OLPC Nepal/Background

National Education Background

UNICEF Education Statistics in Nepal from 2003-2007	Numbers
Youth (15–24 years) literacy rate, 2003–2007, male	85%
Youth (15–24 years) literacy rate, 2003–2007, female	73%
Percentage of population with phones	12%
Percentage of population that use Internet	1%
Primary School Enrollment Ratio, gross male to gross female (2003-2008)	127:126
Primary School Enrollment Ratio, net male to net female (2003-2008)	78:74
Primary School Attendance Ratio, net male to net female (2003-2008)	86:82

UNESCO Education Statistics in Nepal from 2008	Numbers
Survival rate to grade 5	62%
Primary to secondary transition rate	81%
Pupil/student ratio (primary)	38:1
Public expenditure on education as % of total government expenditure	19%
Literacy Rates for Male Youth (15-24)	85.7%
Literacy Rates for Female Youth (15-24)	73.3%
Literacy Rates for Male and Female Adults Combined	61.9%
Enrollment in public and private primary school	4,418,713
Enrollment in public primary school	3,965, 957
Female enrollment in public and private primary school	2,159,764
Female enrollment in public primary school	1,966, 819

Current Educational Programs

• The School Sector Reform Plan (2009-2015): The SSRP is a major undertaking by the government and supported by the donors and other stakeholders. Most of the education budget goes to this program. The School Sector Reform Project aims to increase access to and improve quality of school education, particularly basic education (Grades 1-8), especially for children from marginalized groups. The total estimated cost of the project is $2.6 billion USD. There are two components to the Project:
  • The first component of the project is basic education. The primary objective of this component is to ensure equitable access and quality of basic education for all children in age group 5-12, prepare pre-school-age children through Early Childhood Education and Development (ECED) for basic education and deliver basic numeracy and literacy to youths and adults, especially women and marginalized groups.
  • The second component of the project is secondary education. This component aims to improve equitable access to secondary education by financing: (i) the expansion of physical facilities, including classroom construction and rehabilitation, library and laboratory construction, and the construction of schools for children with special needs (CWSN), and (ii) targeted scholarship schemes for dalits, marginalized groups, disabled, girls and children from poor households.

Other Resources

• Nepal's Ministry of Education website
• Nepal's Department of Education website
• Wikipedia page on Education in Nepal
• Latest OLE Newsletter

OLPC/OLE's Work In Nepal

History and Deployments detailed article:OLPC Nepal

The OLPC-Nepal chapter began with two Nepali engineering students. The project was taken over by OLE (Open Learnign Exchange), an NGO dedicated to assisting the Governmetn Nepal in meeting its Education for All goals by developing freely accessible, open-source Information and Communication Technology (ICT)-based educational teaching-learning materials.

Nepal's original pilot schools included the Bishwamitra Ganesh Secondary School and the Bashuki Lower Secondary School. On April 25, 2008, A total of 135 laptops were deployed to students in grades 2 and 6 in both schools. OLE partnered with the Nepalese Government Department of Education for these deployments. A year later, on April 26, 2009 OLE Nepal deploys nearly 2500 laptops to 26 schools in 6 districts of Nepal. XO Laptops are installed with E-Paath interactive learning activities integrated into curriculum for classes 2, 3, and 6.