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

World Food Programme in Nepal

Overview of Food Insecurity in Nepal from WFP's Nepal website:

• Three and half million people in Nepal are considered to be moderately to severely food insecure.
• 41% of the population is estimated to be undernourished.
• Food insecurity is due to a variety of factors, including:
  • Weak agricultural growth;
  • Strong population growth;
  • High rates of poverty;
  • Geographical isolation; and
  • Inadequate access to health services, water, and sanitation.
• WFP targets the most food insecure and hard to reach districts of the Mid and Far Western Hills and Mountains, where there is the least amount of partner support

WFP's Strategic Priorities in Nepal:

• Support the country’s protracted peace and recovery process by reducing hunger and undernutrition;
• Fostering increased resilience amongst vulnerable communities;
• Providing humanitarian response to and preparing for increased environmental disasters

Examples of WFP's Work in Nepal:

• Protracted relief and recovery operations that target 1.6 million people in 2010 through food and/or cash for work activities.
• WFP's food/cash-for-acssets (F/CFA): beneficiaries engaged in projects (irrigation systems, fishery ponds, cash crop cultivaton)
• Provides 182,000 Nepalese children with lunch
• Provides oil to 54,000 Nepalese children that keep girls in school
• Provide 31,000 with mother/child health care in 2010
• Supports 80,000 Bhutanese refugees living in Nepal

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 Learning Exchange), an NGO dedicated to assisting the Government 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.

Work with WFP In Nepal

As part of the April 2009 laptop deployment, the United Nations World Food Programme helped launch an OLPC pilot project in the Dadeldhura district in partnership with OLE Nepal and the Nepal Government's Department of Education. The initiative deployed 180 laptops to second and third graders and teachers in three government, Far Western Nepal schools. The project also provides Nepali-language interactive teaching and learning materials to primary schools. WFP also provides mid-day meals of fortified wheat-soya blend to 182,000 primary school students living in 11 Far-Western districts.

Related NGO Efforts in Education

World Education: a private voluntary organization, World Education provides training and technical assistance in nonformal education across a wide array of sectors. The organization has a number of education projects in Nepal, including:

• 1. Quality Education Resource Package (QERP): In collaboration with the Ministry of Education, UNICEF, and local partners, QUERP provides a "toolkit" of materials and activities. The toolkits empower parents, teachers, and students and provide better quality learning materials. QERP addresses many issues, including improved school management, improvement of facilities, and the use of child-centered teaching. Each school that receives a package is provided with games, posters, art materials, brochurs, and modules on priority topics, radio, and a Resource Manual. Initially piloted in 2000 schools, there are plans to expand the use of the QERP to all 26,000 primary schools across the country.

• 2. Rehabilitation of Children/Youth Affected by Armed Conflict: World Education has facilitated the reintegration and rehabilitation of children/youth formerly associated with armed forces & armed groups (CAAFAG) and children affected by armed conflict (CAAC) as per the Comprehensive Peace Agreement in 2006. With support from the US Department of Labor and UNICEF, World Educatino is providing education support to 1,000 CAFG and 450 vulnerable children to attend formal school or vocational training. In this final phase, World Education will facilitate the provision of continued educational support to self-released CAAFAG and CAAC who need additional support, including to continue school.

• 3. Brighter Futures Program: One in every three children is a child laborer in Nepal. Working with the International Labor Organization's International Program on the Elimination of Child Labor in Nepal, World Education is aiming to combat child labor through education. Activities are carried out at the local level and policy level with the government and international agencies. This includes provision of non formal education opportunities and the strengthening of community based education.

Other Resources:

• List of NGOs in Nepal
• Association of International NGOs in Nepal (AIN}