The Midwest is one of the most remote and impoverished regions of Nepal.

Literacy rate

National
Male: 75%
Female: 55%

Jajarkot
Male: 36.7%
Female: 16.7%

Jumla
Male:
Female:

Maternal rate
Jajarkot is the 3rd poorest of 75 districts, with an HDI value of 0.34,
Jumla is 6th with an HDI of 0.35 (national HDI: 0.509) 1.

The female literacy rate of 16.7% is 30 percentage points lower than for males in Jumla,
and at 28.9% is 20 percentage points lower in Jajarkot. Jumla has the second highest drop-out rate in grades 1-5 in the
country and third lowest rates of grade 1-5 promotion.
In Jajarkot, which has no district ETC (training is delivered by the non-specialist Resource Centres), over a third of primary
schools have no trained teachers, with education managed by the community who receive minimal training or support. 36%
of Jajarkots primary pupils are Dalit, with the highly marginalised Kami people being the second largest ethnic group in the
district: both continuing to experience severe poverty in comparison with more privileged groups 2. Many in these socially
isolated groups do not know about education incentive schemes, face ridicule or rejection in school, and do not see
advantages of education for survival. The project team undertook a participatory mapping of problems facing marginalised
children in accessing a quality education, particularly focussing on challenges highlighted in the SSRP Midterm Review and
evaluations of VSO and Aasamans education programmes. Poor reading and numeracy of marginalised children were
highlighted among the most pressing barriers. Many children in Nepal do not routinely practice reading, and in consultations
respondents commonly perceived the solution as an increase in the availability of books. Whilst these are significant in
improving reading3 (book supply is addressed in this action) they are not the whole solution. For example, although textbook
provision remains woefully inadequate, existing books are commonly locked away to preserve them. This action aims to
demonstrate the cost-effective and significant impact of a change in the mindset and skills of teaching and of encouraging a
reading culture. Currently teacher training in Nepal remains inadequate for preparing teachers to effectively teach children to
read, analyse and comprehend, and once in service there are few meaningful professional development opportunities,
resources, or exchange of ideas on methodologies or adapting their teaching to the varying needs of different children with
caste/ethnic, gender, disability or poverty barriers4. Parents understanding of childrens learning outcomes are still shaped
by perceptions that success is an ability to read English, with little awareness of the importance of comprehension and
analytical skills, or the correlation between local-language instruction and learning. Teachers themselves often have low
expectations of young learners, further undermining childrens potential and results in primary school. Childrens
assessment systems are available (eg: the Continuous Assessment System), but are complex, laborious and rarely
monitored, leading to piecemeal implementation, skewed findings and reduced effect, and there is poor understanding of
how to act on the findings for effective needs-based instruction. The curriculum is still textbook-dependent with little
incorporation of methodologies to stimulate learning, and comprehensive training of teachers on how to implement the
curriculum has not been carried out5. Links between policy and practice are weak in the implementation of Government
plans in classroom and teacher training, and sharing learning and realities from the ground to policy in a coordinated way.
SMCs and PTAs are often uncertain of their role or how they can best contribute, and are poorly trained to support school
management and childrens learning.
Significant plans at national, regional and local level relevant to the action: The action aligns both with the SSRP and
selected recommendations in its 2011 Midterm Review, in particular the aims on governance, management, quality,

1 Data taken from analysis of MOE FLASH I & II reports 2010-11 and 2011-12, from the Overview of the Mid Western Region of Nepal of
the UNFCO, and consultations.

2 Eg: compared to a national Dalit population of 17%. Dalit poverty rates are 46% vs Newars at 14%, with an average lifespan 12 years
shorter than Brahmans or Newars.

3 For example, a study in The Gambia, among those students who could read at least 45 words per minute, 90% had reading books in the
home (compared to the remaining students, only 20% of whom had books): Sprenger-Charolles, 2008.

4 Sources: Gender Audit of Nepals SSRP, DFID ,Royal Norwegian Embassy, UNFPA 2007 and VSO experience.
5 SSRP Mid Term review (undertaken Dec 2011 - Feb 2012), Government of Nepal with AusAid.

inclusion and capacity development. It also supports the implementation of the MoEs Minimum Enabling Condition
guidelines, helping schools to translate these into practical improvements in the classroom. It strengthens the School
Improvement Planning (SIP) process, specifically supporting SMCs to move beyond an infrastructural focus to
improvements in teaching and management. It also aligns with the Child Friendly School Framework through its
development of inclusive and effective child-focussed teaching. Result 4 particularly supports the MoEs National
Framework and Guidelines for Capacity Development Plan for the education sector, through strengthening teacher
professional development and targeting capacity-building gaps in the development of SIPs and in pre- and in-service
teacher training and coaching.
How the action builds on a previous action: This action builds on the success of the VSO-Aasaman Promoting
Inclusive Quality Education project, which doubled its working area on request of the MoE and has been
commended by the EC in Nepal. Now in its final year, this is being handed over to Government for sustaining and
replicating best practice. However, it was observed that children with the poorest reading and numeracy struggled
to fully benefit as they lack the learning foundations which enable successful projects to best support them. Districts
such as Jajarkot and Jumla, where these skills are particularly underdeveloped, therefore risk being further left
behind in Nepals development: this action will help to put core learning foundations in place. It applies
methodologies found most effective in the previous project, as well as learning from the reviews and midterm
evaluation, such as techniques to engage schools with improving methodologies, performance management and
developing resources. The need to coach SMCs and Head Teachers on their responsibilities was found to be
crucial groundwork, as was promoting the relevance of education among disadvantaged communities. Innovations
of this action include the mobilisation of volunteer classroom assistants, the link with the CDC and NCED (building
on the relationship developed with the DoE through the prior project), and strengthening teacher training for
sustained and scaled results.