Poverty Alleviation through Education A General Perspective of Nepal August, 2009 Prepared for UNESCO Conference, Penglai, China By BN Sharma General Secretary, UNESCO Associated Schools’ Resource Centre, Ktm. Nepal

Education in Nepal 1) Introduction: Public or Government Sector – 70% Private Sector – 30% National Investment – Aarab NRs Pvt. Investment – 7 Aarab NRs Govt. School Coverage – 75 districts (Primary to Secondary Level) Pvt. School Coverage – 63 districts (Primary to Sec. Level)

Poverty Issues in Nepal: Illiteracy affected – 40% population Unskilled human resources – % Movement for better jobs overseas or India – 40% Landless population 10% Dual ownership of land % of the total public owned land Lack of modern means of farming eventhough Nepal is basically an agragarian country

Educational Issues in Nepal: 11% population of school-going age still out of schools 75% Drop out until the highschool level 12.5% of the enrollment population admitted in class 1 Pass out of highschool level Average Passing % in all levels: School, College & University: a) Public (govt.) – 25% b) Private – 75%

16.51% of the national budget goes to Education 90% of the expense is on Teachers’ salaries 48,000 teachers are still required for the proper managment of public schools Govt. Investment per child per annum: a) NRs6293 in Primary Level b) NRs3748 in Lower Sec. Level c) NRs7672 in Secondary Level * The Parents in Private schools would spend a similar average in comparision with the expense heads of the public sector Only 3% of GDP is spent in Education while 6-7% spending is common in other countries

Quality Education Issues in Nepal: The beginning of EFA and ECD Education have no doubt begun the service of quality education in the public sector since a couple of years The Private Sector with their successful passing percent and skilled based education output has tremendously deburdened the nation The Govt. School HMs are not quite empowered and the chief deficiency of quality rests on school management issues The SMC has been bitterly criticised for being highly political in nature

Limitations of Schools: A)The Public Sector: Public schools no. In the rural areas are low The Teacher quota is low The budget for expense heads for public schools is absent Opportunities of earning is sparse in rural areas of Nepal Parents’ support programs are basically absent Teachers are not competitive There is a lack of support staff

B) The Private Sector: Lack of support from the GOs Lack of professional development opportunites for staff Lack of proper & permanent physcial infrastructure (90% schools are on rented premises) Lack of proper resources to enter the absolutely rural areas for service Poor economic background (affordability) of the rural society Taxation Issues

Recommendations: Raising the income generation opportunities of the rural society is deemed necessary Opportunities of Technical and Vocational skills to the SLC defeated population that is almost 55% of the registration each year (public/pvt. Partnership) Scientific Policy for Development decentralisation Skilled Local governance, monitoring and evaluation system Depoliticisation of developmental plans Declaring with commitment: Educational Institutions and children as Non-violent and Peace Zone area

Empowering the local management for accountability Reduction of Corruption Strengthening the Developmental infrastructures and basic needs of each VDC Prioritizing the productive potentialities of the VDC Providing a networking of Communication and Transport for the local productions

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