2nd Cycle

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NEPAL MULTIPLE INDICATOR SURVEILLANCE

Second Cycle - Primary Education
Final Report
(In collaboration with UNICEF-Nepal)
National Planning Commission Secretariat, Kathmandu
November 1996
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Foreword
The timely and proper education of all children, both boys and girls, particularly those
under ten years of age, is unarguably the basis for the future of any country, no less Nepal. This
final report of Nepal Multiple Indicator Surveillance on primary education in Nepal attempts to
miffor the reality in communities and to indicate where attention should focus for improvements.
I recommend educationists, and all others having interest in the field, to study the report and
dialogue on what could be done to accelerate improvements.
The National Planning Commission commends the Chairman and members of the
Steering Committee for their coordinated guidance and supervision of the survey. Special thanks
also goes to UNICEF for its financial support and facilitation, to CIET International for its
technical inputs, and to New ERA for conducting the field work.
Prithbi Raj Ligal

Vice Chairman
National Planning Commission
Singha Durbar
November 1996
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PREFACE
This is the final report on the second cycle of Nepal Multiple Indicator Surveillance
(NMIS) conducted during April to June 1995 on primary education in Nepal. As in the first
cycle on health and nutrition conducted during January to March 1995, the report
disaggregates findings from 18,825 households of 126 rural and 18 urban clusters by each
development region, by eco-zone of each region, by rural and urban settings and by age and
sex of the findings.
These findings, as well as those from the first cycle, have contributed significantly
towards the mid-decade review of His Majesty's Government's National Programme of
Action for CHILDREN.and DEVELOPMENT for the 1990s (NPA). Both , have also served
as a basis for the formulation of HMG/UNICEF Programme of Collaboration for 1997-2001.
The National Planning Commission Secretariat hopes that government agencies, multilateral
and bilateral donors as well as international and national non-government agencies involved
in the development of the social sector look into the report and use the findings. The
Secretariat strongly believes that there is considerable benefit in establishing and using a
common database. NMIS serves as a rapid and low cost vehicle for enriching such database.
Besides, NMIS holds considerable potential for empowering local government and
institutions as well as communities to participate in data collection, analysis and, as
important, to take active part in the design and implementation of relevant local actions. A
series of workshops on these findings have so far kindled considerable interest in regions,
sample districts and communities. The NPC Secretariat foresees that a more interactive and
continuous communication on the most pressing findings with those most concerned all over
the country will go far beyond occasional workshops.
The National Planning Commission Secretariat expresses its sincere appreciation to

the members of NMIS Steering Committee representing the Ministries of Health, Education,
Agriculture, Local Development, Women and Social Welfare, Housing and Physical
Planning and the Central Bureau of Statistics for their interaction and supervisory directives
throughout the different stages of the survey. The secretariat also expresses its sincere
appreciation to UNICEF for its professional facilitation and financial support, to CIET
International for its technical inputs, and to New ERA for conducting field work.
Singha Durbar Dr. Rabindra K. Shakya

November, 1996 Member- Secretary
National Planning Commission
and Chairman of NMIS Steering Committee
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Methods
This second cycle of the NMIS used the framework established for the first cycle, and again used the cross-
design of methods characteristic of Sentinel Community Surveillance, allowing quantitative data to be combined
with co-terminous qualitative data from representative sites throughout Nepal. Data collection took place from
the 144 representative communities selected for the first cycle of the NMIS. A household questionnaire
collected information from 18,825 households: a total of 101,295 people, 13,238 of them children between 6
and 10 years old. In addition, 411 teachers in the schools serving the sentinel communities were interviewed
and an institutional review was conducted of the 176 schools themselves. A focus group discussion about
educational issues was held with mothers of 6-10 year old children in each of the 144 communities.
Results
Literacy
The weighted literacy rate for adults (15 years
old and over) is 40%: 57% in males and 23%
in females.
Literacy (reported ability to read and write a simple letter) is highest among 11-15 years olds at 77% in males
and 56% in females. It falls steadily with increasing age, down to 29% in males and 2% in females of 61 years
or older. Taking age into account, females have nearly four times the risk of males of being illiterate. Literacy
is higher in urban areas and varies considerably between different areas of Nepal, being highest in the Western
Region.
School enrolment
The average weighted net enrolment is 70%:

80% among boys and 60% among girls.
Taking age into account, girls have more than two and a half times the risk of boys of not being enrolled into
school. Children continue to enrol into school at well beyond the age of 6 years and some enrol at less than 6
years. School enrolment varies a lot between different areas of Nepal, being highest in the Western Region
higher in urban sites than rural sites. Enrolment rates vary between households of different ethnicities and
different mother tongues. Children from households with a female head (relatively rare) were more likely to be
enrolled into school. The Basic and Primary Education Programme was associated with a modestly higher
school enrolment in both boys and girls, with the same gender gap remaining.
Parents in focus groups gave strong reasons for wanting their children to go to school. Reasons for not sending
their children to school were the associated costs and the need to have the children helping with work at home.
Some parents felt it was not worth sending children to school, especially girls. Teachers often blamed the
parents' lack of interest or knowledge for children not being in school. Measures to reduce costs were often
cited as ways of increasing school enrolment.
School attendance, repetition and drop-out
Of 6-10 year old children enrolled into school, 24%
(weighted value) are reported to have repeated at
least one class.
Information on attendance, repetition and drop-out was obtained from household questionnaires and from school
registers. Boys have only 0.86 times the risk of girls of repeating a class. Households reported a drop-out rate
of children enrolled into school of only 3% (weighted value), with boys being at half the risk of girls of
dropping-out. As with school enrolment, there is variation across Nepal in rates of repetition and drop-out from
school.
Children who do not receive help at home with their studies are more likely to have repeated a grade or to have
dropped-out of school. Nearly all (90%) of children enrolled in primary school are said to have a full set of
textbooks. Few have other study materials, especially in rural areas, and those that do have less risk of having
repeated a grade or dropping-out. Repetition rates in 6-10 year old children are lower in sites with the BPEP
operating.
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Average class attendance rates are about 55-60% for Class One and 60-70% for Class Two, somewhat higher in
boys than girls. Repetition rates are about 30% in Class One and half this or less in Class Two, lower in boys
than girls. Drop-out rates estimated by teachers are 2-3% in both classes.
Costs of education
Payments for examination fees, registration fees and other costs (such as tuition fees) were reported
for 90% of schoolgoing children.
The mean annual expenditure is 488Rs, while the median was 40Rs. Nearly all have expenses of stationery,
with an annual mean of 443 Rs (median 250 Rs). Uniforms and shoes cost an annual average of 634 Rs per
child (median 500 Rs). For all items, boys have more spent on them than girls.
Schools and teachers

Few schools have electricity or toilets. About half have their own source of drinking water. Male teachers
outnumber females by about 3:1. About 60% of the teachers have passed the School Leaving Certificate and
two-thirds have had some form of training. This was often very limited and only a quarter of them have
received basic educational training. About a third of teachers make no preparations for class teaching and only
one fifth make lesson plans. Most of the teachers (83%) reported having met parents to discuss their children.
Schools with better facilities tend to have better attendance, repetition and drop-out rates. This may be because
they are in better-provided areas. Schools from sites with the BPEP have better figures for attendance and
repetition than those from sites without the programme. The effects of teacher characteristics on attendance,
repetition and drop-out are diluted because the rates apply to each school rather than uniquely to each individual
teacher. The only clear effect is of gender of the teacher.
Female teachers are associated with higher
attendance and lower repetition and drop-out in
Conclusions both classes and for both boys and girls.
Community-based data from this cycle of the NMIS can
be compared with the target figures for the education sector in Nepal in the National Plan of Action. Literacy
rates are lower than those aimed at for 1996, especially among women. This is despite efforts to run adult
literacy classes. School enrolment rates are also below the target levels for 1996, with a large gender gap such
that girls are notably disadvantaged.
Once enrolled into school children rarely drop-out completely but frequently repeat grades. The drop-out rates
reported here (particularly from household data) are lower than those reported in routine data collected by the
Ministry of Education. This discrepancy is probably because in this study children were counted as drop-outs
or repeaters, whereas in routine data they could be counted as drop-outs and then as repeaters if they
subsequently returned. The households only reported their children as dropped-out if there was no intention of
their returning to school. The proportion of children completing primary education within the correct age band
(one of the NPA target areas) was not estimated from this study, but some of the results suggest it is likely to be
low. Many children start school at later than 6 years old. They repeat several early classes and then leave aged
10 without completing all the grades.
Class attendance rates are poor at less than 60% for Class One and this probably contributes to the high
repetition rates. No direct measure of educational quality is available from this study but the low class
attendance rates and high repetition rates, together with the lack of training of teachers, are an indication that
quality is often poor.
Key problems highlighted by this cycle are the gender gap of about 20% between boys and girls in school
enrolment, the difficulties for poor parents in finding the money for the various school charges, the differing
perceptions of parents and teachers for the reasons behind poor school attendance, and the relatively low level of
training in teaching skills among the teachers.
Pointers towards possible solutions are the positive effect of women teachers on class attendance and repetition
rates and the positive, if modest, effects of the BPEP. The level of expenditure reported by parents on
educational materials indicates the likely costs of possible government programmes to help parents who cannot
afford education costs.
In regional workshops, educational officers highlighted the need to improve the status of primary school
teachers. Training of teachers could include consideration of what elements of style and teaching methods lead
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to the positive effects of women teachers. Local actions could include fostering constructive dialogue between
parents and teachers about ways to increase school attendance. It was suggested by education officers that
school management committees had an important role to play in this process.
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CONTENTS
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 1
CONTENTS 4
List of tables 6
List of annexes 7
INTRODUCTION 8
Existing data, targets for education indicators 8
METHODS 10
Background: the NMIS methodology 10
METHODS FOR THE SECOND CYCLE 10

Sample sites 10
The population included in the survey 10
Instruments 11
Training of interviewers and leaders 11
Analysis 12
Weighting results to national indicators 12
Presentation of results of risk analysis 12
RESULTS OF THE SECOND NMIS CYCLE ON EDUCATION 13

Definition of indicators 13
LITERACY 13
Literacy in different parts of Nepal 14
SCHOOL ENROLMENT 15
Age at school enrolment 15
School enrolment in different parts of Nepal 16
Factors in initial school enrolment 16
Person deciding on child's education 16
Mother tongue spoken in household 17
Ethnicity of household 17
Importance attached to education for children 18
Number of siblings aged 6-10 years 18
Gender of household head 19
Effect of Basic and Primary Education (BPEP) 19
Views about school enrolment 19
Importance of children going to school 19
Reasons why children are not in school 20
Ways to ensure children go to school 22
School enrolment and views of parents 23
CURRENT SCHOOL CLASS ATTENDANCE 25

Data from household questionnaire 25
Data from schools 25
Class attendance and views of communities 25
SCHOOL REPETITION AND DROP-OUT 25

Data from household questionnaire 25
School repetition and drop-out across Nepal 28
Factors school repetition and drop-out 28
Journey time to school 28
Help with studies 29
Textbooks 29
Other study materials 30
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School meals 30
Mother tongue 31
Ethnicity 31
Importance attached to education for children 33
Number of siblings aged 6-10 years 33
Gender of household head 33
Effects of BPEP 33
Data from schools 33
Views about school repetition and drop-out 33
Reasons for repeating grades 33
How class repetition could be prevented 34
Reasons for dropping-out of school 34
How drop-out could have been prevented 39
COSTS OF PRIMARY EDUCATION 39

Travel expenses 39
Expenses for tuition, examinations 39
Expenses for stationery 40
Expenses for uniform and shoes 40
SCHOOLS, TEACHERS AND CHILDREN'S PROGRESS IN SCHOOL 40

School facilities 40
School location 40
Drinking water availability 41
Sanitation 41
Physical conditions 42
School facilities, attendance, repetition, drop-out 42
Effects of BPEP 42
Characteristics of the teachers 42
Gender and age 42
Qualifications, training and experience 42
Teaching methods, preparation, parent contact 46
Teacher characteristics, attendance, repetition and drop-out 46
CONCLUSIONS 48
REFERENCES 50
ANNEXES
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LIST OF TABLES
1. Nepal goals for children and development in the 1990s: education sector 9
2. Literacy rates in males and females of

different ages 14
3. School enrolment in boys and girls between

6 and 10 years old 15
4. Age at enrolment into Class One of boys

and girls 16
5. Person in household deciding about child's education 17
6. Mother tongue spoken in household and

school enrolment 17
7. Ethnicity of head of household and

school enrolment 18
8. Importance attached to education for

children and school enrolment 18
9. Number of 6-10 year old children in the

household and school enrolment of each child 19
10. Gender of head of household and school enrolment 19
11. The BPEP and school enrolment 19
12. Reasons given by households of children

aged 6-10 years not attending school for the
child not attending 20
13. Views of head teachers about reasons

for children not attending school 22
14. Suggestions by households of non-school-

going children for government action to ensure
the child could attend school 23
15. School enrolment and themes expressed

in focus groups from the communities 24
16. Class attended by boys and girls of 6-10 years old 26

17. Class attendance rates and focus group themes in the same sites 27
18. School repetition among girls and boys aged 6-10 years, among children who had enrolled in primary
school 25
19. Drop-out among boys and girls aged 6-10 years, among children who had enrolled in primary school
28
20. Journey times to school for school-going children aged 6-10 years 29
21. Help with studies at home and repetition among children aged 6-10 years
enrolled in primary school 29
22. Help with studies at home and drop-out among children aged 6-10 years
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23. Possession of a full set of textbooks and repetition among children

aged 6-10 years enrolled in primary school 30
24. Possession of a full set of textbooks and drop-out among children

25. Availability of additional study materials at home and repetition among

children aged 6-10 years enrolled in primary school 30
26. Availability of additional study materials at home and drop-out among

27. Mother tongue of household and school repetition and drop-out in children
28. Ethnicity of household and school repetition in children aged 6-10 years enrolled in primary school 32
29. Ethnicity of household and school repetition in children aged 6-10 years
30. Ratings of priorities for children and repetition and drop-out rates among
31. Presence of BPEP and repetition and drop-out among children aged 6-10 years
32. Views of teachers about why children made poor progress with their studies 35
33. Teachers' views about how to solve the class repetition problem 36
34. Reasons given by households of children aged 6-10 years who dropped-out
of school for the child dropping-out 37
35. Suggestions by households of children who had dropped-out for how their
drop-out could have been prevented 38
36. Expenditure on school related items last year for boys and girls
aged 6-10 years attending school 39
37. Class attendance, repetition and drop-out rates among boys and girls
in Class One and Class Two 40
38. (a)Location of school in relation to sites 40

(b)Difference in
reported walking time to school between
household informants and institutional review teams 41
39. (a)Source of drinking water in the schools 41

(b)Time required
to get drinking water at school 41
40. (a)Type of toilets found in the schools 41

(b)Condition of toilets found in the schools 41
41. Attendance, repetition and drop-out rates of girls and boys in Class One
and Two in relation to school facilities 43
42. Basic and Primary Education Programme and attendance, repetition

and drop-out rates 44
43. Training received by teachers 45

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44. Teaching experience of teachers in Classes One and Two 46
45. Most popular teaching methods used for Classes One and Two 46
46. Attendance, repetition and drop-out in girls and boys in Classes One and Two in relation to teacher
attributes 47
LIST OF ANNEXES
1. NMIS sites and Districts by eco-region 1(1)-1(5)
2. Instruments for NMIS second cycle 2(1)-2(10)
3. Focus group themes and coding 3(1)-3(4)
4. Weights applied to each District and tables to show weighted indicators 4(1)-4(11)
A4.1 Literacy in population >10 years old 4(2)
A4.2 Literacy in population >5 years old 4(4)
A4.3 Net school enrolment in 6-10 year olds 4(6)
A4.4 School repetition in 6-10 year olds enrolled in primary school 4(8)
A4.5 School drop-out in 6-10 year olds enrolled in primary school 4(10)
5. Disaggregated data: by Urban/rural split, Regions, Eco-zones,
Eco-regions and Districts 5(1)-5(41)
Tables A5.1 to A5.24 (see list at beginning of annex 5 for details)
Figures A5.1 to A5.12 (see list at beginning of annex 5 for details)
6. Example of summary report for Districts and Communities 6(1)-6(3)

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INTRODUCTION
The Nepal Multiple Indicator Surveillance (NMIS) began in 1994, with a first cycle on Health and a number of
other indicators to assess progress towards goals nationally as well as forming a basis for national and local
planning. A report on the first cycle has been published1. The NMIS envisages repeated cycles of data
collection, analysis, interpretation and feedback. Each cycle will focus on an area considered by key ministries
in Nepal to be a priority issue. In the first cycle, many households identified education as the most important
issue for them and their children and education was also identified nationally as being a priority for
development. Hence, the second cycle of the NMIS concentrated on primary education. Data on several key
indicators related to education are available from other sources and target levels for these indicators have been
set as part of the Nepal National Plan of Action. This information is reviewed below.
This report begins with a brief background to the methodology used in the NMIS; describes the methods used in
the second cycle, including the instruments used and the sources of data from households, institutions, key
informants and focus groups; gives the results of the cycle nationally; and considers some of the implications of
the results. Results disaggregated by urban/rural split, and by Region, Eco-region and District are given in
annex 5. The section on the implications of the cycle results draws on discussions with many people in Nepal
and is intended to stimulate further dialogue around the data between people in the education sector, parents and
others.
Several important themes emerge from this second NMIS cycle. The cycle will not be truly completed until a
communication strategy about these
themes, aimed at those who need to take action on each issue, is designed and implemented. The results have
been presented at a national workshop in Kathmandu in September 1995 and subsequently in four regional
workshops in Biratnagar, Kathmandu, Synagja and Nepalgunj in December 1995-January 1996. The comments
and suggestions of workshop participants have been incorporated into this report as far as possible. Further
discussion of the results, their implications and the actions they seem to indicate, with people within the
education sector will be one important step in the development of a communication strategy. Feedback of the
results to the communities that generated them, seeking their views on how to create messages that will be
effective to change views or behaviours, will be another equally important step. This feedback and discussion
in communities is taking place during the data collection for the third cycle of the NMIS, beginning in February
1996, when the communities will all be revisited. The summary report format for Districts and Communities is
shown in annex 5.
EXISTING DATA AND TARGETS FOR EDUCATION INDICATORS
The National Programme of Action for Children and Development for the 1990s2 includes several indicators
from the education sector, quoting figures for 1990 and targets for 1996, 1998 and 2001. Slightly different
figures and targets are given in the UNICEF Master Plan of Operations for Nepal3. Information from both
documents is shown in Table 1. Data on two of the three target areas are available from the NMIS second
cycle: net school enrolment and adult literacy rates. These 1995 data can be used to assess progress towards the
NPA goals. Ideally, they should be close to the 1996 target figures.
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Table 1. Nepal goals for children and development for the 1990s: education sector
Global goals for 2000 Source 1990 situation in Nepal Intermediate goals Nepal goals for
2000 / 2001
1996 1998
Universal access to basic NPC Net enrolment

education Total: 74% 86% 91% 74%-100%
Female: 54% 76% 85% 54%-100%
UNICEF Net enrolment
Total: 64% 80% 95% 64%-100%
Female: 31% 65% 85% 31%-100%
Completion of prim education by NPC 27% 55% 70% 70%+
at least 80% of prim school age
children
UNICEF 27% 55% 70% 70%+
Reduction of adult illiteracy rate NPC Illiteracy

to at least half with emphasis on Total: 60% 46% 40% 60%-30%
female literacy Female: 79% 62% 54% 79%-39%
UNICEF Illiteracy
Total: 65% 51% 45% 65%-32%
Female: 82% 67% 55% 82%-41%
NPC= NPC, HMG Nepal. National Programme of Action for Children and Development for the 1990s. Kathmandu, January 1992.
(reference 2)
UNICEF=UNICEF. Master Plan of Operations 1992-1996. Country Programme of Cooperation between HMG Nepal and UNICEF.
Kathmandu, January 1992. (reference 3)
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METHODS
THE NMIS METHODOLOGY
The NMIS uses a methodology known as Sentinel Community Surveillance (SCS). This is described in detail
elsewhere4,5,6. In principle, it aims to 'build the community voice into planning'. It is a multisectoral community
based information management system. Collecting data from cluster sites, chosen to be representative of a
district, a region or a country, it combines quantitative data from household questionnaires with coterminous
data from institutional reviews and key informants and qualitative data (also coterminous) from focus groups in
the sentinel communities. It is efficient by concentrating data collection efforts: in time (a series of cycles in the
sentinel sites, at approximately 6 monthly intervals); in space (representative communities are surveyed rather
than collecting data from all communities); and in subject of information (each cycle focuses on one area at a
time, rather than trying to collect all possible data on every occasion). SCS employs a type of cluster survey
methodology, but the clusters are larger than in many cluster surveys: typically 100-120 households per site,
rather than the 10-50 used in most cluster surveys. And in the SCS method, there is no sampling within each
site: every household is included, so the site is essentially a 'mini-universe'. This gives greater statistical power
in the data analysis and also allows the linkage of data from the household questionnaires to other data from the
same site, such as institutional reviews (of health facilities or schools, for instance), interviews with key
informants and focus groups. This data relating to the whole site is combined with the household data in a so-
called 'mesoanalysis'6.
A key issue in the SCS methodology and in the NMIS is the selection of sites so as to be representative. In
many countries, random sampling is not a possibility because no adequate sampling frame exists. In these
situations, purposive selection is used, drawing on local knowledge of conditions to choose sites as
representative as possible of the situation in a district, region or country. When possible, random sampling
methods can be used and this was the case in Nepal, where a good census sampling frame exists. In both cases,
stratification is first used to ensure certain types of site are included in proportion to their occurrence in the
population. For example, stratification can be by urban and rural sites, or by ecological zones. In the NMIS, the
sample sites for the cluster surveillance were drawn by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), after
stratification into development regions, ecological zones and urban/rural sites. The details of the sampling
method and the selected sites are given in the report of the first NMIS cycle1 and the annexes to that report.
METHODS
Sample sites
As described above, these were the same sites as for the first cycle, selected by a multi-stage random sampling
method. As discussed in the report of the first NMIS cycle, they are representative of the country, of the five
development regions, of the three ecological zones, and of urban and rural situations. Among rural sites, in 18
districts there are sufficient sites (four or more) to ensure district representativeness. In a further 19 districts,
only 1-2 sites were selected so they cannot be relied upon to be representative of that district.
A total of 144 sites were included, 126 rural and a further 18 urban. The location of the sites is shown on the
map in annex 1. Annex 1 also gives the names of the Districts in the NMIS sample, with the number of sites in
each. It also includes a list of all Districts in Nepal grouped into the 15 eco-regions. This allows non-NMIS
Districts to find which results most nearly approximate to their situation (the results for the relevant eco-region).
The population included in the survey

A total of 18,825 households were interviewed in the 144 sites. The total population in the households was
101,295 people; there were 13,238 children between 6 and 10 years old for whom detailed information about
school attendance and related factors was collected.
A questionnaire was administered to 411 teachers in schools serving the communities covered by the household
survey. School registers and facilities were examined and recorded for 176 schools serving these communities.
A focus group discussion was held with mothers of 6-10 year old children in all 144 communities.
Instruments
The instruments used in the cycle are reproduced in annex 2. They include a household questionnaire, a focus
group guide, a guide for the institutional review (in this case for review of the school(s) serving each site), a
questionnaire for teachers interviewed in the schools and a guide for interviews with key informants (head-
teachers in this case). The instruments were based on experience of SCS cycles on education conducted in other
countries, modified according to the knowledge and experience of members of the Steering Committee in Nepal,
including educationalists.
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The household questionnaire includes questions about literacy (for all members of the household) and more
detailed questions about school enrolment and attendance for each child aged 6-10 years in the household.
Further questions ask about reasons for children not attending school, costs of school attendance, help with work
and availability of books, and ideas on what would help to improve school attendance.
The questionnaire for teachers asks about demographic details, training and qualifications, teaching methods and
class preparation and views about improving school attendance. The school institutional review includes
examination of the registers for Class One and Class Two and examination of the school premises and facilities.
The interview with key informants (head teachers) seeks views about why children did not attend school or
dropped out and what could be done to prevent this.
The focus group guides cover questions to explore attitudes about sending children to school, reasons for not
going to school or repeating or dropping-out, and ideas about what could be done to prevent repetition and drop-
out.
Having agreed the form of the data collection instruments, coding sheets and data entry formats were created for
each instrument. The data were initially entered using the FoxPro database programme and later converted into
EpiInfo format (version 6) for analysis.
The questionnaires and other data collection instruments were piloted several times to ensure they were
appropriate to the households, schools and teachers concerned and the coding and data entry arrangements were
satisfactory.
Training of interviewers and focus group leaders

As part of preparing for the second cycle of the NMIS, two training sessions were held with Nepali interviewers.
New Era organized and supervised the training sessions for a team of 42 interviewers and 14 supervisors. All of
the interviewers and supervisors had experience in previous surveys with New Era and/or various NGOs and
INGOs. Half of the interviewers are women.
New ERA, with assistance from CIET, conducted training on the specific needs of the second cycle on
Education: familiarization with the content, flow and coding of the survey instruments (questionnaires for
households, teachers and key informants, and guides for school observations and focus groups); the method and
importance of household mapping; and pilot testing of the instruments and process.
In addition, CIET held training sessions on the SCS methodology and on conducting focus groups and giving
community feedback of results from the first cycle. Most of the interviewers had very limited exposure to
qualitative methods, usually through limited-depth discussion groups. In order to familiarize them with the
methods and importance of the more in-depth approach of focus groups, role playing was conducted to illustrate
the ways a focus group can provide a more complete understanding of data, as well as contribute to community
involvement. Pilot focus groups were also conducted in the field to test the topic guide and to give moderators
and recorders experience in the method. Three pilot focus groups were conducted in the Tarai town of Birgunj.
Analysis
The analysis had several aims: to produce indicators for the education sector in Nepal (basically school
enrolment, attendance, repetition and dropout rates); to examine variables that might explain the levels of these
indicators; and, most importantly, to look for contrasts so as to discover actionable factors that might help to
improve the situation in the education sector in the future. The first of these aims was met with descriptive
analysis of the data collected from the households and schools. The second two required an analysis to examine
the risk of certain situations of interest (for example, school non-attendance) in relation to possible explanatory
variables (for example, the gender of the pupils, the gender of teachers, the facilities provided by the school).
The effects of variables in combination were examined using multiple stratification techniques.
The analysis was performed using the EpiInfo package (version 6). This is a public domain computer package
that assists with questionnaire creation, data entry and data analysis. Where appropriate, the statistical
significance of differences was tested using X2 statistics or t-tests.
The quantitative analysis was supplemted by qualitative analysis using data from focus groups and views of
teachers and households about education. The records of the 144 focus groups (one for each community) were
reviewed to get an overview of the ideas expressed. Each focus group was then coded according to the issues
raised by the participants. These codes were then related to information from the household questionnaires and
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institutional reviews of the same community. The focus group themes and their codes are shown in annex 3.
Because the standard of recording of the focus group discussions was high, it was relatively easy to get an
impression of the feelings and ideas expressed, often enriched by direct quotations from group participants.
Weighting of results for national indicators

As explained in the report of the first cycle of the NMIS1, the sample sizes of Districts were not proportional to
the populations of the Districts and weights (or 'raising factors') were calculated to take this into account when
producing national indicators. These same weights were used in this second cycle of the NMIS when giving
national level indicators. The weights for each District (actually each group of rural and urban sites) are shown
in annex 4, together with tables to show the application of these weights in calculating national values for key
indicators. In practice, in this cycle the weighted values were almost the same as the unweighted values for the
key indicators. In view of this, the values for different Regions and Eco-regions in annex 5 are shown
unweighted.
Presentation of results of Risk Analysis

In this report, the Odds Ratio (OR) is used as an estimate of Relative Risk (the risk of a certain outcome in one
group compared with another group). For example, the OR is used to show the 'risk' of a boy going to school
compared with a girl (in this case the OR is more than 2, showing that a boy has more than twice the likelihood
of going to school compared with a girl). Each OR estimate is shown with its 95% Confidence Limits. These
indicate the precision of the OR: the true value of the OR has a 95% chance of lying between the Confidence
Limits.
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RESULTS
DEFINITION OF INDICATORS
The key indicators examined in this cycle of the NMIS were:
Literacy - obtained from the responses to the household questionnaire: the number of people with
reported ability to read and write a simple letter out of the survey population in each age group
Net school enrolment (i.e. current school attendance) - obtained from the responses to the household
questionnaire: the number of children aged 6-10 years old in the survey who were currently said to be
going to school out of the total of children of this age in the survey
School repetition - obtained from the responses to the household questionnaire: the number of children
aged 6-10 years who had repeated one or more classes out of the total of all children this age in the
survey and out of children who had gone to school
School drop-out - obtained from the responses to the household questionnaire: the number of children
aged 6-10 years who had dropped-out of school out of the total of all children of this age in the survey
and out of children who had gone to school
Class attendance - obtained from the examination of the school registers as part of the institutional
review: the average number (over the last six days) of children attending in Class One and Two out of
the number on the register for these two classes
Class repetition - obtained from the school registers: the number of children who repeated in Class
One and Two out of the number registered in that class
Class drop-out - obtained from the school registers: the number of children who dropped-out of Class
One and Two out of the number registered in that class
In the following sections, these indicators and variables associated with them are taken separately although they
are in practice closely related to one another. The main report gives the results for the whole of Nepal: the
indicators and the variables associated with them. The results for key indicators by development region, eco-
region, District and divided between urban and rural sites are given in annex 5.
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LITERACY
Table 2 shows the literacy rates among males and females of different ages. Literacy here means the reported
ability to read and write a simple letter. No test of literacy was applied at the time of the household survey.
Literacy rates are highest in the 11-15 years age group in both sexes. Rates in the 6-10 years age group should
be interpreted with caution, since children are learning to read and write at this age and therefore the rates will
be changing rapidly. From 16 years upwards, literacy rates fall steadily with increasing age, in both sexes. At
all ages, females are less likely to be literate than males. This discrepancy is more marked as age increases, as
indicated by the increasing risk (Odds Ratio estimates in Table 1) of women being illiterate compared with men.
Taking age into account, females are almost four times more likely than males to be illiterate. The interaction
with age is significant, with the difference between men and women being more marked in the older age groups.
Table 2. Literacy rates in males and females of different ages

Age group Literate (able to read/write simple letter) Risk of illiteracy in
females v males
Males Females
YES NO YES NO
6-10 years 2544 4218 1838 4638 OR=1.52

(38%) (62%) (28%) (72%) (1.41-1.64)
11-15 years 5065 1532 3336 2635 OR=2.61

(77%) (23%) (56%) (44%) (2.42-2.82)
16-20 years 3842 1310 2578 2898 OR=3.30

(75%) (25%) (47%) (53%) (3.03-3.59)
21-30 years 5175 2672 2330 5960 OR=4.95

(66%) (34%) (28%) (72%) (4.63-5.30)
31-40 years 3179 2625 859 5235 OR=7.38

(55%) (45%) (14%) (86%) (6.74 8.08)
41-50 years 1964 2227 334 3690 OR=9.74

(47%) (53%) (8%) (92%) (8.55-11.10)
51-60 years 1102 1871 107 2600 OR=14.31

(37%) (63%) (4%) (96%) (11.55-17.74)
61 years + 777 1926 39 2330 OR=24.10

(29%) (71%) (2%) (98%) (17.14-34.03)
OR=Odds Ratio. The figures in brackets after the OR are the 95% Confidence Limits for the OR. Mantel-Haenszel combined OR=3.98;
95% CI 3.85-4.10. X2 for interaction 1106.47, p<0.0001.
For the combined population of six years old and above, the weighted literacy rate is 42%: 57% among men and
27% among women. For the population aged more than ten years old, the weighted literacy rate is 43%: 60%
among men and 27% among women. For the population aged 15 years and above, the total literacy rate is 40%:
57% among men and 23% among women. The total figure for the population 15 years old and above is below
the target for total adult literacy for 1996 of 54% (or 49%) (Table 1). In particular, the figure for females is
below the target of 38% (or 35%) shown in Table 1.
Literacy in different parts of Nepal

The literacy rates in different regions and in urban and rural sites in males and females 15 years old and above
are shown in Table A5.1 in annex 5. There is a marked gender difference in all regions and ecological zones.
The lowest literacy rates and most marked gender differences are in the Far Western and Mid Western regions.
In the Far Western region, women have nearly ten times the risk of men of being illiterate. Literacy is higher in
urban compared with rural sites and there is less gender difference in urban sites. The literacy rates in the
different regions, eco-zones and in urban and rural sites by age are shown in Table A5.2 in annex 5.
Everywhere, literacy rates are lower and the gender difference is more marked in older people.
Literacy rates in males and females by eco-regions are shown in Table A5.3 and Fig A5.1 and by Districts in
Tables A5.4 and A5.5 (Figs A5.2 and A5.3) of annex 5.
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SCHOOL ENROLMENT
Of the 13,238 children in the survey aged between 6 and 10 years, 70% (weighted value) are currently attending
school. This figure is the net enrolment for children of this age. It is distinct from gross enrolment, which in
Nepal is calculated as the total number of children enrolled in school, divided by the population of 6-10 year old
children. Because children below 6 years and over 10 years may be in school, figures for gross enrolment of
greater than 100% are sometimes given.
The current school attendance (net enrolment) measured from the household data is the number of 6-10 year old
children who, at the time of the survey, were considered by the household respondent (usually a parent) to be
'going to school'. This may not, of course, mean they were at school that day, that week or even that month. It
meant they had been enrolled into school and were not considered to have dropped-out completely. The number
of children currently attending school is, in fact, very similar to the number reported as having ever been
enrolled into school (69% v 71%). The small difference represents the number considered by households to
have dropped-out of school completely (see below).
In many of the analyses in this section, initial school enrolment is the outcome variable considered. Because net
enrolment (current attendance) and initial enrolment (ever enrolled into school) rates are so similar, the
associations with net enrolment are virtually the same as those shown with initial enrolment.
The net enrolment (weighted) is higher among boys than girls (80% v 60%). This difference in school
attendance between boys and girls is present for all ages between 6 and 10 years. Taking age into account by
stratification, a girl has more than two and half times the risk of not currently attending school compared with a
boy (Table 3). There is a significant trend for the risk of girls not attending school compared with boys to be
greater in the older children (Table 3). However, the main reason for the difference in net enrolment between
boys and girls is the lower initial school enrolment in girls, rather than a much higher drop-out rate in girls (see
below).
The net enrolment figures found in the NMIS in 1995 are lower than the target figures in the National Plan of
Action for 1996 (see Table 1). The total for boys and girls of 70% compares with a target for 1996 of 86% (or
80%) and the figure for girls of 60% compares with a target for 1996 of 76% (or 65%).
Table 3. Net school enrolment (current school attendance) in 6 - 10 year old children
Age Attending school No. Attending school
6 years Boys 1278 67%

OR= 2.16
(1.83-2.56)
Girls 1188 49%

OR=2.48
(2.09-2.95)
Girls 1346 57%

OR=2.59
(2.18-3.07)
Girls 1384 60%

OR=3.38
(2.62-4.20)
Girls 1210 67%

OR=3.04
(2.53-3.66)
Girls 1321 65%
Unbiased Mantel-Haenzsel Odds Ratio 2.64, 95% Confidence Interval 2.44-2.86 X2 for interaction 14.01, P=0.007
Age at school enrolment

In both boys and girls, net school enrolment is higher in older children (Table 3). Since drop-out reported by
families is low (see below), this could suggest either a falling off of enrolment with time (since the younger
children would have enrolled more recently then the older children in this cross-sectional survey) or a gradual
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recruitment of children into school, rather than all (or most) children enroling at the official age of 6 years. To
answer this question, an analysis was per formed to look at age of boys and girls at the time of enrolment into
Class One. This was calculated from data on the child's age at the time of the questionnaire and the year in
which they were said to have been enrolled into Class One (knowing the year when the questionnaire was
administered). The data are shown in Table 4. It can be seen from this table that only about a third of the boys
and girls who have ever enrolled in school enrolled in Class One at 6 years old; a few enrolled at an earlier age
and many enrolled at older ages. Therefore, it seems likely that the apparent higher school enrolment in older
children is due to continuing entry into school at ages beyond 6 years. There is no apparent difference between
boys and girls in age at school enrolment; of those children still in school both boys and girls have a mean age at
enrolment into Class One of 6.8 years.
Table 4. Age at enrolment into Class One of boys and girls

Age at enrolme- Boys Girls Both
nt n (%) n (%) n (%)
3 years 6(0.1) 3(0.1) 9(0.1)
4 years 98(2) 59(2) 157(2)
5 years 560(12) 409(12) 969(12)
6 years 1571(33) 1095(31) 2666(32)
7 years 1323(27) 1058(30) 2381(28)
8 years 795(16) 617(17) 1412(17)
9 years 369(8) 244(7) 613(7)
10 years 119(3) 66(2) 185(2)
Total 4841 3551 8392
Notes:
The data in this table were obtained from the household questionnaire and therefore only include children aged 6-10 years at the time of the
questionnaire. This table is based on data from those children still attending school (more than 90% of those who have ever enrolled). Age
at enrolment into Class One was similar for those few children who had subsequently dropped out of school.
Age at enrolment was calculated from age at the time of the questionnaire and year of enrolment; it is therefore a composite figure for
enrolments over the last five years.
School enrolment in different parts of Nepal

Annex 5 gives information about school enrolment rates in different parts of Nepal. Net school enrolment rates
in boys and girls by region, eco-zone and in urban and rural sites are shown in Table A5.6. There are variations
in the overall level of enrolment between regions and also the gender gap is more marked in some regions. The
Mid Western Region has the lowest enrolment of both boys and girls. Mid Western and Far Western regions
have a 30% gender gap, compared with lesser gaps in other regions. In the Far Western Region, a girl has four
times the risk of a boy of not being enrolled in school; in Mid Western Region she has more than three and a
half times the risk of a boy. Western Region has both the highest enrolment for both boys and girls and the
smallest gender gap.
Among the ecological zones, the Tarai has the lowest enrolment rates and the biggest gender gap at 25%. In the
Tarai, a girl has nearly three times the risk of a boy of not being enrolled in school. Rural sites have lower
enrolment and a bigger gender gap than urban sites.
School enrolment rates in boys and girls by eco-region are shown in Table A5.7 and Fig A5.4 and by District in
Tables A5.8 and A5.9 (Figs A5.5 and A5.6).
The delay in school enrolment beyond six years is found throughout Nepal (Table A5.10). Average age at
enrolment is lower in urban than in rural communities. Among the regions, enrolment ages for boys and girls
are highest in the Far Western and Mid Western regions. Among the ecological zones, enrolment age is highest
in the Mountains.
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Variables associated with initial school enrolment
Person deciding on child's education

The usual decision maker about the child's education is the father, for both boys and girls (Table 5a). There is
not a marked difference in enrolment rates according to the decision maker about education (Table 5b). The
possible exception is when the decision maker was reported to be the child him/herself, when only 22% have
been enrolled into school. The small number of these children (only 9 in total) mean this could be a chance
finding.
Table 5. Person in household deciding about child's education

Table 5(a). Frequency of main decision makers
Decision maker Sex of child
Boy Girl
Father 5615 (83%) 5237(81%)
Mother 713 (11%) 835 (13%)
Grandfather 215 (3%) 187 (3%)
Brother 67 (1%) 60 (1%)
Uncle 49 (1%) 41 (1%)
Grandmother 42 (1%) 47 (1%)
Sister 17 (0.3%) 23 (0.4%)
Sister-in-law 5 (0.1%) 8 (0.1%)
Child him/herself 5 (0.1%) 4 (0.1%)

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Table 5(b). Initial school enrolment and education decision maker
Decision maker Ever enrolled in school
YES NO
Father 7711 (71%) 3141 (29%)
Mother 1103 (71%) 445 (29%)
Grandfather 325 (81%) 77 (19%)
Brother 80 (63%) 47 (37%)
Uncle 64 (71%) 26 (29%)
Grandmother 74 (83%) 15 (17%)
Sister 29 (73%) 11 (27%)
Sister-in-law 8 (62%) 5 (38%)
Child him/herself 2 (22%) 7 (78%)
Mother tongue spoken in household

Of the top four most common mother tongues (Nepali, Maithali, Bhojpuri and Tharu/Rajbanshi), those
households where Nepali is the mother tongue have a notably higher rate of school enrolment of their 6-10 year
old children (Table 6). The highest rate of children's school enrolment (93%) is in the 270 households where
Newari is the mother tongue.
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Table 6. Mother tongue spoken in household and initial school enrolment
Mother tongue spoken in Child ever enrolled in school

household
YES NO
Nepali 5883 (81%) 1373 (19%)
Newari 252 (93%) 18 (7%)
Maithali 1166 (59%) 818 (41%)
Bhojpuri 538 (48%) 579 (52%)
Gurung/Thakali 161 (70%) 69 (30%)
Tamang/Bhote/Sherpa 222 (62%) 134 (38%)
Aawadhi/Marwadi/Dehati 266 (54%) 223 (46%)
Tharu/Rajbanshi 401 (48%) 431 (52%)
Magar 131 (79%) 34 (21%)
Rai/Limbu/Sunuwar 219 (73%) 83 (27%)
Danuwar/Satar/Santhal 2 (13%) 14 (87%)
Hindi/Urdu/Bengali/Panjabi 94 (86%) 16 (14%)
Thami/Chepang/Jirel 36 (56%) 28 (44%)
Dhimal/Majhi/Kumale 34 (81%) 8 (19%)
Raji/Darai/Bote/Raute 2 (67%) 1 (33%)
Others 2 (100%) 0
TOTAL 9409(71%) 3829(29%)
Ethnicity of household
There are many different ethnic groups represented by the households in the survey. These have been collected
into 13 groups, coinciding with the 13 groups in the recent national census. The school enrolment for boys and
girls from households of different ethnicities is shown in Table 7. There is a marked variation in school
enrolment. Highest enrolment rates in both boys and girls are reported in Brahmins and Newar people.
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Table 7. Ethnicity of head of household and initial school enrolment in 6-10 year old children
Ethnicity of head of Initial school enrolment

household
Boys Girls Total
n n n
(%enrol) (%enrol) (%enrol)
1. Brahmins 1040(96) 1072(93) 2112(95)
2. Chhetri 1275(89) 1187(70) 2462(79)
3. Newar 275(95) 282(87) 557(91)
4. Gurung/Ghale 186(88) 188(65) 374(77)
5. Magar 290(86) 306(68) 596(77)
6. Rai/Limbu 281(84) 315(74) 596(78)
7. Tamang/Sherpa 249(78) 256(58) 505(68)
8. Muslim 296(63) 246(42) 542(53)
9. Occupational 974(67) 918(45) 1892(56)
10. Tharu 606(68) 554(36) 1160(53)
11. Yadav 331(74) 279(39) 610(58)
12. Other (Tarai) 732(79) 649(45) 1381(63)
13. Other (Hills) 227(59) 224(34) 451(47)
There is, of course, considerable variation in the proportion of ethnic groups in the population in different parts
of Nepal. The ethnic groups in different eco-regions in the NMIS sample are shown in annex 5, Table A5.11.
Importance attached to education for children

The respondent in each household was asked what they thought was most important for children. The great
majority (82%) said education, with health care and employment the next most popular replies (8% each). This
may have been biased by the topic of the cycle, although this question was asked before any specific questions
relating to children's education. Children in households where employment or relaxation are given as the
priority for children have notably lower rates of school enrolment than children in households where education
or health care are given as priorities (Table 8).
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Table 8. Importance attached to education for children and school enrolment
Most important for Ever enrolled in school Total
children
YES NO
Health care 787 (75%) 257 (25%) 1044
Education 8053 (74%) 2799 (26%) 10852
Employment 412 (39%) 649 (61%) 1061
Relaxation 85 (50%) 84 (50%) 169
Family stability 72 (64%) 40 (36%) 112
Total 9409 3829 13238
There is some variation in different parts of Nepal in the importance attached to education for children, although
it is highly rated everywhere. The variation is illustrated in Table A5.12 in annex 5.
Number of siblings aged 6-10 years

There is no tendency for children from households with more children aged 6-10 years to be less likely to have
been enrolled in school, until there are five children or more in this age group (Table 9). The lower school
enrolment in these households may be a chance finding as there are relatively few children with so many
siblings in this age range.
Table 9. Number of 6-10 year old children in the household and the school enrolment of each child
Number of 6-10 Child ever enrolled in school Total

year old children
YES NO
One 4338(72%) 1684(28%) 6022
Two 3952(70%) 1684(30%) 5636
Three 886(71%) 371(29%) 1257
Four 170(76%) 54(24%) 224
Five 52(65%) 28(35%) 80
Six 8(67%) 4(33%) 12
Seven 3(43%) 4(57%) 7
Total 9409 3829 13238
Gender of household head

Most (12459; 94%) of 6-10 year old children live in households which had a male as head; 779 (6%) come from
households with a female head. Children from households with a female head are significantly more likely to
have enrolled in school. Children from a household with a male head have only about two-thirds the 'risk' of
being enrolled in school of those from households with a female head, taking the gender of the child into
account (Table 10).
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Table 10. Gender of head of household and school enrolment in boys and girls aged 6-10 years
Gender of hh Ever enrolled in school Total
head
Boys Girls
n(%enrol) n(%enrol)
Male 6352(80%) 6107(61%) 12459
Female 410(85%) 369(71%) 779
Mantel-Haenszel combined OR 0.67, 95% CI 0.56-0.80
Effect of Basic and Primary Education (BPEP)

Sites where the BPEP is operating were identified in liaison with BPEP programme officers. Table 11 shows
school enrolment in boys and girls in sites with and without the BPEP programme and in Kathmandu. In both
boys and girls, enrolment is a little higher in the BPEP sites, but the gender gap in school enrolment is not
smaller in those sites with the BPEP operating. No similar data on school enrolment is available for the BPEP
and non-BPEP sites before the BPEP began, so it is difficult to know how much of the difference between the
sites now can be attributed to the effects of the programme. If the BPEP sites were initially better than then
non-BPEP sites, then the present difference is an overestimate of the programme effect. But if the BPEP sites
were worse than average before the programme, the present difference is an underestimate of the effect.
Table 11. The BPEP and school enrolment in boys and girls aged 6-10 years
BPEP operating in Children ever enrolled in school
site
Boys Girls
n(%enrol) n(%enrol)
Yes 1718(84%) 1686(66%)
No 4845(79%) 4687(59%)
KTM sites 133(99%) 103(94%)
Views about school enrolment
Views about why children should go to school, why they did not and what could be done to ensure they did,
were elicited from household respondents, from focus group participants and from school teachers.
Importance of children going to school

Most of the focus groups expressed strongly that it was important for children to be in school. Their reasons for
believing this were often framed in quite high-toned terms, referring to the way education would lead to a better
life for their children, how they would become better people, have good jobs and secure futures, and help the
village and country to develop. The following quotations give a flavour of the discussions. Firstly, the idea of
education being important for its own sake:
"Human life is incomplete without education. If they can't acquire education, their life will be meaningless. Education is an inseparable
part of human life."
"Education can neither be divided nor stolen; that's why it is important.'
Then the idea that education will make their children into better people, and secure their future:
"If the children study they might be learned and wise. If they study they might get big-big jobs. Hoping they would not have to carry
fodder and weight like us, I have sent them to the school."
"If you send your children to school there are benefits. Education opens their eyes. They can write and read letters. Unlike us, they do not
have to put forward their thumb subserviently when a signature is required."
Educated children will benefit their communities:

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"The educated people can do the best for the society and the country. They can help to make their brothers and sisters literate.'
"At present, many teachers from outside the village have come and got employed here. Our children, after getting education, should take
their places, sending them back.
..So that the children from our own village can be employed in the post office."
"Instead of struggling with spade and plough for ever, they will deal with pens and paper. They will take great care in sanitation."
And educated children will be able to fulfil their duty of looking after their parents:
"The sons must support us. If he studies, he will be able to read, get a job and earn money. Then only he can support us."
Reasons why children are not in school
(a) Views of parents

The reasons given by households for a child not going to school are shown in Table 12.
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Table 12. Reasons given by households of children aged 6-10 years not attending school for the child not
attending
Reasons for child not attending school Boys Girls
Child is under age* 385(27%) 536(21%)
Child has to do household chores while 183(14%) 681(26%)

parents out at work
Too poor to pay registration fee 407(29%) 761(29%)
Child does not want to go to school 176(13%) 225 (9%)
School is too far from home 173(13%) 302(12%)
Do not educate daughters: they will go to 0 159 (6%)

another's home
Child was sick 39(3%) 40 (1%)
Journey to school too difficult 12(<1%) 18(<1%)
Child is afraid of the teachers 35(3%) 31 (1%)
Teachers do not teach properly 6(<1%) 14(<1%)
Child has got into bad company 17(1%) 10(<1%)

(rebellious boys)
Child could not be admitted because has 5(<1%) 2 (<1%)
no birth certificate
Child is staying in relative's house 4(<1%) 9 (<1%)
There is no separate school for girls 0 3 (<1%)
Child mentally or physically disabled 43(3%) 31 (1%)
Child joined non-formal education 8(<1%) 19(<1%)
Parents busy and missed the school 8(<1%) 2 (<1%)

admission date
Parents do not know the importance of 0 9 (<1%)
education
School is closed or there is no school 1(<1%) 7 (<1%)
nearby
Low caste people won't be able to get job 2 (<1%) 6 (<1%)
even if educated
Child has no parents to pay for education 2 (<1%) 6 (<1%)
*The children concerned were all 6 years old or more.

Respondents could give up to two reasons for the child not going to school.
The commonest reason given for both boys and girls (29%) was that the parents were too poor to pay the
registration fee and other expenses. The reasons given for boys and girls were generally in the same order,
except girls were more likely to be not going to school because of being needed for household work and to tend
animals or younger siblings while parents worked outside the home (26% for girls v 14% for boys). It was
explicitly stated by the household respondent of 6% of non-school-going girls that it was not their practice to
educate girls, as they would be going to live in another man's house (on getting married).
Focus group discussions confirmed the views expressed by households. In contrast to the rather sweeping and
even grandiose expressions about why children should be educated, reasons given in focus groups for children
not going to school were down to earth and the reflect harsh realities of making an existence in difficult
circumstances. Inability to afford the fees associated with sending children to school and the need to have them
help with work at home were common themes. There was also, in some communities, a view articulated that it
was actually not worth while sending children to school, as they would be no better off:
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"Those who are educated haven't yet found a job and have gone back to farming. We have also done farming like this. You don't need any
education to do farming; this can be done without going to school. There are a lot of people like this."
"There are many educated people in my village but unluckily they dig and plough the farm because of not getting a job. Did their parents
spend money [on their education] to enable them to work in the field? If not, what is the significance of education and qualification? Why
should I enrol my children since their future is obviously to be farmers, which needs not education but physical strength?"
Although no direct question was posed to the groups about the different views on girls' and boys' education,
some groups raised this issue themselves. They explained why they sent their sons but not their daughters to
school. The daughter's role is to do work in the house, rather than to be educated:
"Daughters are only meant to look after cattle and not to go to school. If they go to school then who will look after the household work?
We have to go to work early in the morning. Then who will cook the rice, who will stay home and who will look after the cattle?
There is no point in educating daughters because they will not support their parents but go to another man's
house on marriage:
"Daughters when they grow up go to another man's house. They will not support us. That is why I haven't sent my daughter to the school."
And their marriage prospects may be damaged by their being educated:

"I send only the son to school because the daughter should work in the house. If the daughter is also educated, there may be difficulties in
marriage because for an educated bride the groom may demand more dowry."
"What to do by sending the daughter to school? After all, they go with their man and must perform all the household jobs. It is better to
teach her all the household jobs than to send her to school. When married and if she cannot perform the household jobs then we the parents
are blamed. Besides, this Dami down there sent her daughter to school. But what to do? Until now his daughter is not married because he
sent her to school. We can't marry our educated daughter with an uneducated man. An educated man seldom comes with a proposal. That
is why I don't get enough strength to send my daughter to school."
These views did not go unchallenged in some of the groups. Some participants were scathing about parents who
did not send their daughters to school:
"They hate their daughters and they think to enrol daughters in school is useless."
Others expressed why they thought daughters should be given the benefit of education:
"If a child studies well s/he may become a social worker or a teacher in the future who can educate other children of the village. Except this,
the females of this village are not taught. But if we educate our daughters too, they can fight the injustice happening over them because after
they are educated they know what is just and fair. They will also know what should be done to maintain dignity in the society. Males and
females are equal; women should get their rights etc. Realising all these things, they may fight for their rights."
"Daughters, if educated, will be able to get a job. They will have knowledge regarding various things and won't be as ignorant as us. Even
after their marriage, nobody can dominate them. In this way they will have a good future."
(b) Views of teachers

At the time of the institutional review of schools serving the survey communities, head teachers were asked their
opinion about the reasons for children not attending school. Their responses are shown in Table 13. While they
mentioned many of the same factors as the household respondents, they were not given the same relative
importance. In total, 53% of head teachers attributed children's absence from school to their having to work at
home, while the commonest reason from households was they could not afford to send their children to school.
There is some overlap between these categories (poverty being an underlying reason for needing children to
work at home). But the child working at home was only attributed to poverty by 11% of the teachers (see Table
13). None of the head teachers said parents did not send their children to school because they could not afford
the registration and other fees, yet this was given as a prominent reason by parents (29%). It could be that the
head teachers were only considering the children with whom they had actually come into contact (that is, those
who had been to school at some time) while parents were giving reasons mainly for non-enrolment. More than
40% of head teachers gave parents not understanding the importance of education or not caring about it as a
reason for children not attending. Perhaps not surprisingly, this was hardly mentioned by household
respondents; parents may be unwilling to admit to lack of understanding of education or lack of interest in
educating their children.
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Table 13. Views of head teachers about reasons for children not attending school
Reasons for children not attending school n (%)
Parents need their help with household work during peak 58(33)
agricultural season
Parents don't care about children not attending 37(21)
Parents don't understand importance of education 41(23)
Children absent because of frequent festivals 35(20)
Children get sick and cannot attend at times 23(13)
Parents have to go out to earn money; take children with 19(11)

them/ children work in the house
Children don't attend in bad weather 12(7)
Children are under school age 14(8)
The school is too far from home 10(6)
The children prefer to play on the way 12(7)
Children don't like to wake up early for morning classes 7(4)
Children work on farms in peak season 15(9)
Parents have no time to prepare food for children 4(2)
Difficult access to school, esp in rainy season 11(6)
Poor facilities in school: no roof, classroom, chairs 5(2)
Ways to ensure children go to school

Table 14 lists the suggestions by households of 6-10 year old children not going to school for what the
government could do to ensure they enrolled in school or did not drop out of school. Suggestions were
generally similar for boys and girls. Despite all children in the survey being at least 6 years old, some
respondents claimed no help was needed because the child was under age for school. The most popular
suggestions for government action were to provide free school stationery and to open a school nearer to the
village. A wide range of other suggestions was made by respondents.
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Table 14. Suggestions government action to ensure children attend school
Government actions Boys Girls
No suggestions 6% 6%
No action; child underagel 22% 15%
Provide free education 9% 9%
Provide free stationery at school 21% 25%
Provide free school uniforms 9% 11%
Open school near to the village 16% 16%
Provide school meals 7% 6%
Maintain routes to school 1% 1%
Employment for parents 9% 10%
Open separate school for girls 0 4%
Strengthen teaching skills 2% 1%
Better facilities in schools 7% 7%
School for separate language group <1% <1%
Attention to low caste/ underprivileged children <1% <1%
Improve registration of births <1% <1%
Compulsory education for children 2% 2%
Health posts/ medicines for children 2% 1%
Morning and evening classes 2% 3%
Separate school for disabled children 2% 1%
More manpower for household chores <1% 3%
Special school for orphans <1% <1%
Make teachers reimburse textbooks <1% <1%
More sports materials for schools 2% 1%
School bus/ escort for children 2% 1%
Strict supervision of teachers <1% <1%
Look after small children in school 1% 1%
Provide drinking water in school/ village <1% <1%
Citizenship certificates for parents <1% <1%
Non-formal education for parents <1% <1%
Provide boarding schools <1% <1%
School enrolment in relation to views expressed by parents

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The themes emerging from the focus groups about school enrolment are given in annex 3, together with the
summary codes used to refer to each of these themes. Annex 3 also shows the proportion of the 144
communities where the focus group mentioned each theme. This is not a quantitative analysis, but it is clear
some of the ideas and views were much more common than others.
Table 15 shows the initial school enrolment rates in 6-10 year old boys and girls, in communities who
mentioned themes related to why children should go to school, and why they were not in school. There is little
difference in enrolment rates between communities mentioning and not mentioning most of the themes. Those
themes expressing an actual physical difficulty getting to school (it was too far away, the journey was difficult)
or with the child (too small, unwell) tended to be expressed in communities with lower average enrolment rates.
The relatively rarely expressed theme of problems with the schools (especially the teachers) was more likely to
be voiced in communities with lower enrolment rates. Where the issue of not educating girls was raised,
enrolment rates for girls were somewhat lower, but so were those for boys. Enrolment rates were higher in both
boys and girls in communities where the focus group gave as a reason for children not going to school the
perception that education 'was not worthwhile'. This perception may be less of a hindrance to school enrolment
than the actual difficulties of finances and distance expressed in other themes.
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Table 15. Initial school enrolment and themes expressed in focus groups from the communities
Themes expressed in focus groups in the communities of the same children Theme Enrolment rates
expressed
Boys Girls
Why do you think it is important for children to go to school?
So that they won't be cheated later in life (in loans etc) Yes 79% 61%
No 80% 61%
So they will become good/serve community/be respected Yes 80% 61%
No 80% 61%
So they will obey their parents/make them happy/look after them Yes 82% 64%
No 78% 56%
Why are children not in school?
They are needed to work at home/in agriculture/for other people Yes 80% 61%
No 81% 61%
Perception that education is not worthwhile for any children Yes 85% 66%
No 79% 57%
Education is not worthwhile/ is a bad thing for girls Yes 79% 59%
No 81% 62%
Not enough money to buy books/uniforms etc Yes 81% 62%
No 79% 60%
The schools are too far away; the journey is difficult Yes 75% 56%
No 81% 62%
There are problems with the school; teachers are not good etc Yes 71% 35%
No 81% 62%
Mothers unable to control children; no support from father Yes 82% 70%
No 80% 61%
Problems with the children: too small or chronically unwell Yes 79% 56%
No 81% 62%
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CURRENT CLASS ATTENDANCE
Data from household questionnaire

The children attending school at the time of the survey are not necessarily in the class 'expected' for
their age, partly because of late enrolment into Class One (see Table 2) and partly because of
repetition of classes. Table 16 gives an indication of the age spread of children attending different
classes, using data from the household questionnaire on the age and class attended of 6-10 year old
children attending school.
Data from schools

Data from school registers was extracted to give class attendance rates for Classes One and Two,
along with repetition and drop-out rates for the same classes. The information on all three variables is
given in combined Tables in the section below on data from schools. Average class attendance rates
are 55-60% for Class One and 60-70% for Class Two, somewhat higher in boys than girls.
Class attendance in relation to views expressed in communities

Class attendance rates are lower in schools in sites where the focus groups suggested children did not
go to school because they were needed to work (Table 17). Attendance rates are lower for girls in
sites where the issue of it being not worthwhile to educate girls was raised in the focus group. Those
sites where difficulty getting to school (because of distance or terrain) and problems with schools and
teachers were mentioned have lower class attendances, especially in Class One.
SCHOOL REPETITION AND DROP-OUT

Data from household questionnaires
Repetition of one or more years one or more times was reported fairly commonly. The overall
(weighted) repetition rate among 6-10 year old children is 24%; 23% in boys and 25% in girls (among
children enrolled in school, excluding those said to be in a pre-primary class). Among the 9409
children ever enrolled into school, 1144 (12%) have repeated Class One once and 274 (3%) have
repeated Class One twice or more (up to 4 times). In Class Two, 415 children (4%) have repeated
once and 34 (0.4%) have repeated twice or more. There were smaller numbers reported as having
repeated in the higher classes, but this is hard to interpret as many of the children will never have been
in these higher classes so will have no risk of repeating them. The number of children repeating at
least one year is 15% of the total population of 13238 children aged 6-10 years.
Repetition rates are higher among girls than boys. Table 18 shows repetition among girls and boys of
different ages, among children who have enrolled in school and are not in pre-primary class. In all
but 7 year olds, repetition rates are higher among girls. Boys are at less risk of repeating than girls in
all other ages. Overall, boys have 0.86 times the risk of girls of repeating. Older boys and girls are
more likely to have repeated a class, probably because they have had more opportunity to repeat than
younger children.
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Table 18. School repetition among children aged 6-10 years, who had enrolled in primary school
Age (yrs) Repetition of at least one year Risk estimate of boys v

girls repeating
Boys Girls
n %rp n %rp
6 654 9 485 17 OR=0.50

(0.34-0.72)
7 888 18 703 17 OR=1.05
(0.80-1.38)
8 1106 23 809 24 OR=0.98
(0.79-1.23)
9 984 26 819 28 OR=0.90
(0.73-1.12)
10 1318 27 880 32 OR=0.79
(0.65-0.95)
OR=Odds Ratio. The figures below the OR for each age are the 95% Confidence Interval for that OR.
MH combined OR=0.86, 95% CI 0.78-0.95
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Table 16. Class attended by boys and girls of 6-10 years old
Age & sex School class attended
Pre-school Class 1 Class 2 Class 3 Class 4 Class 5 Class 6 Class 7 Not in school
6yrs Girls 110 (9%) 391 (33%) 74 (6%) 5 (0.4%) 608 (51%)
Boys 220 (17%) 552 (43%) 76 (6%) 13 (1%) 417 (33%)
7yrs Girls 87 (6%) 416 (31%) 199 (15%) 59 (4%) 8 (1%) 577 (43%)
Boys 128 (10%) 512 (39%) 268 (20%) 78 (6%) 12 (1%) 302 (23%)
8yrs Girls 47 (3%) 328 (24%) 280 (20%) 130 (9%) 34 (2%) 4 (0.3%) 561 (40%)
Boys 86 (6%) 400 (27%) 360 (24%) 236 (16%) 78 (5%) 13 (1%) 309 (21%)
9yrs Girls 22 (2%) 171 (14%) 242 (20%) 232 (19%) 97 (8%) 37 (3%) 4 (0.3%) 405 (33%)
Boys 30 (3%) 229 (20%) 284 (25%) 259 (22%) 154 (13%) 34 (3%) 10 (1%) 149 (13%)
10yrs Girls 12 (1%) 90 (7%) 185 (14%) 233 (18%) 177 (13%) 112 (9%) 43 (3%) 469 (35%)
Boys 21 (1%) 163 (11%) 263 (17%) 295 (19%) 278 (18%) 200 (13%) 68 (4%) 6 (0.4%) 234 (15%)
Total Girls 278 (4%) 1396 (22%) 980 (15%) 659 (10%) 316 (5%) 153 (2%) 47 (1%) 2620 (41%)
Boys 485 (7%) 1856 (27%) 1251 (19%) 881 (13%) 522 (8%) 247 (4%) 78 (1%) 6 (0.1%) 1411 (21%)
Comments:
1. These are data from the household questionnaires and only refers to children aged 6-10 years. The column percentages in this table (if calculated) would give inflated proportions of each age group in the
whole class, which will include children outside the ages of 6-10. This would affect particularly class one and the upper classes. The row percentages given do not quite total 100% because the few cases of missing
data are not shown.
2. For both boys and girls, many are in classes below those 'expected' for their ages, reflecting the high repetition rates and the tendency for children to enrol at ages above 6 years (see Table 4).
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Table 17. Class attendance rates and focus group themes in the same sites
Themes expressed by focus groups in the communities served by the Theme Class attendance rates
schools expressed
G one B one G two B two
Why is it important for children to go to school?
Will become good/serve the nation/be respected Yes (112) 60% 60% 60% 65%
No (64) 51% 55% 60% 60%
Will obey parents/make happy/look after them Yes (117) 56% 58% 61% 63%
No (59) 57% 58% 58% 63%
Why are children not going to school?
Needed to work at home/in fields/for other people Yes (112) 53% 56% 57% 61%
No (64) 63% 62% 65% 68%
Perception that education is not worthwhile Yes (62) 61% 62% 59% 66%
No (114) 54% 55% 60% 61%
Perception that education not worthwhile for girls Yes (37) 51% 58% 47% 64%
No (139) 58% 58% 63% 63%
Not enough money to buy books, uniforms etc Yes (118) 58% 59% 60% 65%
No (58) 54% 56% 59% 60%
Schools are too far away; journey is difficult Yes (27) 48% 52% 57% 64%
No (149) 58% 59% 60% 63%
Problems with the schools; teachers not good etc Yes (7) 36% 47% 34% 53%
No (169) 57% 58% 61% 64%
Drop-out rates, as reported by the household respondents, are notably low. Drop-out in the analysis is defined as
having been enrolled into school but not currently attending school. Nearly all the children reported to have enrolled in
school are still considered to be going to school (even though this might be quite irregularly). The weighted drop-out
rate among 6-10 year old children is 3% (2% among boys and 5% among girls). The number of children enroling and
subsequently dropping-out is 2% of the total population of 13238 children aged 6-10 years. It seems children are only
reported as dropped-out by households if there is no intention of their ever returning to school in the future, even if
they are not attending that day, that week or even that month.
Again, girls are more likely to have dropped-out of school than boys. Table 19 shows the drop-out rates for boys and
girls of different ages, among children enrolled in school and not in pre-primary class. Taking age into account, boys
have only about half the risk of girls of dropping-out . For both boys and girls, 10 year old children are the most likely
to be reported as having dropped-out.
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Table 19. Drop-out among boys and girls aged 6-10 years, among children who had enrolled in primary school
Age Dropped-out from school Risk of boys

(yrs) vs girls dropping-out
Boys Girls
n %drp n %drp
6 654 2 485 3 OR=0.64

(0.28-1.44)
7 888 2 703 3 OR=0.67
(0.34-1.33)
8 1106 2 809 4 OR=0.41
(0.22-0.76)
9 984 1 819 4 OR=0.31
(0.16-0.61)
10 1318 3 880 5 OR=0.74
(0.47-1.18)
OR=Odds Ratio. The figures below the OR for each age are the 95% Confidence Interval for that OR.
MH combined OR=0.54, 95% CI=0.42-0.70
School repetition and drop-out in different parts of Nepal

Tables A5.13 and A5.14 in annex 5 show repetition and drop-out rates among boys and girls by region, by ecological
zone and by urban/rural split. Repetition rates are higher in girls. The highest repetition rates are in the Western
Region. The repetition rates in the Hills are higher than in the other ecological zones. Repetition rates are higher in
rural sites than in urban sites, especially among girls. In urban sites the repetition rates in boys and girls are very
similar. Drop-out rates are also higher for girls in all regions and ecological zones. Eastern Region has the highest
drop-out rates at 3% for boys and 6% for girls. Among the ecological zones, drop-out rates are highest in the Tarai.
Girls have a higher drop-out rate in rural than in urabn sites.
Table A5.15 (Figs A5.7 and A5.8) in annex 5 give the repetition and drop-out rates for 6-10 year old children by eco-
region. These data are from the household questionnaires. Tables A5.16 and A5.17 (Figs A5.9 and A5.10) in annex 5
show the school repetition rates (from the household questionnaires) by District. And Tables A5.18 and A5.19 (Figs
A5.11 and A5.12) show the drop-out rates as reported by households by District.
Variables associated with school repetition and drop-out

A number of questions related to children's education and home support for it were asked in the household survey.
The responses to these questions and their relation, if any, to children's repetition and drop-out, are described below.
Journey time to get to school

Table 20 shows the spread of journey times to school. A quarter of children can reach school in less than 20 minutes,
two-thirds in less than 40 minutes, three-quarters in less than one hour, and 95% in less than two hours. The mean
journey time is 36 minutes; the median time is 30 minutes. There is no clear association between school repetition
rates and journey time to school, in either boys or girls.
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Table 20. Journey times to school for school-going children aged 6-10 years
Journey time (minutes) n % cumulative %
1-9 389 5 5
10-19 1672 20 25
20-29 1572 19 43
30-39 1824 22 65
40-49 677 8 73
50-59 124 2 75
60-89 1515 18 93
90-119 169 2 95
120-149 353 4 99
150-179 29 0 99
180 and above 68 1 100
Of children aged 6-10 currently going to school, nearly all walk to school (97% of boys and 98% of girls). In view of
this, no attempt was made to associate means of getting to school with repetition and drop-out rates.
Help with studies

Among children ever enrolled into school, 42% of the boys (2283/5435) and 48% of the girls (1919/3974) are said to
be given help with their studies by someone in the home. Among children still attending school, 43% of the boys
(2266/5326) and 49% of the girls (1888/3829) are said to be given help with their studies.
Children who have repeated one or more grades are less likely to receive help with their studies at home (Table 21).
Taking sex and age into account, children who receive help with their studies have 0.81 times the risk of repeating a
grade of those who do not receive help.
Similarly, children who drop-out of school are less likely to have been helped with their studies at home (Table 22).
Taking sex into account, children who are helped at home have about a quarter the risk of those who are not helped of
dropping-out. This association may be exaggerated because it may have been reported that children who dropped out
did not receive help at the time of the survey, as they no longer went to school.
Table 21. Help with studies at home and repetition among children aged 6-10 years enrolled in primary school
Help with studies at Repetition of at least one class
home
Boys Girls
n %rep n %rep
Yes 2064 20 1773 23
No 2886 24 1923 26
MH combined OR=0.81, 95% CI=0.73-0.90

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Table 22. Help with studies at home and drop-out among children aged 6-10 years enrolled in primary school
Help with Dropped-out from school
studies at
home
Boys Girls
n %drop n %drop
Yes 2064 1 1773 2
No 2886 3 1923 6
MH combined OR=0.27, 95% CI=0.20-0.37
Help with studies is more common in girls throughout Nepal and more common in urban than in rural sites. This is
shown in Table A5.20 of Annex 5.
Textbooks
Nearly all children aged 6-10 years en rolled in primary school have a full set of textbooks (90% in both boys and
girls). Rather surprisingly, there is a higher proportion of children repeating a year among those with a full set of
textbooks, both boys and girls (Table 23). Taking sex into account, those with a full set of textbooks have twice the
risk of repeating of those without a full set. Perhaps those children who have repeated a year or more have more
chance to collect a full set of textbooks?
Table 23. Possession of textbooks and repetition of at least one class among children aged 6-10 years enrolled in
primary school
Full set of Repetition of at least one class
textbooks
Boys Girls
n %rep n %rep
Yes 4451 23 3325 26
No 491 13 370 14
Unbiased MH OR=2.05, 95% CI= 1.68-2.51
There is a strong association between a full set of textbooks and drop-out (Table 24). Taking sex into account, those
with a full set of textbooks have only a tenth the risk of having dropped-out of those without a full set. This could be a
spurious association because drop-outs may have relinquished their set of textbooks.
Table 24. Textbooks and drop-out among children aged 6-10 years enrolled in primary school
Full set of Dropped-out from school
textbooks
Boys Girls
n %drop n %drop
Yes 4451 1 3325 2
No 491 10 370 22
Unbiased MH OR=0.09, 95% CI=0.07-0.11
Nearly all children in school have a full set of textbooks in most areas of Nepal, in rural as well as urban sites (annex
5, Table A5.21).
Other study materials

Not many children have other study materials, besides textbooks, available in the home: 13% of boys enrolled in
school and 12% of girls enrolled in school. Children with additional study materials have only two thirds the risk of
repeating of those who do not, taking sex into account (Table 25). Similarly, those with additional study materials
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have a tenth the risk of dropping-out of those without, taking sex into account (Table 26). However, those who
dropped-out may have lost their study materials since leaving school, thus exaggerating this association.
Table 25. Additional study materials and repetition of at least one class among 6-10 year old children enrolled
in primary school
Study Repetition of at least one class
materials at
home
Boys Girls
n %rep n %rep
Yes 590 16 432 20
No 4360 23 3264 25
Unbiased MH OR=0.69, 95% CI=0.58-0.81
Table 26. Additional study materials and drop-out among 6-10 year old children enrolled in primary school
Study Dropped-out from school
materials at
home
Boys Girls
n %drop n %drop
Yes 590 0 432 0
No 4360 3 3264 4
Unbiased MH OR=0.09, 95% CI=0.03-0.27
The availability of additional study materials at home varies across Nepal and is notably more common in urban than
rural sites (annex 5, Table A5.22)
School meals
School meals are rarely provided. Only 2% of boys and girls enrolled in school receive school meals. There is no
association between provision of school meals and either repetition or drop-out.
Mother tongue
As with school enrolment, there is variation in children's school repetition and drop-out rates with mother tongue
spoken in the households. The data are shown in Table 27. Of the two commonest languages, Nepali and Maithali,
children from households where Nepali is the mother tongue have higher repetition rates but lower drop-out rates.
Ethnicity
Repetition and drop-out rates for different ethnic groups are shown in Tables 28 and 29. For many of the ethnic
groups, the number of children is too small for the data to be interpretable. Of the three largest ethnic groups
(Brahmins of the hills, Chhetri and Kami, Damai etc), children of the hill Brahmins have marginally the highest school
repetition rates. Children of the Chhetri, Damai and related groups have notably higher school drop-out rates.
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Table 27. Mother tongue of household and school repetition and drop-out in 6-10 year old children enrolled in
primary school
Mother tongue Boys Girls
n %rep %drop n %rep %drop
Nepali 2942 26 1 2495 28 3
Newari 102 15 0 114 21 0
Maithali 711 13 5 371 10 11
Bhojpuri 311 7 5 133 8 4
Gurung/Thakali 89 27 1 64 23 8
Tamang/Bhote/Sherpa 128 18 3 84 14 4
Aawadhi/Marwadi/Dehati 167 11 4 86 16 7
Tharu/Rajbanshi 251 27 2 112 30 2
Magar 54 20 2 60 33 3
Rai/Limbu/Sunuwar 101 20 1 107 20 2
Danuwar/Satar/Santhal 2 0 0 0 0 0
Hindi/Urdu/Bengali/Panjabi 57 28 2 36 28 0
Thami/Chepang/Jirel 20 50 5 16 31 13
Dhimal/Majhi/Kumale 12 17 0 17 35 0
Raji/Darai/Bote/Raute 2 0 50 0 0 0
Others 1 100 0 1 0 0
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Table 28. Ethnicity and school repetition in 6-10 year old children enrolled in primary school
Ethnicity of head of household Repetition in 6-10 year old children enrolled in prim school
Boys Girls Total
n %rep n %rep n %rep
1. Brahmins 910 24 933 27 1843 26
2. Chhetri 1053 23 776 25 1829 24
3. Newar 229 22 219 26 448 24
4. Gurung/Ghale 154 37 118 37 272 37
5. Magar 218 24 193 33 411 28
6. Rai/Limbu 213 23 226 25 439 24
7. Tamang/Sherpa 179 21 141 11 320 17
8. Muslim 166 18 95 19 261 18
9. Occupational 593 24 380 26 973 25
10. Tharu 369 24 174 24 543 24
11. Yadav 225 11 105 13 330 12
12. Other (Tarai) 516 11 261 12 777 11
13. Other (Hills) 125 33 75 24 200 30

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Table 29. Ethnicity of head of household and school drop-out among 6-10 year olds enrolled in primary school
Ethnicity of head of household Drop-out in 6-10 year old children enrolled in prim school
Boys Girls Total
n %rep n %rep n %rep
1. Brahmins 910 1 933 2 1843 1
2. Chhetri 1053 1 776 3 1829 2
3. Newar 229 0 219 1 448 1
4. Gurung/Ghale 154 2 118 8 272 4
5. Magar 218 1 193 3 411 2
6. Rai/Limbu 213 1 226 2 439 1
7. Tamang/Sherpa 179 1 141 6 320 3
8. Muslim 166 5 95 5 261 5
9. Occupational 593 5 380 7 973 5
10. Tharu 369 1 174 2 543 2
11. Yadav 225 3 105 22 330 9
12. Other (Tarai) 516 5 261 6 777 5
13. Other (Hills) 125 6 75 3 200 5
Importance attached to education for children

Among households with a 6-10 year old child enrolled in school, 85% of respondents rated education as the most
important thing for children. Health care was the second choice, given top priority by 8% of respondents for male
children and 9% for female children. The highest repetition rates are among children where the respondent rated
'relaxation' as the most importance thing for children and higher drop-out rates are associated with rating either
employment or relaxation as most important for children (Table 30).
Table 30. Priorities for children and repetition and drop-out rates among 6-10 year old children enrolled in
primary school
Most important Boys Girls

for children
n %rp %dp n %rp %dp
Health care 377 20 2 349 25 3
Education 4217 23 2 3160 25 4
Employment 266 15 6 126 21 8
Relaxation 49 33 2 32 28 9
Family 41 20 0 29 21 7
stability
Number of siblings aged 6-10 years

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In nearly 90% of households with children enrolled in school, there are only one or two children aged 6-10 years.
There is no association between increasing numbers of siblings aged 6-10 years and school repetition or drop-out rates
in either boys or girls.
Gender of household head

Most (93%) of the children aged 6-10 years enrolled in school live from households with a male head. There is no
clear association between gender of the household head and school repetition and drop-out in either boys or girls.
Effects of BPEP
School repetition rates in boys and girls are lower in sites with BPEP operating than in sites without, in both boys and
girls (Table 31). There is no difference in drop-out rates with the presence of BPEP.
Table 31. Presence of BPEP and repetition and drop-out among children aged 6-10 years enrolled in primary
school
BPEP in Boys Girls

site
n % % n % %
rp dp rp dp
Yes 1334 19 2 1005 20 4
No 3508 24 2 2608 27 4
KTM 108 16 0 83 10 0
Data from schools

School registers were examined and teachers were interviewed to collect information about repetition and drop-out
rates in Classes One and Two. Repetition rates are about 30% in Class One and half this or less in Class Two, lower
in boys than girls. Drop-out rates were reported as 2-3%. Details are given in the section below on schools data.
The drop-out rates in this survey, based on teachers' estimates, are well below the rates reported by the Ministry of
Education, based on data also collected from schools. A possible explanation for the discrepancy is that in this survey
children were only counted once, as either drop-outs or repeaters, whereas in routine data they could appear twice, as
drop-outs when they leave and as repeaters when (if) they subsequently return.
Views about school repetition and drop-out
Reasons for repeating grades

In the focus groups many of the parents agreed working children sometimes had to repeat grades because they could
not attend school regularly. Also the parents could not help children with their work, being illiterate themselves.
Sometimes the children themselves were held to be to blame. Interestingly, parents seemed more ready to criticise the
teachers in relation to their children's poor progress in the focus groups than when asked a similar question in
individual household interviews. Teachers were accused of teaching poorly, not attending school themselves and not
paying attention to their duties:
"It's all due to the teachers' negligence. My son has repeated grade one three times but isn't yet able to know ka, kha etc. Thus, I have begun to
guide him in the morning and evening. Now, hardly ten days have passed but he has improved a lot, knowing ka, kha, aa, aa etc. So it's a hundred
percent the teachers' fault."
"The education they get at school is not good. There are only two teachers and one of them does not come to school at all. If he comes one day
then he won't come for another 15 days. How can only one teacher concentrate in all the areas?"
"Some mothers complained teachers always entered the classrooms after drinking alcohol. Others said teachers are always chatting with each
other, do not care about teaching classes and sometimes go to an isolated place (forest) to play cards."
The views of teachers were sought about why girls and boys in Class One and Two did not make good progress with
their studies. The responses are shown in Table 32. Apart from the child being under age (in class one), the most
common views were that the parents did not care about the child's study at home or that the child was frequently
absent from class. Thus the teachers tended to put the blame for childrens' poor performance on their parents.
How class repetition could be prevented

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In many of the focus groups, participants spread the onus for preventing repetition between parents and teachers:
parents needed to help their children with their studies, teachers needed to teach well and diligently. The role of the
government in reducing poverty so children would not have to work at home and parents could afford educational
materials was often raised. Some specific suggestions were raised about teachers. The first is interesting, as it ties in
with the evidence from the quantitative data of better attendance rates associated with female teachers (see below):
"It would be better to have good, skilful, trained teachers, preferably ladies."
The second is a somewhat barbed comment about teachers:

"The teachers should not wait only for their salary to come, but they should also teach well."
Table 33 shows teachers' views about what measures could reduce the problem of class repetition. The most popular
suggestions were that parents should be educated through non-formal education, that parents should help children with
their studies at home, and that parents should be informed when their children were not attending school regularly.
The teachers thus put the onus on parents for reducing the problem of class repetition.
Reasons for dropping-out of school

For the small number of children who had dropped-out of school, the reasons given by the household respondents are
shown in Table 34. Again, the commonest reason given (39%) was being too poor to afford the costs of schooling,
such as stationery and uniforms. Interestingly, the second commonest reason given was that the child did not want to
continue school. Third was the need for the child to undertake household work.
These household views were confirmed in the focus group discussions. Common reasons expressed in the groups
were the need to have children working at home or helping out with agricultural work.
"During the peak agricultural season most of the children are not released from household chores. Therefore the farming season is identified as the
peak drop out season."
This was linked to the inability of parents to afford to keep their children at school, because of the school costs and the
loss of help at home. Another set of reasons sometimes raised about childrens' drop-out was related to the teachers
and their attitudes towards and treatment of the children:
"The teachers do not teach them with love and care. They punish them. If they wear an old uniform or are a bit dirty, the teacher punished them
and the children do not go to school for fear of it. The teacher punishes them badly so they do not go to school."
"To punish the children for their fault of not learning is a normal thing. But giving physical punishment carries bad impacts on the minds of the
children. As a result, the children start escaping from school and refuse to go to school from home for fear of being beaten by the teachers."
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Table 32. Views of teachers about why children make poor progress with their studies
Reasons for making poor progress with studies Class One Class Two
Girls Boys Girls Boys
Child under age/too young 127 (31%) 117 (29%) 21 (5%) 22 (5%)
Parents don't care about home studies 111 (27%) 118 (29%) 116 (28%) 117 (28%)
Child frequently absent from class 90 (22%) 100 (24%) 100 (24%) 105 (26%)
Classroom is too crowded/too small 35 (9%) 32 (8%) 22 (5%) 20 (5%)
Parents too poor to buy stationery 76 (19%) 83 (20%) 65 (16%) 68 (17%)
Language problem: non-Nepali speakers 11 (3%) 9 (2%) 5 (1%) 4 (1%)
Parents uneducated; can't assist child 30 (7%) 30 (7%) 26 (6%) 25 (6%)
Child has to help with household work 28 (7%) 24 (6%) 51 (12%) 54 (13%)
Child does not have paper and pencils 22 (5%) 20 (5%) 26 (6%) 25 (6%)
School is too far from home 5 (1%) 6 (1%) 3 (<1%) 4 (1%)
Too few teachers for number of children 6 (2%) 6 (1%) 5 (1%) 6 (2%)
Child is sick or unhealthy 10 (2%) 12 (3%) 10 (2%) 12 (3%)
Children behave badly, don't study 14 (3%) 18 (4%) 13 (3%) 20 (5%)
Teachers don't teach properly 0 0 1 (<1%) 0
Poor physical facilities in school 5 (1%) 10 (2%) 7 (2%) 8 (2%)
No teachers evaluation/feedback 1 (<1%) 1 (<1%) 2 (<1%) 2 (<1%)
Children lack memory/understanding 12 (3%) 13 (3%) 17 (4%) 16 (4%)
No school building 1 (<1%) 0 1 (<1%) 1 (<1%)

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Table 33. Teachers' views about how to solve the class repetition problem
Suggestions to solve repetition problem No. of teachers % of teachers
Educate parents through non-formal education 131 32%
Inform parents about children's irregular attendance 121 29%
Parents should help children study at home 128 31%
Classrooms should be peaceful or separate 38 9%
Government to supply free stationery for poor students 56 14%
Compulsory for students to bring stationery to school 17 4%
Teacher to spend time with weaker children 54 13%
Teacher should be trained how to interest children 24 6%
Provision of prizes for good students 7 2%
Govt to initiate income generation in villages 9 2%
Provision of sports, sweets, tiffin etc 31 8%
Scholarships for poor but brilliant students 4 1%
Periodical meeting between teachers and parents 23 6%
Assign more teachers if student numbers increasing 33 8%
Make available textbooks in other languages 2 <1%
Only admit children 6 years old and above 3 <1%

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Table 34. Reasons given by households of children aged 6-10 years who dropped-out of school for the
child dropping-out
Reasons given for child dropping-out Number (%)
Child needed for household chores 83 (23%)
Child did not want to continue school 80 (32%)
No good teaching in nearest school 11 (4%)
Parents too poor to buy stationery and other materials required 100 (39%)
Child afraid of teachers (afraid of being beaten) 35 (14%)
School too far away 39 (15%)
Child under age for school 9 (4%)
Teacher stopped attending the school or the school closed 12 (5%)
Child was sick 24 (10%)
Child repeatedly failed exams 21 (8%)
Journey to school to difficult to continue 6 (2%)
Parents died 5 (2%)
Parents did not know the importance of education 6 (2%)
School did not give a refund of textbook bills 1 (<1%)
Girl did not find a friend of the same sex 3 (1%)
Respondents were allowed to give up to three reasons.

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Table 35. Suggestions by households of children who had dropped-out for how their drop-out could
have been prevented
Suggestions for how the child's drop-out could have been prevented n (%)
Nothing to suggest 17 (7%)
Provide free stationery for school 33 (13%)
Provide free school uniforms and shoes 14 (6%)
Teachers to interest children more 36 (14%)
More manpower for household chores 31 (12%)
Provide free education; charge no fees at all 16 (6%)
Appoint good teachers/ develop teaching skills of existing teachers 11 (4%)
Provide schools nearer to the home 40 (16%)
Provide good sports materials in school 9 (4%)
Provide free school meals 15 (6%)
Someone from the family to take the child to school 7 (3%)
Provide employment for parents 4 (2%)
Keep the child happy in the home 10 (4%)
Provide a separate school for orphans/disable children 4 (2%)
Teachers to control children without scolding them 7 (3%)
Provide free medical treatment for sick children 9 (4%)
Provide a separate school for the indigenous language group 2 (1%)
Provide education for parents through non-formal education 5 (2%)
Respondents were allowed to give up to two suggestions.
Sometimes discrimination on the basis of caste or poverty was raised as an issue:

"The students in the higher caste hate the lower caste students. So they are dropped out in grade one or two."
"The teachers love the children of rich people. They do not care for and love the children of poor people. They hate them. So such children are
dropped out."
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How drop-out could have been prevented
Frequently-voiced suggestions in focus groups were about actions the government should take to prevent drop-out: to
provide free educational materials, free school meals, and employment prospects for parents. Better teaching methods
were advocated by some groups.
In some cases quite specific suggestions were made:

"There must be some person in the village to make the ignorant villagers understand the importance of education. Only then will they not withdraw
their children in grade one or two."
"If the government opened a child care centre to take care of all the babies in the village, many children would be free from looking after the babies
(their small brothers or sisters) and could go to school regularly."
Suggestions by the respondents in households of children who had dropped-out about how their drop-out could have
been prevented are shown in Table 35. The most popular suggestion was that drop-out could have been prevented if
the school had been nearer to home (16%), followed by teachers finding ways to interest the children more (14%), free
stationery for school (13%) and more manpower to help with household chores (12%).
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COSTS OF PRIMARY EDUCATION
Households who reported having a child attending school were asked about how much they had to pay for various
items in the last year. The data on expenses associated with children's education are summarised in Table 36.
Table 36. Expenditure on school related items in last year for children aged 6-10 years attending school
Item % of hh Amount per child last year (Rs)*
paying
nil
Boys Girls
Mn Md Mn Md
Travel to 99 1219 930 903 720

school
Exam and 10 567 40 376 40

other fees
Books, bags, 1 469 250 406 250

stationery
Uniforms, 1 658 500 599 500

shoes
* By households who paid something

Mn=mean: the average amount
Md=median: the middle amount out of the amounts paid. The value of the median is less affected by a few high figures
Travel expenses
For 99% of children, no expenses associated with travel to school are incurred since they walk to school. The mean
expenditure per child in the previous year for the remaining 1% is 1,110 RS; the median is 840 Rs. A small number
have very high expenditures, presumably from sending their children to far distant schools. The expenditure for boys
is higher than for girls but this difference could easily have occurred by chance.
Expenses for tuition, examinations etc

Fees paid to the schools in the previous year included fees for tuition, for examinations, for registration and for sports.
Nothing was paid by households of 776 children going to school (8.5%). A further 16 (0.2%) had been given a
special dispensation from the fees because of poverty or because the child's parent was on the school staff. For
another 86 (1%) the level of fee paid was not clearly known. Among the children for whom specified fees were paid,
the mean expenditure in the last year was 488 Rs. The median expenditure per child was much less at 40 Rs,
reflecting a skewed distribution with 18% paying 10 Rs or less, 32% 20 Rs or less and 44% 30 Rs or less. There is a
highly significant difference in mean expenditure between boys and girls but the median expenditure is the same for
boys and girls. This suggests that the few children who have a large amount spent on their tuition, examinations etc are
more likely to be boys.
Expenses for stationery

Households of less than 1% of school-going children (47) reported spending nothing on books and related items.
Among children for whom there is expenditure, the mean amount is 443 Rs (median 250 Rs). The mean expenditure
for boys and girls is highly significantly different but the median expenditure is the same for boys and girls. Again,
this suggests that the few children with particularly high amounts spent on their books and related items are more
likely to be boys.
Expenses for uniform and shoes

The households of only 94 schoolgoing children (1%) reported paying nothing for uniform and shoes in the last year.
Among the remainder, the mean amount spent on these items per child is 634 Rs (median 500 Rs). The mean
expenditure on uniforms and shoes is significantly greater for boys than for girls; the median expenditure is the same
for boys and girls.
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SCHOOLS, TEACHERS AND CHILDREN'S PROGRESS IN SCHOOL
Class attendance, repetition and drop-out rates for boys and girls in Class One and Class Two were derived from data
from the school registers and from interviews with teachers. Associations were sought between these outcome
variables and variables relating to school facilities and to characteristics of the teachers. Features of the schools and
their facilities were noted by the teams undertaking the Institutional Reviews and characteristics of the teachers were
derived from their questionnaire responses.
The overall figures for attendance, repetition and drop-out rates in girls and boys in Class One and Class Two are
shown in Table 37.
Table 37. Class attendance, repetition and drop-out rates among boys and girls in Class One and Class Two
Attendance, Class One Class Two

repetition and drop-
out rates
Mean% Median% Mean% Median
%
Girls attendance 57 58 60 69
rate
Girls repetition rate 32 30 15 12
Girls drop-out rate 3 0 3 0
Boys attendance 58 61 63 68
rate
Boys repetition rate 33 32 17 13
Boys drop-out rate 3 0 3 0
Data for attendance, repetition and drop-out in Classes One and Two by region and ecological zone are given in annex
5, Table A5.23.
SCHOOL FACILITIES
School location
Most of the schools (141, 80%) are in the ward where the site is situated. Table 38(a) shows walking times from the
centre of the site to the school when it is not located within the ward. There is some discrepancy between these data
and the journey times to school reported from the household questionnaires (Table 14). This is illustrated in Table
38(b). Childrens' walking times to school from the household estimates are higher than the teams' estimates of times
to reach the school from the centre of the site. The framework for estimating time and distance may differ between the
households and the institutional review teams.
Table 38(a). Location of schools in relation to sites
Walking time from centre of n % cumulative

site to school %
'Nil' - school within ward 141 80 80
1-14 minutes 1 1 81
15-29 minutes 11 6 87
30-59 minutes 18 10 97
60-179 minutes 5 3 100

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Table 38(b). Difference in reported walking time to schools between household informants and institutional
review teams
Reported walking % of schools (from % of children

time to school from institutional (from household
home or centre of site reviews) data)
Less than 30 minutes 87 43
30-59 minutes 10 32
60 minutes or more 3 25
Drinking water availability

Table 39(a) shows the sources of drinking water of the schools and Table 39(b) shows the time required to get
drinking water at the schools. About half the schools have their own specific source of water. In around one in seven
schools (15%) the only option is to get water from nearby houses and in a small number children have to bring their
own supplies with them from home.
Table 39(a).Source of drinking water in schools
Source of water in school n %
Stone tap or spring 19 11
Community piped water 19 11
Own piped water system 41 23
Community hand pump 7 4
School's own hand pump 46 26
Community dug well 7 4
School dug well 3 2
River or stream 2 1
Children bring water 2 2
Own stone tap or spring 2 1
Get from nearby houses 27 15

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Table 39(b). Time to get water at school
Time to get drinking water in n %

school
School has own source on site 92 52
1-5 minutes 47 27
6-10 minutes 16 9
11-15 minutes 8 5
16-20 minutes 5 3
21-30 minutes 3 2
31-60 minutes 2 1
Children bring own water 3 2
Sanitation
The type and condition of toilets in the schools are shown in Tables 40(a) and 40(b). Two-thirds of the schools have
no toilet or an open air toilet, with or without a fence. Where there is a toilet of some sort, a third are in bad condition
(22 out of 65 - see Table 40(b)). Of the 69 schools with a specific toilet, 20 (29%) have a separate toilet for girls.
Table 40(a). Type of toilets in the schools
Type of toilet n %
No toilet/open air/behind school 107 61
Open air but fenced for privacy 10 6
Pit latrine with open mouth 19 11
Pit latrine with flush system 4 2
Toilet with septic tank 36 20
Table 40(b). Condition of toilets in the schools
Condition of the toilet n %
Good: structurally sound, not smelly, clean 40 23
Average: reasonable condition 3 2
Bad: poor structure, smelly, flies ++ 22 13
No toilet to assess 111 63
Physical conditions
Most schools (150, 85%) do not have electricity and very few (27, 15%) have a library. The condition of the school
walls was rated as very good or good (very few cracks) in 115 (66%) of schools, with poor condition walls in 22
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(12%) and no walls in 6 (3%). The condition of the roof was rated as very good or good (very few leaks) in 112
(64%) schools, with a bad condition roof in 21 (12%) and no roof in 5 (3%). Most of the schools have less than 10
rooms. There were 7 (4%) open air schools (or open air for classes 1 and 2), 52 (30%) with 1-5 rooms, 67 (38%) with
6-10 rooms and smaller numbers with more rooms. In 11 schools classes 1 and 2 share one large room, and 3 schools
rent rooms or use rooms in other government buildings.
School facilities and attendance, repetition and drop-out

The main effects of the level of school location and facilities on attendance, repetition and drop-out in Classes One
and Two are shown in Table 41. Note that the finding of different rates of attendance, repetition and drop-out
associated with different levels of facilities does not mean it is these facilities themselves that make a difference to the
rates. More likely, the presence of good facilities is an indicator of schools in relatively well-provided areas and this is
the underlying reason for the better attendance rates.
There is no apparent effect of increasing distance of the school from the centre of the site. However, as noted above,
this does not tally very well with the reported time to reach the school from home from household responses. There
does seem to be an effect of poorer access to drinking water in the school, with longer times to access water associated
with lower attendance rates. This may be an indirect effect of schools in better provided areas having better access to
drinking water.
Effects of Basic and Primary Education Programme

Schools in sites where the BPEP is operating have higher class attendance rates, lower repetition rates and lower drop-
out rates (Table 42). The effects were seen in both boys and girls and in both classes one and two. They are relatively
modest effects and the difference between boys and girls is no smaller in sites with a BPEP programme. The
interpretation of the effects has to be cautious since the relative positions of the schools before the BPEP programme
is not known.
CHARACTERISTICS OF TEACHERS
Gender and age

Male teachers outnumber female teachers by nearly 3:1 (males 303 (74%) v females 108 (26%)). Half the schools
have only one or two teachers (9% had one, 40% had two), a further 30% have three teachers. The maximum number
recorded was six teachers per school in 11 schools. Half (205, 50%) the teachers are aged between 26 and 35 years,
and about a fifth each are between 16 and 25 years (86, 21%) and between 36 and 45 years (91, 22%).
Qualifications, training and experience

Sixty-one percent of the teachers (250) have passed the School Leaving Certificate. A further 31% (127) have passed
the I.A. Only 5% (21) do not have the SLC and only 3% (13) have a B.A.
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Table 41. Attendance, repetition and dropout rates of girls and boys in Class One and Two in relation to school
facilities
School facility Class One Class Two
Gatt Grep Gdrp Batt Brep Bdrp Gatt Grep Gdrp Batt Brep Bdrp
Electricity + (22) 69% 19% 0.5% 67% 14% 2% 62% 8% 4% 66% 7% 4%
Electricity - (150) 55% 34% 3% 57% 36% 3% 59% 16% 3% 63% 18% 2%
Toilet 1 (140) 54% 35% 3% 56% 38% 3% 58% 16% 2% 62% 17% 2%
Toilet 2 (36) 67% 22% 2% 64% 17% 3% 66% 12% 4% 69% 15% 4%
Female toilet+ (20) 68% 19% 2% 65% 15% 3% 69% 14% 5% 68% 16% 6%
Female toilet- (49) 57% 30% 2% 58% 27% 3% 63% 15% 3% 64% 15% 2%
Library + (27) 66% 23% 1% 67% 20% 1% 69% 13% 3% 66% 15% 4%
Library - (149) 55% 34% 3% 56% 36% 3% 58% 16% 3% 63% 17% 2%
Distance - 'nil' (141) 57% 32% 3% 58% 31% 3% 60% 15% 3% 62% 16% 3%
Distance 1-29 min 60% 40% 1% 51% 51% 2% 51% 18% 1% 64% 21% 1%
(12)
Distance >30min 52% 30% 2% 61% 39% 3% 63% 16% 3% 67% 17% 3%
(23)
Water - 'nil' (92) 60% 31% 2% 60% 30% 2% 66% 15% 3% 64% 14% 2%
Water - 1-9 min (51) 55% 29% 4% 57% 33% 5% 55% 15% 3% 63% 22% 4%
Water - 10 min+ (30) 50% 41% 2% 54% 46% 3% 51% 18% 2% 62% 17% 1%
Water - bring it in (3) 46% 28% 0% 52% 31% 0% 26% 3% 0% 40% 19% 0%
Toilet 1=no toilet, latrine type; toilet 2=toilet with septic tank. Distance 'nil'=school in ward; minutes are time to reach school from centre of the site.
Water 'nil'=water drinking water available within school; minutes are times required to get water from school.
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Table 42. Basic and Primary Education Programme and Class attendance, repetition and drop-out rates
Enrol Attend Repeat Drop out Attend % Repeat % Drop out %
Girls Class 1 BPEP 1442 940 381 3 65% 26% 0.2%
No BPEP 3330 1889 1255 115 57% 38% 4%
KTM 128 102 19 4 80% 15% 3%
Boys Class 1 BPEP 1854 1176 452 16 63% 24% 0.9%
No BPEP 5671 3200 2154 174 56% 38% 3%
KTM 128 94 18 12 73% 14% 9%
Girls Class 2 BPEP 1004 651 108 17 65% 11% 2%
No BPEP 1655 1148 308 54 69% 19% 3%
KTM 107 66 7 11 62% 7% 10%
Boys Class 2 BPEP 1134 797 162 23 70% 14% 2%
No BPEP 2774 1820 501 69 66% 18% 3%
KTM 121 92 10 10 76% 8% 8%
TOTAL BOTH 19348 11975 5375 508 62% 28% 3%
GIRLS 7666 4796 2078 204 63% 27% 3%
BOYS 11682 7179 3297 304 62% 28% 3%
BPEP=schools in VDCs with BPEP programme

No BPEP=schools in VDCs without BPEP programme
About two-thirds of the teachers have had some form of training (279, 68%). However, in many cases this is very
limited. Table 43 summarises the number and percentage of teachers who have undergone different types of training
for varying lengths of time. Only a quarter of them have received basic educational training and lesser proportions
have received other forms of training.
Table 44 shows the length of time the teachers have been teaching Classes One and Two. About a third have five
years experience or less, while more than 40% have been teaching these grades for between 6 and 15 years. There are
46 (11%) teachers who do not teach in Class One and 61 (14%) who do not teach in Class Two. Most of the teachers
(343, 84%) are permanent appointments; 62 (15%) are temporary appointments. Very few (15, 4%) have taken part in
a school mapping exercise.
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Table 43. Training received by the teachers
Type of training re ceived Total duration Number of teachers % of teachers
Basic educational training -Hours None 305 745
42-84 11 3%
150-200 78 19%
200-420 13 3%
1100-2100 4 1%
Training about textbooks -Days None 321 78%
1-9 72 18%
10-19 13 3%
20-49 3 1%
50+ 2 1%
Training about education -Months None 374 91%
1-9 14 3%
10-24 23 6%
Training about how to understand None 360 88%

radio programme for teachers -
Days
10-19 6 2%
20-49 15 4%
150-300 30 7%
Training about grade teaching - None 382 93%

Days
1-9 19 5%
10-19 5 1%
20-149 2 <1%
150+ 3 <1%
Normal training - Months None 382 93%
1-9 7 2%
10-19 21 5%
20+ 1 <1%
Other training - Days None 405 99%
2-14 3 <1%
75+ 3 <1%
Table 44. Teaching experience of teachers in Classes One and Two

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Period teaching in Class 1 & 2 N %
Less than one year 20 5%
1-5 years 133 32%
6-10 years 121 29%
11-15 years 56 14%
16-20 years 43 11%
21 years or more 38 9%
Teaching methods and contact with parents

The top three teaching techniques in Class One and Class Two, as described by the teachers, are shown in Table 45.
The teaching methods tended to be described in terms of what was actually done, rather than by reference to any
recognised teaching techniques. For both classes, the teachers' most popular answer was simply that they would make
the children understand about the lesson, give them homework and have questions and answers.
Table 45. Most popular teaching methods

Most popular methods for Class One n %
Make children understand about lesson, 134 33

homework, question & answer
Prepare/draw pictures of different 64 16
educational items and elaborate on this
Write letters on the board and teach them 43 11
how to understand and write them
Most popular methods for Class Two n %
Make children understand about lesson, 130 32

homework, question & answer
Make them understand about figures and 48 12
then about addition, subtraction,
multiplication and division
Teach by showing the relevant pictures 37 9
Preparation for lessons is similar for Classes One and Two. In each case, about a third of teachers who teach that class
make no preparation, about a quarter read the lesson carefully, and about a fifth make a lesson plan.
Most of the teachers (339, 83%) reported having met parents or guardians to discuss their childrens' performance. The
most common reasons for not having met parents are: too busy with their (the teachers') household work (27, 7%);
seeing the parents every day and the parents knowing they were teaching well (18, 4%); and parents not paying
attention to their advice anyway (5, 2%). A wide variety of reasons were given for meeting parents or guardians. The
single reasons most often cited were: to find out if children were also studying at home (11%); to remind parents about
the importance of regular school attendance (10%); to give feedback about childrens' performance at school (5%); to
advise parents about helping children with study at home (4%); and to find out why children were absent (3%). Often
multiple reasons were given for meeting.
Teacher characteristics and class attendance, repetition and drop-out

In seeking associations between teacher characteristics and class attendance, repetition and drop-out the rates for the
classes one and two in each school were applied to all teachers in that school. This has the effect of tending to dilute
associations with teacher characteristics by adding noise to the rates for each teacher stratum in any comparison. The
analysis was also undertaken with exclusion of teachers not teaching in class one or two, as appropriate. This made
little difference, probably because most teachers teach in both classes.
Table 46 summarises the class attendance, repetition and drop-out rates for boys and girls in classes one and two, in
relation to important teacher variables. The only teacher characteristic with an important effect is gender. Female
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teachers are associated with higher attendance and lower repetition and drop-out rates in both classes and for both
boys and girls. The differences by teacher gender are significant at the 5% level.
The effects of gender of the teacher are seen in all regions except the Eastern region, in all ecological zones and in
both urban and rural sites. This is shown in annex 5, Table A5.24.
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Table 46. Attendance, repetition and dropout in girls and boys in classes one and two, in relation to teacher
attributes
Teacher Class one Class two
Gatt Grep Gdrp Batt Brep Bdrp Gatt Grep Gdrp Batt Brep Bdrp
Male (303) 54% 36% 3% 58% 37% 3% 59% 16% 2% 63% 16% 2%
Female (108) 67% 22% 2% 65% 21% 4% 69% 12% 4% 70% 16% 4%
<SLC (21) 57% 36% 2% 60% 38% 4% 55% 17% 3% 68% 17% 1%
SLC (250) 57% 34% 3% 59% 34% 3% 63% 15% 3% 65% 16% 3%
IA (127) 58% 29% 2% 60% 31% 3% 62% 16% 2% 64% 17% 3%
BA (13) 60% 21% 1% 64% 18% 4% 44% 5% 5% 65% 10% 3%
Training +(279) 58% 35% 3% 59% 35% 3% 63% 16% 3% 64% 17% 3%
Training - (132) 58% 26% 2% 60% 29% 3% 58% 13% 3% 64% 15% 2%
Mapping+ (15) 49% 19% 3% 59% 23% 5% 59% 12% 2% 46% 8% 3%
Mapping- (396) 58% 33% 2% 60% 33% 3% 61% 15% 3% 65% 17% 3%
Perm (343) 57% 34% 2% 59% 34% 3% 61% 16% 3% 64% 17% 3%
Temp (62) 62% 22% 3% 64% 25% 3% 64% 10% 3% 68% 11% 3%
Volunt (4) 76% 31% 1% 67% 39% 3% 73% 15% 2% 81% 12% 0%
Subst (2) 64% 14% 0% 61% 19% 0% 64% 4% 2% 67% 22% 8%
Parents + (339) 57% 32% 2% 60% 33% 3% 61% 15% 3% 64% 16% 2%
Parents - (72) 59% 35% 3% 59% 33% 5% 64% 16% 4% 67% 15% 4%
16-25 yr (86) 60% 24% 3% 63% 27% 3% 59% 14% 4% 68% 17% 3%
26-35 yr (205) 58% 34% 2% 58% 35% 3% 62% 14% 3% 64% 16% 3%
36-45 yr (91) 56% 37% 2% 59% 32% 2% 61% 20% 2% 63% 17% 2%
46 yr + (29) 57% 33% 2% 60% 32% 3% 61% 14% 3% 61% 15% 2%
Gatt=girls attendance rate; Grep=girls repetition rate; Gdrp=girls dropout rate

Batt=boys attendance rate; Brep=boys repetition rate; Bdrp=boys dropout rate
Qualifications: <SLC= has not got School Leaving Certificate

SLC=has School Leaving Certificate
IA=has IA
BA=has degree
Training: Training += has had any training related to teaching, however brief
Training - = has had no training at all
Mapping: Mapping +/- = has/has not participated in school mapping programme
Appointment: Perm=permanent; Temp=temporary; Volunt=voluntary; Subst=substitute
Parents: Parents + = reports having met parents to discuss children's performance

Parents - = reports not having met parents
CONCLUSIONS
CIETinternational
The community based data collected in this cycle of the NMIS allow a direct examination of the
working of the educational sector in Nepal. Levels of adult literacy are below the targets set for
1996 in the National Plan of Action. The figure for females in particular is some way below the
target. This is despite the provision of adult literacy classes. Future efforts may need to be
concentrated in areas where the literacy of women is particularly low, as indicated in the eco-
regional and District level results here.
One important way to increase adult literacy in the future is through an effective primary education
system. This cycle of the NMIS provides community-based data about school enrolment,
repetition and drop-out. The net enrolment rates are below the targets set for 1996 in the National
Plan of Action, with a persisting gender gap of about 20%. This information would be missed in
information only collected from the schools themselves, since most of the children not attending
school have never enrolled. Once enrolled children rarely drop-out completely (although they may
be recorded as drop-outs in routine statistics, they often subse quently return and repeat the grade)
but frequently repeat grades. Class attendance rates are poor at less than 60% for class one. In
view of this and the lack of training in teaching skills of most teachers, high class repetition rates
are not surprising. These high rates may also be related to children under the age of six enroling
into school and are shown here to be related to lack of help with studies at home and lack of
additional study materials.
Girls are disadvantaged compared with boys by being less likely to be enrolled into school (the
main difference); also they are more likely not to attend classes and to repeat or drop-out
altogether. The disadvantage to girls is underestimated if only schools based data are considered.
It is clear from the responses to the household questionnaire and from the focus group discussions
that most parents value education for their children, even though many teachers consider parental
indifference or lack of understanding is the reason why children do not attend school. Parents
were more willing to criticise teachers in the focus groups than as individuals. They have good
intentions about sending children to school, recognising the importance of education. Indeed, they
may have unrealistic ideas of how much their children would be able to achieve as a result of
completing primary education. Their intentions towards their daughters' education are sometimes
less positive, with some parents believing education for girls is inappropriate or not worthwhile,
or even actually harmful (in terms of their marriage prospects).
Parental good intentions about sending children to school are thwarted by their inability to afford
the costs associated with this theoretically free education. The costs are quite significant, as
demonstrated by data from the household questionnaires. Parents in focus groups tended to favour
government action to improve matters, in particular by providing free materials and improving
employment prospects for parents. Estimates of the potential costs to government of providing
free materials for needy parents can be made from the figures on the mean and median costs of
educational materials given by parents in the household questionnaire.
In addition to government action, the difference in views of parents and teachers suggests dialogue
between parents and teachers may help to resolve some of the difficulties identified locally. In
regional workshops, participants felt it should be the role of school management committees to
facilitate such local dialogue.
CIETinternational
What is the role of the BPEP in improving the performance of the education system? There are
positive effects of the BPEP demonstrated in this cycle but they seem to be modest, and there
seems to be no narrowing of the gender gap in those areas with the BPEP in operation.
Unfortunately, it is not known whether the BPEP sites were similar (in educational performance)
to non-BPEP sites before the programme began and this makes interpretation of the findings
difficult. The effects of further interventions in the education sector could be evaluated by
including key questions about education in a future cycle of the NMIS, if intervention sites
included some from within the NMIS sample.
When considering ways to improve the performance of the education sector, positive effects of
women teachers are notable. It may be too simplistic to conclude that what is needed is to recruit
and retain more women teachers. Discussions in the regions indicated this could be very difficult
to achieve in some parts of the country, often the same areas with particularly low enrolment of
girls and low female adult literacy. Perhaps the style and teaching methods of women teachers
having a positive effect could be studied and male teachers could be trained in these aspects, to
supplement the recruitment of more women teachers. In some focus groups there was a call for
improvement in teachers' attitudes and skills; these issues could be addressed through additional
training and support for teachers in the lower classes of primary school.
Regional education officers in workshops highlighted the low status of primary school teachers;
this tends to be work people do while waiting for something better to come along. Perhaps
specific training in the special skills required for teaching young children needs to be accompanied
by other means of raising the status of primary school teachers to help retain those with an aptitude
for this work.
CIETinternational
REFERENCES
1. Nepal Multiple Indicator Surveillance: report on the first cycle. Prepared by

CIETinternational under the auspices of UNICEF Nepal. Nepal 1995.
2. National Planning Commission. HMG Nepal. National Programme of Action for Children
and Development for the 1990s. Kathmandu, January 1992.
3. UNICEF. Master Plan of Operations 1992-1996. Country Programme of Cooperation

between HMG Nepal and UNICEF. Kathmandu, January 1992.
4. Andersson N. An operational framework for monitoring child survival and development.

UNICEF Central America. Guatemala 1985.
5. Andersson N, Martinez E, Cerrato F, Morales E, Ledogar RJ. The use of community-based

data in health planning in Mexico and Central America. Health Policy and Planning 1989; 4(3):
197-206
6. Andersson N. Four essays on community-based research in planning. CIETinternational

1995.

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NEPAL MULTIPLE INDICATOR SURVEILLANCE

National Planning Commission Secretariat, Kathmandu

Prithbi Raj Ligal

The National Planning Commission Secretariat expresses its sincere appreciation to

Singha Durbar Dr. Rabindra K. Shakya

The average weighted net enrolment is 70%:

Schools and teachers

METHODS FOR THE SECOND CYCLE 10

RESULTS OF THE SECOND NMIS CYCLE ON EDUCATION 13

CURRENT SCHOOL CLASS ATTENDANCE 25

SCHOOL REPETITION AND DROP-OUT 25

COSTS OF PRIMARY EDUCATION 39

SCHOOLS, TEACHERS AND CHILDREN'S PROGRESS IN SCHOOL 40

2. Literacy rates in males and females of

3. School enrolment in boys and girls between

4. Age at enrolment into Class One of boys

5. Person in household deciding about child's education 17

6. Mother tongue spoken in household and

7. Ethnicity of head of household and

8. Importance attached to education for

9. Number of 6-10 year old children in the

10. Gender of head of household and school enrolment 19

11. The BPEP and school enrolment 19

12. Reasons given by households of children

13. Views of head teachers about reasons

14. Suggestions by households of non-school-

15. School enrolment and themes expressed

16. Class attended by boys and girls of 6-10 years old 26

23. Possession of a full set of textbooks and repetition among children

24. Possession of a full set of textbooks and drop-out among children

25. Availability of additional study materials at home and repetition among

26. Availability of additional study materials at home and drop-out among

38. (a)Location of school in relation to sites 40

39. (a)Source of drinking water in the schools 41

40. (a)Type of toilets found in the schools 41

42. Basic and Primary Education Programme and attendance, repetition

43. Training received by teachers 45

44. Teaching experience of teachers in Classes One and Two 46

2. Instruments for NMIS second cycle 2(1)-2(10)

3. Focus group themes and coding 3(1)-3(4)

A4.1 Literacy in population >10 years old 4(2)

A4.2 Literacy in population >5 years old 4(4)

A4.3 Net school enrolment in 6-10 year olds 4(6)

5. Disaggregated data: by Urban/rural split, Regions, Eco-zones,

Eco-regions and Districts 5(1)-5(41)

Tables A5.1 to A5.24 (see list at beginning of annex 5 for details)

Figures A5.1 to A5.12 (see list at beginning of annex 5 for details)

6. Example of summary report for Districts and Communities 6(1)-6(3)

EXISTING DATA AND TARGETS FOR EDUCATION INDICATORS

Universal access to basic NPC Net enrolment

Reduction of adult illiteracy rate NPC Illiteracy

The population included in the survey

Training of interviewers and focus group leaders

Weighting of results for national indicators

Presentation of results of Risk Analysis

Table 2. Literacy rates in males and females of different ages

6-10 years 2544 4218 1838 4638 OR=1.52

11-15 years 5065 1532 3336 2635 OR=2.61

16-20 years 3842 1310 2578 2898 OR=3.30

21-30 years 5175 2672 2330 5960 OR=4.95

31-40 years 3179 2625 859 5235 OR=7.38