Education For All An overview of Mid Decade Assessment Government of Nepal Ministry of Education and Sports Department of Education 27 November- 1 December, 2006

Background EFA Mid Decade Assessment (MDA) is being carried to assess the progress status of EFA as stipulated in the Core Document. A national core group has been formed chaired by the Secretary, MOES represented by line ministries, Universities, research centers, stakeholder groups, I/NGOs, and experts Thematic groups are formed to undertake the assessments by EFA goals An activity plan provides the guidelines for undertaking the assessment

Country Adaptation of the Framework of the Report for EFA MDA An outline framework was prepared earlier for the report of EFA MDA by the national EFA MDA core group The country framework and the Delhi Workshop suggested outlines are not different in terms of the substance, but they vary in presentations The suggested report outline endorsed in Delhi will be presented and discussed further in the EFA MDA core group in Nepal for final adaptation The following is an overview of the EFA in view of MDA

Nepal Area: 147,181 Sq. Km. Population:24Million – Mosaic of 102 social groups; 92 languages Number of Total Primary Schools: 27901/ 28131 Total number of primary school students: 4,502,697 Number of primary teachers: 113,907 GNP per capita: 300 USD Adult literacy:48%+

Structural Provision of Education 1-5 Primary Education (Current EFA focus) 6-8 Lower Secondary Education (EFA cover by 2015) 9-10 Secondary Education 11-12 Higher Secondary Education Higher Education Diploma (Bachelor’s)- 3 years and 4 years program Degree (Master)- 2 years M Phil – 1.5 years Ph.D. – 3 years research program

Context: Education is priority and strategy for achieving the goals of Tenth Plan, and MDG, that focus on poverty reduction Policies and programs are in place for this Education act and regulations governs the policies and the programs

Plans and Programs Supporting EFA EFA NPA (2001-2015, long term) EFA Core Document (2004-09, medium term) Education Sector Plan Literacy/NFE Policy and Program Framework Community School Support Program (CSSP, 2003-) Construction of Primary Schools (EFA 04-09; JICA, 03-06) Teacher Education Project (TEP, 02-07) Various Small Programs of UN agencies, such as UNICEF, UNESCO, UNDP, WFP, ILO Various small programs of I/NGOs such as Save the Children, Plan, World Education, World Vision,

EFA Strategy and Time-line

Components of EFA in Core Plan Expanding early childhood development Ensuring equal access to quality primary education Meeting the learning needs of all children including indigenous peoples and linguistic minorities Reducing adult illiteracy Eliminating gender disparity Improving all aspects of quality education

Policy Focus Improving equitable access (More schools, alternative schooling, flexible school hours, free school, free textbooks, school feeding, school mapping) Improving quality and efficiency (Curriculum improvement, teacher training, RC Professional support, School environment, reform in school exam, Increasing institutional capacity (EMIS, decentralized management, HRD plan, Continuing school self- Governance and community involvement (Block grant, performance based incentives, Community school management) Focused programs for disadvantaged (Incentives, scholarship)

Status in terms of major EFA Indicators, 2002-2005 No Indicators Achievement 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 Target 2015 1 Gross Enrolment Rate of Early Childhood / Pre School 13.0 12.8 19.8 19.9 39.4 69.9* 80 2 Percentage of New entrants at Grade 1 with ECD - 7.8 9.6 13.7 10.9 NA 3 Gross Intake Rate at Grade 1 122.9 101.3 117.1 125.9 148.1 102 4 Net Intake Rate at Grade 1 74.0 76.1 98 5 Gross Enrolment Rate 119.8 124.7 118.4 126.7 130.7 145.4 105

Status in terms of major EFA Indicators, 2002-2005 No Indicators Achievement 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 Target 2015 6 Net Enrolment Rate 80.4 81.1 82.4 83.5 84.2 86.8 100 7 % GNP channeled to Primary edu 1.8 2.0 1.9 2.5 8 % of Education Budget channeled to Primary edu 56.7 60 63 65 9 % of teachers with required qualification & training 15 ? 17.4 30.5 44.9 10 Percentage of teachers with required Certification/License - --

Status in terms of major EFA Indicators, 2002-2005 No Indicators Achievement 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 Target 2015 11 Pupil Teacher Ratio 37 39.9 35.7 35.8 39.7 49.8 30 12 Repetition Rate: 12.1 -- Grade 1 41.8 38.7 36.8 34 NA 28.3 10 12.2 -- Grade 5 10.8 9 13.5 10.4 8 13 Survival rate to Grade 5 63.1 65.8 67.6 67.7 76.2 79.1 90 14 Coefficient of Efficiency 55.0 60.0 60 63 80

Status in terms of major EFA Indicators, 2002-2005 No Indicators Achievement 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 Target 2015 15 Percentage of Learning Achievement at Grade 5 40 NA 52 80 16 Literacy Rate 16.1 -- Age Group 15-24 70 76 95 16.2 -- Age Group 6+ years 54 90 17 Adult Literacy Rate (15+ years) 48 75 18 Literacy Gender Parity Index (15+ years) 0.6 0.67 0.7 1.0

Examples of achievements: Girls percentage in school education

Issues and challenges ECD: Still on program basis not a part of system structure Different programs run by different organizations Standard norms and curriculum not yet in place ECD provision more in urban areas ECD in mother tongue is not adequately available

Issues and challenges UPE Many children (13.2%) are never enrolled – who are they? Where are they? How they could be brought to school? – region, community, and gender combined Children of migrating community are sufferers in terms of access and regularity Slum dwellers, street children, and children of seasonal or occasional laborers are not accounted

Issues and challenges UPE Flexibility in school provision is not yet efficient arrangements/linkages between regular and alternative schooling is still poor Social inclusion is still a challenge Dalits Special needs group/Disabled Linguistic and ethnic minorities

Issues and challenges Life skill and adult literacy High proportion of illiteracy Lack of institutional/system provision for literacy classes Poor linkages between formal and non-formal education Lack of significant program regarding literacy Lack of programs that fits the aspirations of youths in the present contexts

Issues and challenges Gender equality GPI students: GPI teachers: GER 0.95; NER 0.93 GPI teachers: 0.7 Poor in female friendly environment Low gender sensitivity

Regional disparities in school enrolment Issues and challenges Gender equity Regional disparities in school enrolment

Issues and challenges Contd. Quality of Education Poor learning achievement scores Poor school environment Poor facilities, low awareness and capacity Poor pedagogical environment Low sensitivity Difficulty in curriculum practices Mother tongue education and language transition not addressed yet Difficulty to address local and global concerns Difficult for inclusion of local elements and life skills Poor transformation of training to classroom practices Teacher and parents’ role in curriculum not defined

Issues and challenges Management Issues Transparency and accountability is challenging Social audit and transparency are still new concepts Information/communication management Poor VDC and district level information system Use of educational information in decision making processes Community management and ownership of school education is still a challenging task Capacity building and institutional arrangement still needs to be improved for better operation

Strategies considered for addressing the issues Inclusion and gender mainstreaming Partnership and collaboration Communication and social mobilization Decentralization Flexibility in Service delivery modalities (textbooks, scholarship, construction materials etc.) School-based financing: Block grants system (local control over resources) School self assessment

Strategies considered for addressing the issues – contd. School-based training and supervision. Emphasis on monitoring and evaluation. Participatory monitoring at community level Flash reporting system Data processing and publication at district level Restructured Resource Centers for teacher support and roles of school supervisors redefined Implementation manual delineating roles of every manager including norms of expenditure Enhanced use of Education Training Centers (ETCs) Targeted interventions for disadvantaged groups for achieving UPE (enrollment campaign and welcome to school) and reducing illiteracy Initiation of local curriculum development and teaching through mother tongue

Strategies considered for addressing the issues – contd. Policy reform to reserve teacher positions for females Girls’ Education Strategy Paper drafted School based financing aligned with results oriented accountability system Establishing school based monitoring, assessment and evaluation system Providing educational services in insurgency situation

Possibilities and Challenges for EFA MDA Existing information sources: Periodic national census Periodic National Living Standard Survey Annual school census and reporting Bi-annual flash reports Formative research project (FRP) for EFA – Longitudinal system indicator based study and Issue based case studies TRSE report Area/ sector based commissioned studies Other studies

Possibilities and Challenges for EFA MDA Lack of disaggregated data in school census required to address MDA National data authority/ standardizing body is still not in place, varying data from various sources Data extrapolation/ generation of new data is not available on regular basis There are assessment reports at annual level, and occasional level how to use them and reconcile them to MDA remains a task