EU Special Program Boosts Nepal Education Sector

In a major push to Nepal’s education sector, the European Union (EU) has directly given the Nepal Government EUR 19,094,900 (NPR 2.4 billion) to carry out its joint education program School Sector Development Program (SSDP).

This amount is the first installment of EU education sector’s budgetary support of EUR 56,500,000 (over NPR 7 billion) as part of its contribution to Nepal’s education sector.

“Nepal’s school sector is right now adjusting to the realities of the new federal state structure and the European Union is a committed partner of Nepal in this endeavor. This is an opportunity to accelerate reforms benefiting all girls and boys equitably to allow them a better preparation for a productive life after school,” says EU Ambassador to Nepal Veronica Cody.

EU as Nepal’s education partner has been supporting this cause for nearly two decades by directly participating in Nepal’s plans and administrative systems.

The EU mission started out as support for basic education in Nepal went on to become a strong partnership catering to secondary education, technical & vocational training and also higher education through the Erasmus program.

Progress of SSDP
Following are the growth statistics recorded in Nepal’s Education Sector through SSDP:

• The Net Enrollment Rate (NER) increased from 89.4 percent to 92.3 percent between 2015-18
• The number of students repeating classes for Grade-8 reduced leading to an increased survival rate from 75.9 percent to 77.4 percent
• The number of new entrants in Grade 1 with preschool experience increased from 64.7 percent to 66.3 percent between 2016-18

This progress of Nepal’s education sector is important as it comes at a time when the country is shifting towards federal governance and bringing about developments in the education sector is essential to Nepal Government for creating steady development and mutual prosperity.

About the SSDP Program
SSDP creates its programs on the basis of previous success stories like the School Sector Reform Plan (SSRP) and its achievements from the Millennium Development Goals (MDG).

Its key objective is to convert gains in access to sound learning outcomes and improve the safety of school buildings in earthquake prone Nepal. It brings together all the key persons in the education sector including the government, teachers and parents among others to bring about coordination and impact in the sector.