– Academic responsibility of the teachers and code of conduct specified :
Teachers qualification for appointment upgraded.
– Permanent teacher to be recruited by national level TSC and temp. at local level
– Students can opt for change of a school if school does not meet quality standards
– Schools Norms and standards are set
• Minimum Infrastructure: Classroom, teachers, textbooks, separate toilets and book corners, sports facility
• Teacher-Pupil Ratio of 1:40 (max.)
• School days (220 opening days, 192 days net instruction) and total instructional hours (800 hours grade 1-3, 1000 hours upper grades)
15

Special Arrangements:
– Providing second chance education for over-age and dropout children;
– integrated and segregated schools for differently-abled children;
– residential schools for remote areas with difficult geography,
– special incentives system for deprived and vulnerable ethnic groups,
– mainstreaming of traditionally run Madarsha, Gonpa and Gurukuls education
– Local government Municipality, VDC, Wards’ geographical territory taken as unit of FCBE implementation
State Facilities to parents who admit, retain and assist their children to complete desire level of education
– Different social security allowances
– National ID, citizenship, voter ID, land-owner/property card, poverty card and any other ID
– Eligibility of a candidature
– Eligibility of entry in public services
– Bank loans and waiving
(this clause to be enforced in two years of enactment):
16

Partnership for sharing responsibility and funding:
– Joint responsibility of central and local government (own fund and allocations from centre),
– local bodies (VDCs, Municipality) to plan and implement
– Integrated govt programs to be implemented in the targeted pocket areas,
– DDCs right to coordinate and intervene to ensure FCE
– DEOs to establish and coordinate NGOs networks
– NGOs to prioritize FCE within their plans/programs
Role of private schools :
– Provide scholarships (with residential facility wherever applicable) for 10% of total students,
– Enroll students with voucher scheme,
– Establish institutional linkage with specified public school to share experiences,
– Government to allocate grants to best performing private schools
17

3. E
P
F
W ITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO F REE & C OMPULSORY P RIMARY E DUCATION (G OAL
2 OF EFA OR C OMPONENT 2 OF SSRP)
• Improving equitable access (More schools to bring School Closer – 30 minutes or less, alternative schooling, flexible school hours, free education, free textbooks, school feeding, school mapping, increase number of female teachers, Focused Interventions to Bring Out-of-School Children into the System)
• Improving quality and efficiency (Curriculum improvement, teacher training, Resource Centre and their Professional support, School environment, reform in school exam, Introduction of CFS, SZOP, NVT with directives)
• Increasing institutional capacity (EMIS, decentralized management, HRD plan)
• Continuing school self- Governance and community involvement
(Block grant, performance based incentives, Community school management)
• Targeted programs for disadvantaged (Incentives, scholarship to remove Economic Barriers)
18

3.2 I
/
Access Measures:
»
Welcome to school program for reaching the disadvantaged children in the rural area
»
Grants to public lower secondary and secondary schools to provide free education to all dalit students helped increase their enrolment and retention
»
3-phase approach to Free and Compulsory Education (expanding access of free education; ensuring FCE as fundamental right through proper legislation; and piloting and gradually making FCE compulsory) paved the way for RtE Act
Focused Interventions
»
Special incentives for all girls upto grade 8 , all dalit, and Karnali (remote area)children and children with disability up to grade 12
»
School feeding program (day meal program) ensured not only enrolment of the children but also their retention for the whole day and for the whole year
» Oil for mothers for daughter’s enrolment and retention worked well in increasing girls’ enrolment
» residential programs in remote district help girls complete secondary education
»
Alternative schooling programs for children in difficult circumstances
19

Quality Measures:
»
Free textbooks to all public children up grade 10 to helped enrolment as well as learning
»
Pilot approaches like Community ownership & management of schools to raise quality of public schools
»
School buildings, toilets (with water), furniture
»
IT expansion for learning 8500 secondary schools receive fund for 5 computers, power, connectivity, learning material
Interventions for efficient management
»
PCF, block grants, training, Teachers (female), reservations
»
Administrative and Instructional support structure in place (local and centre)
»
Textbooks (opened to private), multiple sets, digitization
»
Collaboration and partnerships (national and global)
20

3.3 S
E
A
•
Significant improvement in enrolment : Pri. Level NER from 80% (2000) to 95.6%
(2013)
•
Female teachers from 30% (2006) to 42% (2013)
•
Licensing of teacher profession has been undertaken successfully
•
ECD enrolments increased (GER from 10% (2000), and 41.4% (2006) to 73.7% (2013)
•
Gender parity reached to 0.99 (2013)
•
Initiation to institutionalize of decentralized governance and management systems as a result 13000 schools took part in community managed school (CMS) program
• robust planning, implementation, reporting and monitoring mechanisms through the
ASIP process at the centre and through SIPs, VEPs and DEPs at the local level.
• Well Established EMIS – regular bi-annual school census and reporting in the form of
Flash reports I and II
•
VDC wise database of out of school children and illiterate people (from National
Census 2011 and household survey of NFEC)
• Visible Systemic readiness: RtE Act in progress
21

4. I
4.1 Access of hardcore group is a point to begin with
– Still some children (>4%) are not in school – who are they? Where are they?
Identification of OOSC is an issue.
– How they could be brought to school? How to Bring the children of marginalized community, Musahar, Chepang, , Chamar, Dom, Halkhor and Dusadh, Raute, working and street children, the hardcore groups
– Girls due to social barriers, Muslim communities, Rural mountain, children with special needs are out of easy access to schooling
– Guaranteeing equitable access to those out-of-school
4.2 Student learning/quality in schools is at the core
– Learning achievement of the students is low as reported by several research studies and external examinations
– Curricular intents and expected outcomes of curriculum should be further disseminated
– Synchronization of textbooks, CAS and teacher training with curriculum is a need
– Integration life skill/soft skills into teaching learning requires more efforts
– Need to shift the focus on assessment for learning rather than assessment of learning
22

4.3 Infrastructure and holistic coordination mechanism is needed
– Ensuring Prioritized Minimum Enabling Conditions (PMECs) in each school
– Making schools and classrooms sensitive to needs of disadvantaged children
– Coordination among govt (MOE, MOWCSW, MOFALD, MOHA, MOHP, local governments) as well non-govt agencies
– Institutionalization of coordination - statutory provision to be created under the coordination of NPC
4.4 Teacher management is a complicated issue
– Mandatory provision of training and licensure, qualification upgrading of teachers, reservation policy, need based TPD program is in place,
– Crucial concerns in the area of teacher management and devt
• Redeployment and management to address the disparity in STR across the regions
• Teacher time on task (time with children) and irregularities
• The proportional share of female, Dalit, Janajati, disadvantaged popn
– A strong and transparent teacher performance monitoring and evaluation system with clear standards is needed for teacher accountability
– Teachers are not in a position to see their needs for demand driven TPD in certain critical areas, such as CAS, reading skills, or the new curriculum so needs further response to teacher development effort
23

4.5 Resource is a basic requirement to reach the goal
Current Arrangements of resources for education:
₋ Education as a largest sector of public funding
₋ Donor's commitment The pooling development partners include the Asian
Development Bank, Australia, Denmark, the European Union, Finland, Norway, the United Kingdom, the United Nations Children’s Fund, and the World Bank including funds from the Fast Track Initiative, FTI and Non-pooling: JICA, USAID,
UNESCO and WFP
₋ FTI/GPE (received 120m USD in 2012 and next round in place)
₋ Local government legally bound to invest in education
₋ Growing investment of private sectors and I/NGO's
₋ Community and parents’ investment
24

… Resource is a basic requirement to reach the goal
Issues:
₋ Fragmentation and weak links in programmes
₋ Unplanned spread of settlements in rural areas and overlapping catchments areas in cities
₋ Declining DP support
₋ Ensuring proper distribution and utilization of resources provided to schools
₋ Yet to explore multiple sources of funds
Way Ahead
₋ 20% share of govt’s annual budget expected
₋ Concrete cost sharing approach to be instituted (GoN : regular cost including teacher salary, Local body/community : space, infrastructure and matching grants, non-state Partners I/NGOs - technical aspects, capacity building, learning materials and child friendly environment)
₋ Mobilization of adequate funds – multiple non-state actors to be intensified
25

ON
STATE
CTOR
S
S
RIVATE SECTOR
ROLE IN EDUCATION
• Non-State actors (I/NGOs, NGOs, Private sector, CSOs etc) have played a major part in supporting the GON to improve children’s access to quality education and enhance the delivery system ranging from ECD level to higher education and for access, quality, HRD, Teacher Development.
• Private sector holds 14% of education share (in terms of school, student and teachers)
• Red Book support and direct support in practice
• Partnership guideline prepared jointly and approved by the government guides the collaboration
• Expansion of collaboration with exiting as well as with new partners is desirable
(and always feasible in Nepal)
26

I/NGOs area of expertise in Nepal
– Locally connected: Intervention at very grassroots level and hard core areas
– Working in line with the principle of Neutrality, Impartiality and Independence
– Fulfilling gaps in specialized areas through TA support
– Quick response at disaster situations
– Regular meetings and loose networks are in place for regular coordination
– Essential partners for advocacy or policy lobbying
Some Issues still exist
– Duplication in investment
– Report requirement not matching government’s ones (additional burden at school level)
– Replicability /sustainability
– Transparency
27

6. N
'
P
-2015 D
A
A team led by MOE and supported by UNESCO working on this with the objectives of
– Assessing the progress made in past in 7 goals of EFA (One additional goal of
Nepal is to Mother Tongue and multilingual education)
– identifying the remaining challenges in meeting MDG’s and EFA’s goals
– Developing holistic vision for post-15 agenda
Progress to date
– 7 separate thematic groups led jointly by a Joint Secretary of MOE and an expert from academia formed and work in progress
– Table work
– Wider consultation with stakeholders such teacher unions, students, parents, local bodies, dalit/woman/janjati commissions, I/NGOs, Private sectors,
Journalists, youth, CSOs and other govt agencies)
We have yet to finalize Nepal’s position in this discourse, however some of the priority areas identified are
– Putting education first in the post-15 development agenda
– Quality Education for All
– Student learning is at the core
28

– Free and Compulsory Basic Education
– Right to education in mother tongue
– Equity strategy to ensure equitable access to hard core group
– Special provision for disadvantaged children to bring remaining
OOSC from core hard group; Multi-disciplinary intervention
(Formal and Flexible)
– Better addressing the pedagogical issues relating to language, gender, social and economic to ensure completion of schooling meaningfully and beneficially
– Special intervention for Early grade reading
– Life skills and value of local wisdom
– Ensuring Minimum Enabling Conditions (MECs) at all school
– ICT applications in education with coonectivity, digital contents and alternatives energy schemes
– Continuous assessment system
29

– Investing more in children (midday meal in needy pockets, more resource for quality 70:30)
– Focus on strong partnership (INGOs, NGOs, DPs, private and public sectors) to work on a common ground in achieving both qualitative and quantitative aspects of FCE
– Enhanced Partnerships (DPs, I/NGOs, private sectors and other government agencies)
– Sharing at local, regional and global levels,
– Making local governments more responsive with explicit role of local governments, VDC, municipality,
– Legal responsibilities of local bodies municipalities – enlargement and enrichment to be ensured
– Strong governance: Dissemination of the Legislation to the lowest possible unit: Accountability frameworks and responsiveness
– Proper acknowledgement of people’s livelihood, parental literacy and mother’s engagement in education
– Parenting education to empower & mobilize parents for quality FCE
30

P
A
R
C
31

Sagarmatha: the Top of the World
32

Annexes
Status in terms of major EFA Indicators
No Indicators
1
2
3
4
5
Gross Enrolment Rate of Early
Childhood / Pre School
Percentage of New entrants at
Grade 1 with ECD
Gross Intake Rate at Grade 1
Net Intake Rate at Grade 1
Gross Enrolment Rate
2001
12.8
7.8
122.9
-
124.7
2002 2003
19.8
19.9
9.6
13.7
2004
Achievement
2005
39.4
69.9
10.9
101.3
117.1
125.9
74.0
76.1
-
118.4
126.7
130.7
NA
148.1
NA
145.4
6
Net Enrolment Rate
81.1
82.4
83.5
84.2
86.8
7 % GNP channeled to Primary edu 1.8
2.0
1.9
2.0
1.9
8 % of Education Budget channeled to Primary Edu.
9 % of teachers with required qualification & training
10 Percentage of teachers with required Certification/License
-
56.7
60 60
15
-
NA
-
17.4
60
30.5
--
63
44.9
100
2006
41.4
2012 Target 2015
73.7
80
18.3
55.6
80
148 138 102
86 90.7
98
138.8 130 105
87.4
95.6
100
2.0
2.0
2.5
57+3 65 65
60 98.2
100
100 100 100
33

No Indicators
13
14
11
12
Pupil Teacher Ratio
Repetition Rate:
12.1
-- Grade 1
12.2
-- Grade 5
Survival rate to Grade 5
Coefficient of Efficiency
15 Percentage of Learning
Achievement at Grade 5
16 Literacy Rate
16.1
-- Age Group 15-24
16.2
-- Age Group 6+ years
17 Adult Literacy Rate (15+ years)
18 Literacy Gender Parity Index
(15+ years)
Achievement
2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2012 Target2015
39.9
35.7
35.8 39.7
49.8
47.3
37 30
10.6
38.7
36.8
34 NA 28.3
30.0
19 10
9 11 13.5 NA 10.4
10.0
12 8
65.8
67.6
67.7 76.2
79.1
80
60.0
60 NA NA 63 NA
40
84.1
90
80
NA NA NA NA NA <50 80
70
54
NA 90.1 NA 76 NA 84.7
95
NA NA NA 60?
NA 65.9
90
40.7
NA 48 NA 52?
NA 59.6
75
0.6
0.67
NA NA 0.7
NA 0.99
1.0
34

Abbreviations used
• CAS = Continuous Assessment System
• CFS = Child Friendly School Framework
• CRC = Convention on Children Rights
• CSO = Community Social Organization
• DDC = District Development committee
• Devt = Development
• DP = Development Partner
• ECED = Early Childhood Development
• EFA = Education for All
• EMIS = Educational Management
Information System
• FCBE = Free and Compulsory Basic Education
• FCE = Free and Compulsory Education
• FTI = Fast trach Initiative
• GER = Gross Enrolment Rate
• GON = Government of Nepal
• Govt = Government
• GPE = Global Partnership for Education
• VDC = Village Development Committee
• GPI = Gender Parity Index
• HR = Human Right
• HRD = Human Resource Development
• I/NGO = International/National Non-
Governmental Organization
• ID = Identification Card
• MDG = Millennium Development Goal
• MEC = Minimum Enabling Conditions
• MOE = Ministry of Education
• MOF = Ministry of Finance
• MOFALD = Ministry of Federal Affairs and
Local Development
• MOHA = Ministry of Home Affairs
• MOHP = Ministry of Health and Population
• MOLJ = Ministry of Law and Justice
• MOWCSW = Ministry of Woman, Child and
Social Welfare
• NER = Net Enrolment Rate
• NFEC = Non-formal Education Centre
• NPC = National Planning Commission
• NVT = Non – Violence Teaching OOSC = Out of School Children
• PMEC = Prioritized Minimum Enabling
Conditions
• RtE = Right to Education
• SSRP = School Sector Reform Plan
• SZOP = School as a Zone of Peace
• TPD = Teacher Professional Development
• UN = United Nation
35