Education of Nepal

By the mid-20th century, 20 out of Nepal’s only 22 high schools were built, financed, and managed by local communities. Successive governments continued this model, treating education as a partnership with communities. In 1972, however, the government took over the more than 8,000 existing schools. Because of the country’s remoteness and diversity—and weak government capacity—results were disastrous. Teachers regularly abandoned classrooms, the government was not able to provide adequate financing while community resources dried up, and quality plummeted. Finally, in 2001, Members of Parliament passed new laws to transfer schools back to community management. But 30 years of neglect had taken a heavy toll. Literacy rates were only 52%, compared 61% among low-income countries around the world.
Currently the overall literacy rate (for population aged 5 years and above) has increased from 54.1% in 2001 to 65.9% in 2011. Male literacy rate is 75.1% compared to female literacy rate of 57.4%. The highest literacy rate is reported in Kathmandu district (86.3%) and lowest in Rautahat (41.7%).
While the net primary enrollment rate was 74% in 2005; in 2009, that enrollment rate was at 90%. However increasing access to secondary education (grades 9-12) remains a major challenge, as evidenced by the disturbingly low net enrollment rate of 24% at this level. More than half of primary students do not enter secondary schools, and only one-half of them complete secondary schooling. In addition, fewer girls than boys join secondary schools and, among those who do join, fewer complete the 10th grade.Nepal has five universities: Tribhuvan University, Kathmandu University, Pokhara University, Purbanchal University, and Mahendra Sanskrit University. Few newly proposed universities are Lumbini Bouddha University, Mid-Western University, Far-Western University, and Nepal Agriculture and Forestry University.