Presentation by Raisa Sulasmaa, UNICEF Finland.

1. Quality
Education for
the Children
of Nepal
Syyspäivät
September 2012

2. Nepal
Country Context
Nepal is…
•½ the land size of Norway
•½ the land size of Finland
•⅓ the land size of Sweden

5. Nepal – Key Facts (1)
The country is at its transition stage. (Decade-
long conflict ended in 2006, awaiting new
constitution)
• Population 29 million with 43% under 18 yrs.
• Ranked 138 out of 177 on the Human
Development Index
• 55% of population living under the 1.25
USD/day (international poverty line)
• Life expectancy at birth of 67 years
• Neonatal mortality rate of 27/1000 live births
• Infant mortality rate of 39/1000 live births
• High maternal mortality ratio of 281/1000 live
births
• 49% stunting among children under 5 yrs.

6. Nepal – Key Facts (2)
• Primary school Net Enrolment Rate 93.7%
• 23 % of population lack access to improved water
supplies
• 61% of population lack access to toilets
• 35% of under 5 children have birth certificates
• HIV/AIDS prevalence 0.39%
In addition to socio-economic and geographical
disparities, gender, disabilities, and caste-based
disparities are prominent in Nepal.
• Literacy rate 15years and above(2008)
Women 43.3% ↔ Men 70.7%
Women face double/triple layers of disparity.
Dalit women 17.2% ↔ Dalit men 48.5 %
Dalit women 17.2% ↔ Brahmin men 96.9%
(Dalit=lowest caste) (Brahmin= highest caste)

7. 3. UNICEF Country
Programme 2008-2012 (1)
All programme components have a special focus on
the most disadvantaged and marginalised.
Programme components :
• Health & nutrition
• Education
• HIV/AIDS
• Protection
• Water & Sanitation

8. Education Context (1)
Enrolment rates:
• Primary net enrolment rate – 94.5 % (girls 93,6% but
low retention)
• Primary grade repetition – 14 %
• Survival rate to grade 5 – 80.6%
• Survival rate to grade 8 – 66 %
• Secondary net enrolment rate – 69,3% (girls 68,5 %)
• About 400,000 children (5-14 yrs.) out of school
Disparities
• 17 % of children 5-14yrs. out of school in less-performing
district
• 17% of girls 10-14 yrs. out of school, compared to 8% of
boys
Centres/Schools
• ECD: 31 089 (26 773 Government funded)
• Primary level (Grades1-5): 27 093. No school fees.
• Lower Secondary level (Grades 6-8): 8 823
• Higher Secondary level (Grades 8-10): 4 946

9. Education Context (2)
Teachers:
•ECD facilitators: 26 773
•Primary level: 126 551 (47 477 females)
•Lower Secondary level: 32 438 (6 163
females)
•Higher Secondary level: 21 656 ( 2 849
females)
Teacher –student ratio:
•Primary: 1: 44
•Secondary: 1: 34

10. Education Challenges (1)
Overall: To reach the unreached (social
exclusion: marginalized children and girls)
Root causes:
•Socio economic (child labor)
•Cultural (social exclusion, castes, ethnicity,
early marriages, girls, mother tongue)
•Security

11. Education Challenges (2)
Programmatic:
Access: geographical disparities, seasonal
obstacles, infrastructure (incl. WASH),
scholarship distribution
Quality: students learning achievements, high
drop out, low retention and survival rates, school
management, ECD facilitators and teachers
qualifications/employment conditions, uneven
distribution of teachers, insufficient capacity of
resource centres and supervisors, unclear role of
School Management Committees, textbooks not
received on time
Monitoring: data reliability, tracking systems,
number of out-of-school children & drop outs

12. UNICEF Education
Programme (1)
Expected Result :
Children will have increased equitable access to
child-friendly learning opportunities that are
inclusive, conflict & gender sensitive
Key work areas :
1) Early Childhood Development,
2) Basic Education,
3) Non-formal Education,
4) Peace Education & Education in Emergencies

13. UNICEF Education
Programme (2)

14. UNICEF Finland’s
Support to Education
• Duration: 2010-2013
• Project budget: €750.000 (USD
1.000.000)
• Project location: nation-wide (policy
and advocacy), 23 programme districts,
including Sihara and Saptari (Child-
Friendly Schools, Early Childhood
Development, non-formal education), 7
conflict-affected areas (Schools as Zones
of Peace)
• Project beneficiaries: Basic education aged
children, especially girls and children from
disadvantaged households
• Out-of-school children aged 6–14 years
• ECD-aged children (3–5 years), especially
girls and children from poor households.

15. Early Childhood
Development
Progress to date
•Good coverage increase. Gross Enrolment: 70%
31,089 centre-based ECD (1,018,543 children)
Equal participation of boys and girls
Objective
•Strengthen institutional capacity of service
providers including, scaling- up of centre-based
ECD focusing on disadvantaged villages
Action
•Policy-level support to government (advocacy,
guidelines, frameworks, studies)
•Direct support to 29 districts
• Trainings for DEO and ECD facilitators
• Support to development of Guidelines
• Support to community/parents to develop child-friendly
class rooms with play materials and provision of kits to
centres in disadvantaged communities
• Support to Parenting Education

16. Basic Education
Progress to date: Increased attendance of students
and enrolment rate for girls, decreased drop out
Objective
• Provide specific support to improve access and
completion rates, in particular in vulnerable
districts
Action
• Advocacy and policy development at National
level (UNGEI)
• Direct support to 1200 target schools in 32
districts as Child-friendly Schools
• Special support to Girls Education through
focusing on 7 districts with lowest girls’ enrolment
(awareness raising e.g. radio programes, WSC,
latrines, WFP partnership, Young Champions)

17. A Child-Friendly
School:
Providing conditions that attract children
to school, keep them there and provide
them with a safe and protective
environment where they can learn, play
and get skills which help them to thrive
through their lives.

18. A child-friendly school is a school which is:
1. Inclusive of children: guarantees opportunities
and meets the needs of all children (children
with disabilities, girls, children of ethnic and
religious minorities etc.)
2. Secure and protective: helps to defend
children from abuse and aggression;
teaches them their rights
3. Healthy: assures proper hygienic conditions
by providing adequate water and sanitation
facilities, promoting healthy behaviour and
providing health services.

19. 4. Effective with children: good teaching and
learning processes; provides relevant content,
materials and resources; support teachers’
training.
5. Sensitive to gender: advocate gender equality,
guarantees girl-friendly facilities, environment
and teaching.
6. Involved with communities: works to
strengthen families; helps stakeholders establish
collaborative relationships, involves parents in
decision-making.

20. How does UNICEF make a
school child-friendly?
Building and rehabilitating schools
Training teachers to provide children
with quality basic education and skills for
surviving and thriving in life
Creating schools that offer a safe and
protective environment where children
can learn and play and where girls and
boys are treated equally
Ensuring that children are informed
among others on day to day hygiene,
health issues and HIV prevention in
order to make healthy choices in their
lives

21. How does UNICEF make
a school child-friendly?
 Ensuring that children have access
to clean water and sanitation facilities,
including separate latrines for girls
and boys
 Ensuring that children receive
exercise books, pens, other school
and sports materials as well proper
school furniture
 Giving a stimulating start in life to
children under the age of 5. Children
benefiting from early learning
opportunities are more likely to stay in
school and perform well

22. Non-formal Education
Progress to date
• 8 019 out-of-school children of most
disadvantaged communities participated in NFE in
2010(of which 45% reinserted to formal schools).
Objective
•Provide alternative learning opportunities to
children out of schools, with a special focus on
girls
Action
Direct support to 18 districts + 4 urban areas
•Advocacy and policy development (support to
revision of curricula at national level etc.)
•Conduct mappings of out-of-school children
•Organize Non-formal Education Programes
e.g.“ Flexible Schooling Programe”, “Girls’ Access
to Education”, “Urban Out-of-School Programe” to
facilitate re-integration into formal schools , Child
Clubs

23. Peace Education&
Education in Emergencies
Progress to date
• “Schools as zone of peace” mainstreamed by
the government
Objectives
• Promote peace & human rights education to
build solid basis for peace.
• As Cluster lead agency ensure preparedness
and response to emergencies (earthquakes,
floodings)
Action
Direct support to 23 districts
• Training of Education Cluster stakeholders in
preparedness/response activities to
emergencies, pre- provisioning of supplies
• Enforcement of “Schools as Zone of Peace”
through trainings and establishment of CoC
• Peace Education to be integrated into curricula
grades 1 -8

25. Why Asia ?
67 million children in the world
are not enrolled in school, the
majority of which live in Africa
and in Asia.
26
million
29
million
Precentages of out of school children
- 43 percent: sub-Saharan Africa
- 27 percent in South and West Asia
- 12 percent in East Asia and Pacific

26. SfAsia: 2012 – 2015
• Mission: Provide access to quality education to millions of children
with a special focus on the most marginalized, including girls, children
from disadvantaged ethnic groups and vulnerable children living in
remote areas and in extreme poverty, through the Child-Friendly
Schools approach.
• 11 Countries: Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India, Laos, Mongolia,
Nepal, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Timor-Leste, and Vietnam.
• Fundraising target: $ 70 million.

27. 11 SfAsia Countries
Selection based on programme
needs and on countries that would
most benefit from the allocation of
private sector resources.

28. Thank you!

29. Kaikki esityksen valokuvat © UNICEF 2012