NEFPORT ISSUE 49 – JUNE 2022
Education As educational institutions gradually restored normal learning activities during the review period, authorities started to conduct physical examinations which had been due for the past two years due to the disruptions caused by the onset of COVID-19. Likewise, various local-level incentives such as digital learning and scholarship schemes were implemented to encourage students back to school. However, policies targeted at expanding technical and vocational education to each local level along with concept execution of model schools are of dire need. And only then can the capacity and capability of students through quality education can be enhanced. Moreover, the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (MoEST) also directed all educational institutions to extend holidays to two days a week (Saturdays and Sundays), raising concerns among school administrations. PROGRAMS Government to Take Over School Meal Program of WFP The World Food Program (WFP) has been managing a school meal program in Nepal for the past 45 years. The program managed by WFP is an in-kind program in which the agency delivers rice, lentil soup (daal), salt, and oil directly to schools.229 The program has had a positive effect on the learning outcomes of children through improved malnutrition status among children. The program will now be handed over to the Government of Nepal. WFP has already handed over the responsibility of 71 districts to the government since the government introduced its separate cash-based program in 2008. As a result, the World
Food Programme presently operates in only six districts, all of which will be transferred by 2024. However, the beneficiary is concerned that if the program is taken over by the government, it would transform to a cash-based program in which each student will be given NPR 15 (USD 0.122) every meal and NPR 20 (USD 0.163) in rural areas, implying a higher risk of the money being misappropriated.230 Transforming Education Through Model Schools The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is working with the Government of Nepal and other development partners to ensure the quality of education for children – especially at the secondary school level – through a Model School Program.231 With
FACTSHEET
Retention rate (Grade 1-8)
84.9%225 Net Enrolment rate
95.50%226 Literacy rate (15-24 years)
89.70%227 Community schools with internet facility
54%228
support from the ADB, more than 200 community schools have been upgraded to model schools. Model School Program focuses on providing training to teachers, designing necessary curriculum, and providing relevant tools available to improve learning outcomes in Science, Mathematics and English. The plan seeks to upgrade at least one public secondary school in each of Nepal's 753 municipalities to a model school. The program is supported by eight development partners including ADB. ADB has pledged USD 120 million (NPR 982,962) for School Sector Development Programs (SSDP), of which USD 28 million (NPR 229,357) has been allocated for the model school program under resultsbased financing.232
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