ALL CHILDREN IN SCHOOL Global Initiative on Out-of-School Children NEPAL COUNTRY STUDY JULY 2016 Government of Nepal Ministry of Education, Singh Darbar Kathmandu, Nepal Telephone: +977 1 4200381 www.moe.gov.np United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), Institute for Statistics P.O. Box 6128, Succursale Centre-Ville Montreal Quebec H3C 3J7 Canada Telephone: +1 514 343 6880 Email: [email protected] www.uis.unesco.org United Nations Children´s Fund Nepal Country Office United Nations House Harihar Bhawan, Pulchowk Lalitpur, Nepal Telephone: +977 1 5523200 www.unicef.org.np All rights reserved © United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) 2016 Cover photo: © UNICEF Nepal/2016/ NShrestha Suggested citation: Ministry of Education, United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), Global Initiative on Out of School Children – Nepal Country Study, July 2016, UNICEF, Kathmandu, Nepal, 2016. ALL CHILDREN IN SCHOOL Global Initiative on Out-of-School Children © UNICEF Nepal/2016/NShrestha NEPAL COUNTRY STUDY JULY 2016 Tel.: Government of Nepal MINISTRY OF EDUCATION Singha Durbar Ref. No.: Kathmandu, Nepal Foreword Nepal has made significant progress in achieving good results in school enrolment by having more children in school over the past decade, in spite of the unstable situation in the country. However, there are still many challenges related to equity when the net enrolment data are disaggregated at the district and school level, which are crucial and cannot be generalized. As per Flash Monitoring Report 2014- 15, the net enrolment rate for girls is high in primary school at 93.6%, it is 59.5% in lower secondary school, 42.5% in secondary school and only 8.1% in higher secondary school, which show that fewer girls complete the full cycle of education. The causes of being out of school, especially for girls, are multiple and expose the children to many risks. Many are adolescents who never had the opportunity to attend school or dropped out before achieving complete literacy or numeracy. Many are from the most marginalized communities, who face major barriers, such as poverty, lack of parents’ awareness of the importance of education, and social norms, including child marriage etc. that reinforce gender inequality. The Government of Nepal is making every effort to achieve Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 4, which is challenging unless strategic actions are taken forward. Hence, Government Policies and Strategies are in line with the International Framework ensuring the right to education of every child. It has been further reinforced in the Constitution of Nepal and the Government’s commitment to free and compulsory education up to Grade 8 and free education up to Grade 12. Past experiences have shown that the education sector alone cannot tackle the diverse national issues in education, therefore promoting convergences and partnerships should be encouraged. We hope that the findings in this study will help bring all sectoral agencies together to achieve better results. We trust that this report will be useful for all levels, from policy makers to planners and implementers, who are reaching out to the most vulnerable groups of children in Nepal. Mr. Dhaniram Poudel Minister of Education Government of Nepal Tel.: Government of Nepal MINISTRY OF EDUCATION Singha Durbar Ref. No.: Kathmandu, Nepal Message The Government of Nepal is committed to ensure that children are in schools and complete the full cycle of education. The country continues to improve annually on areas such as school access and enrolment. The social, cultural and geographical barriers have been ultimately hindering socio-economic development of Nepal. It is, therefore, cruicial to address the underlying factors causing children to be out of school and at high risk of dropping out of the education system. The amended Education Act (June, 2016) will be able to cope with the problem. Caste has been found to be an important determining factor in the out of school rate. Census 2011 indicates that there are 18 castes in Nepal, with more than 30 per cent of children in primary and lower secondary school age who are not attending school. Many of the lower castes and, in particular, Dalit castes, including Dom, Musahar and Halkhor, have out of school rates far above the national average. The Equity Strategy paper of the Government of Nepal reports that children from Dalit communities have the lowest access to basic education amongst the different caste categories. Furthermore, the children from the lower class families and geographically underprivileged families have lower access to basic education and child marriage is also a cause of girls dropping out of school. This report will provide a good evidence base for immediate reforms and action to end exclusion in education in Nepal. For this, we are most grateful to UNICEF, the UNESCO Institute of Statistics and all contributors for their hard work in compiling this report. Dhanmaya BK State Minister Government of Nepal Tel.: Government of Nepal MINISTRY OF EDUCATION Singha Durbar Ref. No.: Kathmandu, Nepal Preface Nepal participated in the Global Out-of-School Children Initiative which was launched by UNICEF and the UNESCO Institute for Statistics in 2010. The initiative has the goal of reducing the number of out-of-school children around the world. Although Nepal has made good progress in education indicators, challenges still prevail, especially for disadvantaged groups. Over the past decade, access to basic education has improved significantly, with a high net enrolment rate in primary school reaching close to 94 percent as a result of favourable government policies and interventions. Unfortunately, the most vulnerable and marginalized children continue to be out of school. Government efforts are ongoing to achieve the unfinished agenda of Education for All (EFA) and to accomplish the target defined in Sustainable Development Goal 4:“Ensure inclusive and quality education for all and promote lifelong learning”. Nepal’s cultural diversity and meeting the needs of such a diverse population require tailored and targeted interventions to bring out-of-school children into the system. Nepal is committed to upholding the right to education for all children by providing free and compulsory education, as guaranteed in the Constitution of Nepal. This study presents new evidence on the problem of exclusion from education and assesses the multiple barriers and deprivations faced by out-of-school children and those at risk of dropping out. We hope the findings will be used to design interventions that will be suitable and contextualized to the needs of marginalized children to help bring all children into school. This study is supported by National Advisory and Technical Committees led by the Ministry of Education in collaboration with other ministries. The support and guidance provided by the UNICEF Regional Office for South Asia and Nepal Country Office, and UNESCO Institute for Statistics is greatly appreciated. Building on past experiences and lesson learnt, we hope to tackle critical bottlenecks and pave the way forward to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. My sincere thanks go to all who were involved with conducting this study. I hope it will be relevant and useful for all stakeholders in the education sector and will ensure opportunities for each and every child to fulfil its right to education. Mr. Shanta Bahadur Shrestha Secretary Ministry of Education GLOBAL INITIATIVE ON OUT-OF-SCHOOL CHILDREN NEPAL COUNTRY STUDY Acknowledgements The National Steering Committee on Out-of- We would like to acknowledge the contribution of School Children would like to thank UNICEF for Coordination Committee members Mr. Dilli Rimal, the support and technical guidance in carrying out Joint Secretary; Mr. Lava Deo Awasthi, Joint this study. The Committee also wishes to express Secretary; Mr. Hari Lamsal, Joint Secretary; Mr. its appreciation to Mr. Frank van Cappelle, Kharaj Baral, Director General, Department of UNICEF consultant, for his guidance and support, Education; Mr. Surya Prasad Gautam, Executive including significant writing contributions, and Director, NCED; Mr. Diwakar Dhungel, Director, to Dr. Rajesh Khanna, Mr. Prakash Menakel NFEC; Mr. Baburam Poudel, Executive Director, Philip and Mr. Buddhi Man Shrestha of ICRA CDC; Mr. Deepak Sharma, Under Secretary; Management Consulting Services Limited Ms. Mina Poudel, Section Officer, Ministry of (IMaCS) for preparing this study. Education; Mr. Tapraj Pant, National Programme Officer, UNESCO, Kathmandu. We would particularly like to thank Ms. Leotes Helin, Education Specialist, UNICEF Regional We would also like to acknowledge Office South Asia (ROSA), and Mr. Shailendra representatives from the Central Bureau of Sigdel, South Asia Statistical Advisor, UNESCO Statistics, Ministry of Women, Children and Institute for Statistics (UIS), for their invaluable Social Welfare, Ministry of Labour, Association inputs, technical guidance and coordination. of International NGOs and Teachers’ Union for Special appreciation also goes to Mr. Friedrich their contribution. Huebler, Programme Specialist, UIS Montreal, for his technical support. Finally, we would like to acknowledge members of the Technical Committees for their We would like to acknowledge Dr. Marilyn Hoar, contribution: Section Heads: Director, Planning Chief of Education, and Ms. Purnima Gurung, Division, Department