essay on education in nepali

• Privacy Policy

• _Multi DropDown
• __Nepali Rashifal
• __Today's Nepali Date
• __Nepali Unicode
• Model Questions
• NEB CLASS 12

शिक्षाको महत्व निबन्ध | Importance of Education Essay in Nepali |

शिक्षाको महत्व.

‘शिक्षा’ भन्ने बित्तिकै स्कूल, क्याम्पस आदिमा र घरमै पनि नियमित रूपले अध्ययन गर्ने-गराउने वा पढेको बन्दोबस्त मिलाउने काम भन्ने बुझिन्छ। सिकेर, पढेर, सुनेर वा अन्य कुनै पनि प्रकारले ग्रहण गरिने सैधान्तिक तथा व्यवहारिक विषयको बोध वा ज्ञान पनि शिक्षा नै हो। ‘शिक्षाको महत्त्व’ भनेको कुनै विषयमा सिकेर पोख्त हुने इच्क्षा वा चाहनाको महत्त्व हो। शिक्षा मानव जातिको तेस्रो चम्किलो आँखा भएकोले आजको युगमा यसको निकै ठूलो महत्त्व रहेको छ। शिक्षा विना मानिस ज्ञानले अन्धो नै हुन्छ। शिक्षा आजका मान्छेको एक महत्त्वपूर्ण गहन नै भएकोले यसको महत्त्व निकै ठूलो छ।

You may like these posts

Post a comment, social plugin, search this blog, nepali time.

Popular Posts

देशप्रतिको मेरो कर्तव्य निबन्ध | Mero Desh Pratiko Mero kartavya |

मेरो जीवनको लक्ष्य निबन्ध | Mero Jivan ko Lakshya Nibandha |

Class 12 Chemistry : Important Questions and Topics for NEB exam.

• IOE Entrance (44)
• NEB Class 12 (25)
• Nepali Nibandha (24)
• Class 11 (21)
• Model Questions (4)
• Date converter
• IOE Entrance
• NEB Class 12
• Nepali Date
• Nepali Nibandha
• Nepali Rashifal
• Nepali Unicode

Random Posts

Footer Menu Widget

• [email protected]
• Login / Register

Education System in Nepal: Structure, Challenges and Solutions

Article 12 Feb 2023 19712 0

Education is a critical aspect of human development and progress, and it is no different in the case of Nepal. With a rich history and cultural heritage, Nepal is a fascinating country with a diverse population. The education system in Nepal has undergone significant changes and developments over the years, and this article aims to provide an in-depth analysis of the current state of education in Nepal.

Overview of the Education System in Nepal:

The education system in Nepal is governed by the Ministry of Education, Science, and Technology, and it is structured into primary, secondary, and higher education. The education system in Nepal is free and compulsory for children aged 5 to 16 years. The Nepalese government has made significant efforts to improve access to education, particularly in rural and remote areas, and the results have been encouraging.

Historical Background and Evolution of Education in Nepal:

The history of education in Nepal can be traced back to ancient times when the Gurukula system was prevalent. This traditional system of education was based on apprenticeship, where students would live with their teachers and learn various subjects, including religion, philosophy, and practical skills. As Nepal opened to the influence of other countries, including Britain, the education system underwent significant changes, and modern schools were introduced. As the country has maintained its sovereignty throughout history.

During the Rana dynasty (1846-1951), the education system in Nepal was confined to the ruling class, and the majority of the population was illiterate. It wasn't until the 1950s, after the fall of the Rana dynasty and the introduction of democratic governance, that the education system in Nepal began to expand. During this period, the Nepalese government made efforts to improve access to education and to provide education to all sections of the population. The education system in Nepal was further expanded in the 1960s when the government introduced a policy of compulsory education, making primary education free and compulsory for all children.

Over the next few decades, the education system in Nepal continued to evolve and expand. In the 1980s, the government introduced a policy of extending free education to the secondary level, and in the 1990s, the government established a number of universities, which helped to expand access to higher education in Nepal.

Structure of the Education System in Nepal:

Primary Education: Primary education in Nepal is mandatory for children aged 5 to 11 years, and it lasts for six years. The primary education curriculum covers subjects such as Nepali, mathematics, science, and social studies.

Secondary Education: Secondary education in Nepal lasts for five years and is divided into two stages, lower secondary and upper secondary. The lower secondary stage lasts for three years, while the upper secondary stage lasts for two years. The curriculum at the secondary level includes subjects such as Nepali, mathematics, science, and social studies, as well as elective subjects such as arts, music, and physical education.

Higher Education: Higher education in Nepal includes colleges and universities, and it is optional for students who have completed their secondary education. The higher education system in Nepal offers a wide range of programs, including bachelor's degrees in arts, science, and commerce, as well as master's and PhD programs.

Current State of Education in Nepal:

The current state of education in Nepal is a mixed picture, with both positive developments and ongoing challenges. On the one hand, there has been significant progress in increasing access to education and improving the quality of education in Nepal in recent years. On the other hand, there are still significant disparities in access to education and in the quality of education, particularly in rural areas and for children from disadvantaged backgrounds.

• Enrollment and Literacy Rates: The enrollment rate in primary education in Nepal has increased in recent years, reaching 85% in 2019, according to the World Bank. Additionally, the literacy rate in Nepal has increased from 65% in 2015 to 72% in 2019.
• Access to Education: The Nepalese government has made significant efforts to increase access to education, particularly in rural areas. Programs such as the Community Schools Program have successfully enrolled over 50,000 students from underprivileged backgrounds.
• Quality of Education: Despite progress in increasing access to education, the quality of education remains a concern. Many schools lack basic infrastructure and qualified teachers, and the quality of education received by students in rural areas is often lower than that received by urban students.
• Teacher Training and Availability: The Nepalese government has made efforts to improve teacher training and increase the availability of qualified teachers, particularly in rural areas. However, there is still a shortage of qualified teachers in many areas, and many teachers remain inadequately trained.
• Gender Disparities: Despite progress in increasing access to education for girls in Nepal, significant disparities remain. Girls are still less likely to attend school and to complete their education than boys, particularly in rural areas.

Challenges Faced by the Education System in Nepal:

Despite the progress made in recent years, the education system in Nepal still faces several challenges. One of the biggest challenges is the lack of resources, particularly in rural and remote areas, where infrastructure and facilities are limited. Another challenge is the quality of education, which is often poor, and teacher training and development are also lacking. Furthermore, there are significant disparities in access to education between urban and rural areas, and between different socio-economic groups.

Some of the major challenges facing the education system in Nepal include:

• Low Enrollment and Attendance Rates: Despite the introduction of compulsory education, many children in Nepal, especially in rural areas, do not attend school. According to the latest data from the World Bank, the net enrollment rate in primary education in Nepal was only 85% in 2019. Additionally, many children who do enroll in school drop out before completing their education.
• Poor Quality of Education: The quality of education in Nepal remains a major concern. Many schools lack basic infrastructure, such as toilets and drinking water facilities, and the teacher-student ratio is often high, leading to overcrowded classrooms and inadequate attention for individual students. Additionally, many teachers in Nepal are poorly trained, and there is a shortage of qualified teachers in many rural areas.
• Lack of Resources: The Nepalese government faces significant challenges in providing sufficient resources for the education system. The government budget allocation for education remains low, and many schools lack adequate funding for basic supplies and infrastructure. This has a negative impact on the quality of education and student outcomes.
• Inequality: Despite the government's efforts to provide education to all sections of the population, significant disparities remain in access to education and in the quality of education. Children from disadvantaged backgrounds, including those from low-income families and from rural areas, face significant barriers to accessing education, and the quality of education they receive is often lower than that of their urban peers.
• Political Instability: Political instability and frequent changes in government have had a negative impact on the education system in Nepal. This has led to a lack of consistency in policy and has hindered the government's ability to effectively implement reforms and initiatives aimed at improving the education system.

Government Initiatives and Policies to Improve the Education System:

The Nepalese government has taken various initiatives and implemented policies to improve the education system in Nepal. One of the most successful government-led initiatives is the Community Schools Program, which has enrolled over 50,000 students from underprivileged backgrounds. The program provides free education, as well as other resources such as textbooks, uniforms, and meals to students in rural areas where access to education is limited. The program has been instrumental in increasing enrollment and reducing dropout rates, and it serves as a model for other initiatives aimed at improving access to education in Nepal.

Another initiative that has been introduced in recent years is the implementation of digital classrooms in some schools in Nepal. This has not only improved the quality of education by providing students with access to digital resources and educational technology, but it has also helped to reduce the burden on teachers, who are now able to use digital tools to enhance their teaching methods.

Despite these efforts, the education system in Nepal still faces a number of challenges. One of the major challenges is the shortage of trained and qualified teachers. Many schools in rural areas lack trained teachers, which leads to low-quality education and high dropout rates. In addition, the lack of adequate infrastructure and facilities in many schools is another challenge, as this makes it difficult for students to receive a proper education.

Another challenge facing the education system in Nepal is the lack of funding and resources. The government has limited resources to invest in education, and this has resulted in a lack of investment in infrastructure, teacher training, and other resources necessary to provide quality education to students. As a result, many schools in Nepal are under-resourced and are unable to provide students with the education they need to succeed.

Despite these challenges, the future prospects for the education system in Nepal are positive. The Nepalese government has demonstrated a commitment to improving the education system, and it has taken a number of important steps towards achieving this goal. Additionally, international organizations and non-governmental organizations have been providing support and resources to help the Nepalese government achieve its goals.

Recommendations

Given the challenges faced by the education system in Nepal, it is clear that a comprehensive approach is needed to address these issues and improve the quality of education in Nepal. Improving the education system in Nepal requires a multi-faceted approach, encompassing investment in education, teacher training and support, promoting gender equality, improving the quality of education, and encouraging private sector involvement. With the right investments and policies, it is possible to build a strong and effective education system in Nepal that will provide all children with access to quality education.

Here are a few recommendations that could help to achieve this goal:

• Increase investment in education: The Nepalese government should increase investment in the education sector, to provide better infrastructure, teacher training and support, and educational materials for students. This will improve the quality of education and increase access to education for all children, especially those in rural areas.
• Address teacher shortages: The Nepalese government should take steps to address the shortage of qualified teachers, particularly in rural areas, by providing teacher training and support programs and increasing incentives for teachers to work in rural areas.
• Promote gender equality: The Nepalese government should take steps to promote gender equality in education, by providing girls with equal access to education and by addressing the social and cultural barriers that prevent girls from attending school and completing their education.
• Improve quality of education: The Nepalese government should work to improve the quality of education by implementing national curriculum standards, ensuring that all schools have adequate resources and infrastructure, and providing regular teacher training and support programs.
• Emphasize early childhood education: The Nepalese government should place a strong emphasis on early childhood education, to provide children with the foundation they need for future academic success and to help break the cycle of poverty.
• Encourage private sector involvement: The Nepalese government should encourage private sector involvement in the education sector, through public-private partnerships and other initiatives, to help provide additional resources and support for education in Nepal.

In conclusion, the education system in Nepal has come a long way since its inception, and it has made significant progress in recent years. However, it still faces a number of challenges, including a shortage of trained teachers, lack of adequate infrastructure and facilities, and lack of funding and resources. The Nepalese government and international organizations have demonstrated a commitment to improving the education system, and with the right resources and support, the future prospects for education in Nepal are bright.

• Latest Articles

A Student's Guide to Conducting Narrative Research

April fools' day facts: origins, pranks & traditions, boosting success: the power of parental involvement in education, parental involvement in education: key to success, primary education in developing nations: overcoming challenges, why sports coaches are embracing cutting edge materials for their equipment, are we born happy exploring the genetics of happiness, list of bank holidays in nepal 2081 (2024 / 2025), how to stand out in a sea of stanford applicants, apply online.

Find Detailed information on:

• Top Colleges & Universities
• Popular Courses
• Exam Preparation
• Admissions & Eligibility
• College Rankings

Sign Up or Login

Not a Member Yet! Join Us it's Free.

Already have account Please Login

Handbook of Education Systems in South Asia pp 1–27 Cite as

The Status of School Education in Nepal: Educating the Nation Through Schooling

• Pramod Bhatta 3 &
• Archana Mehendale 4  
• Living reference work entry
• Latest version View entry history
• First Online: 04 December 2020

58 Accesses

1 Citations

Part of the book series: Global Education Systems ((GES))

Nepal, once seen as an “education virginland,” has made rapid progress over the years in establishing an education system. After Nepal emerged from the Rana rule in 1951, one of the first ambitions of the new, multiparty democratic regime was to institute a national, uniform, and universal system of education in the country. The establishment of the Ministry of Education with external assistance and the National Education Planning Commission laid the foundation of an education system that brought together diverse schools being run by local communities. The structure of school education and the policy frameworks governing them has been gradually evolving in tandem with the global norms and policy influence of development partners.

This chapter provides a critical-historical overview of the development and institutionalization of modern education in Nepal. The developments made with regards to improving access to education, equity, and quality of education are presented. The chapter also presents the constitutional and legal frameworks that make education a right of every citizen of Nepal and discusses the institutional evolution of the governance structures related to regulation and funding of school education. Critical issues related to education privatization and the role of donor agencies is highlighted.

• Education policy
• Privatization
• School education

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution .

ActionAid Nepal and Norad. (2017). Nepal citizens’ education report . Retrieved from https://nepal.actionaid.org/sites/nepal/files/nepal_national_citizens_education_report.pdf on 11 Mar 2020.

Aryal, K. R. (1970). Education for the development of Nepal . Kathmandu: Shanti Prakashan.

Google Scholar  

Basnet, K. (2003). 100 years of Nepal-Nippon. Nepali Times . Issue # 175 (19 Dec 2003–25 Dec 2003). Retrieved from http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=6142#.Xml_bahKhPY on 11 Mar 2020.

Bhatta, P. (2011). Aid agency influence in national education policy-making: A case from Nepal’s ‘education for all’ movement. Globalisation, Societies and Education, 9 (1), 11–26.

Article   Google Scholar  

Bhatta, P. (2014). Public desire for private schooling in Nepal. In I. Macpherson, S. Robertson, & G. Walford (Eds.), Education, privatisation and social justice: Case studies from Africa, South Asia and South East Asia . Oxford: Symposium.

Bhatta, P. (2015). Privatization through affiliation: Trajectories of higher education expansion in post-1990 Nepal. Studies in Nepali History and Society, 20 (2), 303–333. Retrieved from http://www.martinchautari.org.np/files/SINHAS-Articles/SINHAS-Vol.20-No.2_Pramod-Bhatta.pdf on 11 Mar 2020.

Bhatta, P., & Budhathoki, S. (2013). Understanding private education scapes in Nepal . London: Privatisation in Education Research Initiative (PERI)/Open Society Foundations.

Bhatta, P., & Pherali, T. (2017). Nepal: Patterns of privatisation in education. A case study of low-fee private schools and private chain schools . Education International. Retrieved from https://download.ei-ie.org/Docs/WebDepot/Research_Nepal_final.pdf on 16 Mar 2020.

Central Bureau of Statistics. (2011). Nepal living standards survey 2010/11. Statistical report Vol 2 . National Planning Commission Secretariat. Government of Nepal. Retrieved from https://time.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/statistical_report_vol2.pdf on 11 Mar 2020.

Constituent Assembly Secretariat. (2015). Constitution of Nepal 2015 . Unofficial translation by Nepal Law Society, IDEA and UNDP. Retrieved from http://extwprlegs1.fao.org/docs/pdf/nep155698b.pdf on 11 Mar 2020.

Constitution of the Kingdom of Nepal 2047. (1990). Dated 9 Nov 1990. Retrieved from https://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6b4fa10.html on 11 Mar 2020.

Department of Education. (2005). Flash I report 2005/06 . Sanothimi/Bhaktapur: Department of Education.

Department of Education. (2015). Flash II report 2015–16 . Sanothimi/Bhaktapur: Department of Education.

Education Review Office. (2015). Report on National Assessment of Student Achievement (NASA) 2013 (Grade 8: Mathematics, Nepali and Science) . Kathmandu: Education Review Office. Retrieved from http://www.ero.gov.np/assets/uploads/files/NASA_2013_Grade_8_Report.pdf on 11 Mar 2020.

Eide, A. H., Neupane, S., & Hem, K. G. (2016). Living conditions among people with disability in Nepal. SINTEF Technology and Society, Department of Health Research. Retrieved from https://www.sintef.no/globalassets/sintef-a27656-nepal-printversionfinal.pdf on 16 Mar 2020.

Fuller, B. (1991). Growing up modern: The Western state builds third world schools . New York: Routledge.

Interim Constitution of Nepal 2063. (2007) (repealed). Dated 15 Jan 2007. Retrieved from https://www.refworld.org/docid/46badd3b2.html on 11 Mar 2020.

Kushiyait, B. K. (n.d.). Research report on financing gap in education . National Campaign for Education Nepal (NCE-Nepal). Retrieved from http://ncenepal.org.np/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Education-Financing-Gap-research-report.pdf on 11 Mar 2020.

Mihaly, E. B. (2002). Foreign aid and politics in Nepal: a case study. 2nd edition. Kathmandu: Himal Books.

Ministry of Education. (1971). The national education system plan for 1971–76 . Kathmandu: Ministry of Education.

Ministry of Education. (2014). Nepal education in figures 2014 at-a-glance . Kathmandu: Government of Nepal.

Ministry of Education. (2015). Nepal education in figures 2015 at-a-glance . Kathmandu: Government of Nepal.

Ministry of Education. (2016a). Nepal education in figures 2016 at-a-glance . Kathmandu: Government of Nepal.

Ministry of Education. (2016b). School sector development plan 2016/17-2022/23 (BS 2073/74-2079/80) . Retrieved from https://www.globalpartnership.org/content/nepal-school-sector-development-plan-2016-2023 on 16 Mar 2020.

Ministry of Education. (2016c). School Sector Development Program - Teacher Rationalization and Redeployment Plan (2016/17-2023) . p.6. Retrieved from: https://www.doe.gov.np/assets/uploads/files/18fe973c8531bccad18c000e217eb37e.pdf on 13 May 2020.

Ministry of Education, Science and Technology. (2017). Nepal education in figures 2017 at-a-glance . Kathmandu: Government of Nepal.

Ministry of Finance. (2018). Economic survey 2017/18 . Kathmandu: Government of Nepal. Retrieved from https://mof.gov.np/uploads/document/file/for%20web_Economic%20Survey%202075%20Full%20Final%20for%20WEB%20_20180914091500.pdf on 9 Apr 2020.

National Education Planning Commission (NEPC). (1955). Education in Nepal: Report of the National Education Planning Commission . Kathmandu: Bureau of Publications.

National Institute for Research and Training. (2017). Nepal education sector analysis . Kathmandu. Retrieved from https://www.globalpartnership.org/sites/default/files/2019-05-nepal-education-sector-analysis.pdf on 13 Mar 2020.

Nepal Law Commission. (2018). The act relating to compulsory and free education, 2075 . Retrieved from http://www.lawcommission.gov.np/en/archives/category/documents/prevailing-law/statutes-acts/education-act-2028-1971 on 16 Mar 2020.

New Era. (2014). Nepal education studies 2012/13 school and household survey . Kathmandu: World Bank.

Parajuli, L. R. (2012). From controlling access to crafting minds: Experiments in education in Late Rana Era. Studies in Nepali History and Society, 17 (2), 297–331.

Pherali, T. (2011). Education and conflict in Nepal: Possibilities for reconstruction. Globalisation Societies and Education, 9 (1), 135–154.

Pradhan, U. (2018). National education system in Nepal: Between the ‘local’ and the ‘global’. In Education in South Asia (pp. 165–183). London: Bloomsbury Publications.

Rappleye, J. (2019). Origins of the faith: The untold story of Hugh Wood, American Development Assistance in the 1950s, and Nepal’s Modern Education System. Studies in Nepali History and Society, 24 (1), 105–141.

Savada, A. M. (1991). Nepal: A country study . Washington: Government Publishing Office for the Library of Congress.

Skerry, C. A., Moran, K., & Calavan, K. M. (1992). Four decades of development. The history of U.S. assistance to Nepal 1951–1991 . Kathmandu: United States Agency for International Development (USAID). Retrieved from https://pdf.usaid.gov/pdf_docs/PNABR755.pdf on 11 Mar 2020.

Sharma, S. (2002). Half a century of foreign aid. In Mihaly, E.B. (ed.) Foreign aid and politics in Nepal: a case study. p. xix-lx. Kathmandu: Himal Books.

Thapa, A. (2015). Public and private school performance in Nepal: An analysis using the SLC examination. Education Economics, 23 (1), 47–62. https://doi.org/10.1080/09645292.2012.738809 .

UNESCO/IIEP-US and Global Partnership for Education. (2016). National education accounts in Nepal: Expenditure for education 2009–2015 . Retrieved from http://uis.unesco.org/sites/default/files/nepal-nea-report.pdf on 11 Mar 2020.

Van Wessel, M., & van Hirtum, R. (2013). Schools as tactical targets in conflict: What the case of Nepal can teach us. Comparative Education Review, 57 (1), 1–21.

Wood, H. B. (1987). Nepal diary . Oregon: American Nepal Education Foundation.

Wright, D. (1877). History of Nepal . New Delhi/Madras: Asian Educational Services. Reprint 1990. Translated from the Parbatiya by Munshi Shew Shunker Singh Pandit Shri Gunachand.

Download references

Author information

Authors and affiliations.

Martin Chautari and Tribhuvan University, Kathmandu, Nepal

Pramod Bhatta

Centre for Education Innovation and Action Research, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai, India

Archana Mehendale

You can also search for this author in PubMed   Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Pramod Bhatta .

Editor information

Editors and affiliations.

Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India

Padma M. Sarangapani

Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Hyderabad, India

Rekha Pappu

Section Editor information

No affiliation provided

Tatsuya Kusakabe

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2021 Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.

About this entry

Cite this entry.

Bhatta, P., Mehendale, A. (2021). The Status of School Education in Nepal: Educating the Nation Through Schooling. In: Sarangapani, P.M., Pappu, R. (eds) Handbook of Education Systems in South Asia. Global Education Systems. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-3309-5_16-2

Download citation

DOI : https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-3309-5_16-2

Received : 07 April 2020

Accepted : 13 April 2020

Published : 04 December 2020

Publisher Name : Springer, Singapore

Print ISBN : 978-981-13-3309-5

Online ISBN : 978-981-13-3309-5

eBook Packages : Springer Reference Education Reference Module Humanities and Social Sciences Reference Module Education

• Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Chapter history

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-3309-5_16-2

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-3309-5_16-1

• Find a journal
• Track your research

Nepal implements the national framework for Education 2030

As a lead UN agency for Education 2030 agenda, UNESCO has been supporting several initiatives to meet the SDG4:  “Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all”. The Education 2030 Framework for Action has been adopted by UNESCO member countries in the World Education Forum in Incheon, 2015 and the SAARC Framework for Action for Education 2030 has been approved by the SAARC ministerial meeting in 2019. 

UNESCO has supported to develop these two policy documents on SDG 4 in the global and sub-regional level. Henceforth, all member states are required to develop their National Framework for SDG 4 implementation, and Monitoring and Evaluation framework for tracking the achievements.

UNESCO in collaboration with the UNESCO Institute for Statistics provided technical support to build the capacity of the Steering Committee and the National Technical Team formed by the Government of Nepal who led the development and adaptation process of Nepal National Framework for SDG 4 Education 2030 and National Strategy for the Development of Education Statistics (NSDES).

The framework aligns with the global and SAARC frameworks and national education policy, and NSDS aligns with the National Strategy for the Development of Statistics (NSDS) developed by the Central Bureau of Statistics, Government of Nepal and SDG 4 global monitoring and evaluation framework.

Achievement

Building upon the global and sub-regional framework of SDG 4 Education 2030, Nepal has developed and approved the National Framework and NSDES, which are the guiding policy documents of three tiers of government to achieve SDG 4 and monitor its targets. National Framework for Education 2030 and NSDES are the first of such a sector-wide framework of SDGs in Nepal.

These two documents are the key guiding policy documents for federal, provincial and local governments to develop their education plan, program, and monitoring mechanism for SDG 4. Some provincial and local governments have already initiated the process of developing the education plan and program based on these policy documents.  

Related items

• Country page: Nepal
• UNESCO Office in Kathmandu
• SDG: SDG 4 - Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all

This article is related to the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals .

More on this subject

Other recent stories

An official website of the United States government

The .gov means it’s official. Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

The site is secure. The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

• Publications
• Account settings

Preview improvements coming to the PMC website in October 2024. Learn More or Try it out now .

• Advanced Search
• Journal List
• v.7(9); 2021 Sep

Education system of Nepal: impacts and future perspectives of COVID-19 pandemic

Khadka bahadur pal.

a Department of Chemistry, Tri-Chandra Multiple Campus, Tribhuvan University, Kathmandu, Nepal

Buddha Bahadur Basnet

b Faculty of Sciences, Nepal Academy of Science and Technology, Khumaltar, Lalitpur, Nepal

Ramesh Raj Pant

c Central Department of Environmental Science, Institute of Science and Technology, Tribhuvan University, Nepal

Kiran Bishwakarma

d Key Laboratory of Tibetan Environment Changes and Land Surface Processes, Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China

e University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China

Kopila Kafle

Namraj dhami.

f Pokhara University, Pokhara 30, Gandaki 33700, Nepal

Motee Lal Sharma

g Central Department of Chemistry, Institute of Science and Technology, Tribhuvan University, Nepal

Lal B. Thapa

h Central Department of Botany, Institute of Science and Technology, Tribhuvan University, Nepal

Binod Bhattarai

i University Grants Commission, Sanothimi, Bhaktapur, Nepal

Youb Raj Bhatta

Associated data.

All data are available described in the article.

The academic sectors are badly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic globally. The studies regarding the implications of COVID-19 in education in Nepal were minimal, thus, this paper aims to highlight the impacts of the pandemic on the education sector of Nepal. It is revealed that the Nepalese academia has been facing problems due to lack of adequate and appropriate sustainable infrastructure for the online system, including skilled human resources. In addition, limited internet facilities in remote and rural areas were the other challenging tasks for virtual academic activities. Therefore, the concerned stakeholders should provide necessary services and appropriate strategies for virtual means of the education system to compensate the repercussion caused by the pandemic. This study could be helpful to identify the critical needs emerged due to the pandemic at present and in future and also contribute to adopt appropriate policy for the revival of educational institutions.

COVID-19; Pandemic; Virtual education; Online education, Nepal.

1. Introduction

The year 2020 was started with the terror of the COVID-19 and witnessed the indelible imprints of the pandemic on the global community ( WHO, 2020 ). The global health emergency due to COVID-19 was declared by the World Health Organization (WHO) on 30 th January 2020. Subsequently, it was declared a pandemic after more than 118,000 infected population by COVID-19 from 114 countries with 4,291 deaths up to 11 th March 2020. Globally, up to 6 th August 2021, there have been over 200 million confirmed cases, including the deaths over 42 million ( WHO, 2021 ).

WHO recommended the countries across the world to take precautionary measures to break the transmission chain of the coronavirus ( Barkur and Vibha Kamath, 2020 ). Among the different prevention strategies, the lockdown was considered as one of the best approaches for interrupting transmission, which was widely adopted by the global community ( Flaxman et al., 2020 ). Therefore, many of the countries in the world imposed lockdown throughout the national and regional levels. In the same line, the Government of Nepal (GoN) also announced the first lockdown on 24 th March 2020 and continued for about six months ( Basnet et al., 2021a , 2021b ). Besides the lockdown, effective tracking, tracing, quarantine, social distancing, and hygienic behaviours of some countries such as China controlled the disease spread successfully ( Basnet et al., 2021c ). However, the lockdown has not been sufficient in many countries ( Zhu et al., 2020 ).

The lockdown imposed noxious impacts affecting the psycho-sociological and livelihoods of people. On one side, the new cases of the virus around the globe are increasing and on the other side, the commencement of lockdown has affected a more significant number of sectors, including academia ( Dawadi et al., 2020 ). Importantly, the academia victimized severely from the lockdowns owing to the COVID-19 pandemic. Most academic institutions such as schools, colleges, and universities remained closed during the lockdown period. Still, the academic activities have not been resumed fully as usual with face-to-face instructions.

The pandemic challenges in the education systems have been the greatest ever faced by the world community ( Azzi-Huck and Shmis, 2020 ). According to the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the closures of academic institutions have impacted more than 1.5 billion students and youth across the globe directly/indirectly ( UNESCO, 2020 ). The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the world, creating the need for new actions from society, including universities and academia ( Alvarez-Risco et al., 2021 ). Cease of the physical presence of students and teachers in the classroom for teaching and learning have switched the academic institutions to online teaching and virtual education. The educational institutions faced an economic crisis due to less number enrollment of students, delay in fee collection, and the management of alternate methods for teaching and learning. The institutions tried to adopt the alternate methods for teaching and learning such as online or virtual methods which are not likely to provide the quality of education as delivered in the classroom ( Panthee et al., 2020 ; Viner et al., 2020 ). Such challenges of the COVID-19 to the education sector especially in the developing countries like Nepal are the severer than the developed countries as the former countries have limited facilities of online systems (e.g., internet, devices, and skilled human resources) ( Poudel and Subedi, 2020 ). In the case of Nepal, the academic institutions remained closed for a long time during the lockdown, and some of them started to manage alternate ways of teaching with the prolongation of lockdown. The government institutions were affected mainly in two ways: firstly, they were turned into quarantine stations, and secondly, there were limited facilities including internet access, computer devices, and a skilled workforce. After the lockdown, the government of Nepal has given authority to the local governments to decide on resuming the academic institutions as usual, and many of the institutions are partially or fully reopened, but the health experts have warned that this decision has increased the risk of the virus transmission ( Poudel and Subedi, 2020 ).

The number of darks sides of the COVID-19 pandemic has given opportunities to the researchers to explore new avenues of cure and treatments and other several facts related to the disease. Many of the researchers have engaged in analyzing the consequences of this pandemic, focusing on different sectors such as environment, agriculture, business, tourism, economy, and education, etc ( Pant et al., 2021 ; Azzi-Huck and Shmis, 2020 ; Barkur and Vibha Kamath, 2020 ; Flaxman et al., 2020 ; IAU, 2020 ). Such analysis, findings, and recommendations have contributed to the nations making policies and strategies to combat future pandemics. However, it has been felt that the studies regarding the implications of COVID-19 in the education sector are minimal. In the context of Nepal, the publications related to the facts are almost naught. Thus, this paper aims to highlight the impacts of COVID-19 on the education sector of Nepal.

This study is based on both primary and secondary data. The electronic databases through Google Scholar, Science Direct, and published reports of national and international organizations were the secondary sources of information on COVID-19. A manual search was conducted to search related articles to gather relevant literature ( Kapasia et al., 2020 ). A survey was also conducted by preparing a short questionnaire (open-ended) to collect primary data. The questionnaire was formatted to collect information on the impacts of COVID-19 in academic institutions. Altogether 35 academic institution heads [10 government schools, 10 private boarding schools, 5 Council for Technical Education and Vocational Training (CTEVT) institutions, 5 university constituent campuses, and 5 university-affiliated campuses] were requested to respond to the questionnaire. Authorities of the Federal GoN, Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, provincial and local governments, and universities were consulted as the key informants. The questionnaire was validated with the help of a review by two experts from medical sciences and two experts from the education sector in Nepal. In addition, before the review, the questionnaire was subjected to purposive sampling of 10 respondents from the Kathmandu valley for the pilot test.

3. Education system in Nepal

In Nepal, the school-level education comprises the primary level (1–8) and secondary level (9–12). There are a total of 35,055 schools in Nepal, of which 27,728 are public schools (community schools), 6,206 private schools, and 1,121 religious schools (Muslim religious schools, Gumbas/Vihar , and Hindu A shrams schools) ( DoE 2018 , Figure 1 ). Thus, there are 7,214,525 students enrolled in school level (grade 1–12) in the year 2018/19. Out of the total enrolment, 77% of students are at the primary level and 23% at the secondary level. Meanwhile, 4,124,478; 1,368,620; and 62,281 students were enrolled in public, private, and religious schools at the primary level, respectively. Similarly, 1,152,674; 294,732; and 610 students were enrolled in public, private, and religious schools at the secondary level, respectively ( DoE 2018 ).

Students enrollment in public, private and religious schools in Nepal ( DoE 2018 ).

The education imparted after the secondary level is considered higher education (tertiary education) in Nepal. According to a report of the University Grants Commission (UGC), Nepal, there are 11 universities and six autonomous medical academies that offer higher education in Nepal ( UGC, 2020 , Table 1 ). Higher education is offered at the universities, of which the Tribhuvan University (TU) is the oldest and largest one. The universities in Nepal currently provide courses on sciences and technology; education; management; social sciences and humanities; law; engineering; forestry; medicine; agriculture and animal sciences; Ayurved; Sanskrit, etc. These academic programs run based on annual and semester systems at bachelor, master, MPhil, and PhD levels. Depending upon the nature of the courses, the time duration allocated to accomplish the programs varies with universities. For example, the bachelors, masters, MPhil, and PhD courses require 3–4, 2, 1.5, and 3 years, respectively, in most of the academic institutions in Nepal. The academic, research, and administrative activities are governed by the rules and regulations of the concerned institutions.

Table 1

Status of students and Universities in Nepal (2017) ( UGC, 2020 ).

Under the umbrella of Higher education in Nepal, 1,425 campuses and 423,996 students enrolled in different academic programs ( UGC, 2020 ). According to the office of planning directorate (TU), it has 1,124 campuses (62 constituents and 1,062 affiliated campuses). Open and distance learning programs have been adopted by the National Open University (NOU). The NOU programs are designed for e-based learning for interested students. The relevance and need for such open and distance learning programs markedly increased under the context of pandemic situations. Regarding the enrollment percentage, the TU has the highest i.e., 79.04 % while Pokhara University, Purbanchal University, and Kathmandu University have the enrollment 6.94 %, 6.16 %, and 4.23% students, respectively ( UGC, 2020 ). Among the enrolled students, 78.6% and 21.4% were enrolled in general and technical programs, respectively. The students in management; education; and humanities and social sciences were 46.78%, 17.88%, and 13.20%, respectively. There are 7.11% of students in science and technology, and only 6.08% and 6.55% of students are in medicine and engineering, respectively ( Figure 2 ).

Current scenario of students distributions in different faculties at higher education level ( UGC, 2020 ).

The provincial-level distribution of students in tertiary education revealed that >50% of students are concentrated in the Bagmati Province only while the least number of students (3.31%) are studying in the Karnali Province. The dominancy order of number of students is Bagmati Province > Lumbini Province > Province no. 1 > Gandaki Province > Province no. 2 > Sudurpaschim Province > Province no. 1 > Karnali Province ( Figure 3 ). The share of student enrollment in the community campuses is 30.29%, whereas constituent campuses and private campuses have received 32.41% and 37.30%, respectively ( UGC, 2020 ). The data shows that private campuses have relatively higher number of students enrolled in Nepal.

Provincial status of students at higher education level ( UGC, 2020 ).

Regarding the academic institutions' student evaluation and monitoring system, schools and universities have different provisions in Nepal. There is an annual examination system with midterm and internal evaluations for the basic level students under the direct supervision of respective schools and local governments. Furthermore, students are evaluated by annual examinations for the school level, including internal and midterm evaluations by the respective schools and the local government. However, the final examination of grade XII is provisioned to be examined by the National Education Board (NEB). In tertiary education, both the internal evaluations and final examinations are held at the end of each semester or year. Tribhuvan University has reintroduced the semester systems from 2012 onwards, and students are evaluated internally (40%) by the respective campuses/departments and externally (60%) by the concerned office of the dean under the Office of the Controller of the Examinations ( TU, 2012 ). The Council for Technical Education and Vocational Training (CTEVT) has adopted semester systems from the beginning of all programs ( DoE, 2018 ). Notably, most of the school and tertiary level examinations are held in a conventional system with physical presence and there was no application of virtual means of teaching and learning.

4. Appraisal of COVID-19 impacts in Nepalese education system

Regarding the recent gloom and doom scenario created by the COVID-19 pandemic in academia, many countries have tried to adopt various virtual media for learning and teaching activities. The COVID-19 lockdown was implemented at the end of the academic session (March, 2020), which directly hindered both school and university academic calendars in Nepal. The nationwide lockdown immediately impacted the pre-scheduled examinations of the grade 10 to 12. In addition, the scheduled semester examinations of many universities had been postponed. As the lockdown prolonged, almost all the academic activities, including examinations halted. It has directly affected the teaching-learning activities of nearly 8,796,624 students belonging to pre-primary (11%), primary (28%), secondary (39%), and tertiary (5%) levels nationwide, as estimated by UNESCO ( Dawadi et al., 2020 ). The questionnaire survey and key informant interviews in this study have highlighted the several aspects of impacts of COVID-19 lockdown on academia in Nepal.

The impacts of COVID-19 on academia has directly affected the students, teachers, and parents. The challenges and impacts of the pandemic highlighted by the respondents were cancellation of board exams, irregularity in learning and skills development, assessments, restriction to study abroad, disrupted the enrollment cycle, inequality in access to education, anxiety to start schools and universities, etc. In higher education, laboratory-based research and field works are greatly hindered. In addition, there may also be decreased funding to continue or undertake new research and innovative activities in the universities in Nepal ( Michael and Murphy, 2020 ).

The lockdown has reduced the enrollment of students and increased the risk of dropout rate. In addition, it has created the obligation for the academic institutions to switch on the virtual media to maintain the pre-announced academic calendars. A transition phase of the traditionaleducational system to the digital system appeared and the Nepalese academia started partially or fully digital system with prolongation of the lockdown. The academic institutions became engagged on transformations in policy formulation, infrastructure development, searching appropriate online methods of teaching, and conducting assessments. As there was a lack of proper planning and educational guidelines previously for online teaching and learning, most of the universities and schools could not run any online models of pedagogical approaches in the initial phase ( MWU, 2020 ).

A handful number of colleges and schools launched online classes in urban areas. The majority of the respondents highlighted that comparing to the physical classes, the online methods are relatively less effective due to more absenteeism and irregularities of the students. It has been estimated that only 9% of the total students from Nepal are getting online classes, and >90% of the students from rural and urban areas are still out of such virtual courses. Currently, 12% of schools and 56% of households have internet facilities, while 51% of students are using media such as radio and TV ( Dawadi et al., 2020 ). It shows that the remaining 44% of students are unlikely to regularly access online or other media, which could be one of the serious concerns for the policymakers of the academic sectors ( Marahatta et al., 2020 ).

Meanwhile, the greatly impacted sector by the COVID-19 pandemic is the research activities in higher education, according to the respondents. The research activities such as field researches had been postponed, and the laboratory research activities remained suspended by the universities. According to the informants, the numbers of chemical reagents and enzymes prepared for upcoming experiments basically in the laboratory based research were worthless due to the closer of the laboratories for an extended period. Master and PhD level dissertations were delayed, and the time-bound research grants and scholarships were cancelled. In such a situation, academia and the policymakers were in dilemmas to design a clear roadmap about the commencement of academic activities. Limited internet facilities, computer devices, and lack of skilled human resources hindered running virtual classes and other activities. It was a challenging to connect the studnets from the rural and remote areas of Nepal in the online classes. The virtual courses are even more challenging for those learners who are differently able students which is consistent around the globe ( Manzoor, 2020 ; Chalise and Dhungana, 2020 ). Notably, the closures of academic institutions have resulted in multi-faceted implications such as disrupting completion of the syllabus on time, the regular cycle of academic intakes, semester end examinations required for graduation.

Despite the pandemic situation, there were some positive impacts on academia at the same time. It had allowed reshaping the of pedagogical strategies and adapt to innovative e-learning techniques. Schools and universities decided to introduce a digital education system. Several platforms, such as Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams, and Social Media including Viber, WhatsApp, Facebook, were given priority by the academia to run the academic activities online. For instance, with the help of Microsoft Teams, TU initiated its virtual academic activities with 500,000 users (teachers and students) ( TU, 2020 ). In the history of Nepalese academia, this was one of the most outstanding achievements for the paradigm shift of the conventional pedagogical approaches. The learners and education provider institutions used media such as television, radio networks, YouTube, and other social media. Interestingly, the literacy and expertise on computers, apps, and virtual platforms have improved at the grass-root level. The universities conducted training for teachers and students for the online system of joining in academic activities.

The schools and higher education institutions expanded ICT infrastructures to support ICT associated teaching/learning. Most of the institutions have also prepared their guideline for facilitating online classes and assessment systems under the direction of the GoN and the University Grants Commission (UGC). Academic institutions have also initiated collaborations with local to national media such as Radios, FMs, and TVs. The virtual media have significant positive impacts on providing educational content and lives call with teachers in support of students ( Hiltz and Wellman, 1997 ). As the cases of COVID-19 are still increasing globally, the public policies significantly, the academic policies should be revised and strictly follow with the epidemiological alerts ( Yáñez et al., 2020 ). Precisely, the COVID-19 situation compelled all the academic institutions and stakeholders for redesigning and reconsidering their teaching-learning and research approaches.

5. Future perspectives and conclusion

The schools and HEIs in Nepal have limited digital services, including electronic libraries, relevant online scientific publications, and other resources. The major challenge for the institutions was conducting assessments and exams online. In the context of Nepal, many children from low-income families and disadvantaged groups do not afford even the necessities of learning, such as textbooks, notebooks, and other required stationaries. Modern digital devices, including smartphones, iPad, iPods, laptops, computers, the internet, etc., are far from their expectations ( UNESCO and IESALC, 2020 ). On the other side, the people in the remote and rural areas are deprived of online access due to limited internet facilities. In this context, providing equal opportunity for virtual learning to all groups of people and all parts of the country has become challenging. Therefore, the federal, provincial, and local governments are urged to switch their strategies and programs towards modern virtual education systems. For this purpose, different programs for enhancing the capacities of human resources, students, institution authorities, management, and parents are recommended. It is essential to understand the behaviour of learners about online and face-to-face academic activities to ensure the best academic outcomes ( Alvarez-Risco et al., 2020b ).

Due to the lack of adequate and appropriate sustainable infrastructure in Nepalese academia for the online system, developing such infrastructure is indispensable. The infrastructures for virtual education (internet facilities and digital devices) should be affordable to institutions of remote and rural areas. Especially the poor and disadvantaged groups should be prioritized, clustered, and trained in low/no cost by the government. The international and national organizations anduniversity graduates could be mobilized as volunteers to teach in rural areas. The school education boards and universities should prioritize to revise their curricula including internship or community services for their students to share the knowledge and expertise to the needy people in rural and remote areas in Nepal. The institutions should consider adjustments in terms of accessibility, infrastructure, and equipment from a long term perspective.

Additionally, within traditional pedagogical approaches, the blended modes of education system could be implemented to improve the quality of education at an affordable cost with limited trained human resources. The activities such as homework assignments, open-book exams, home take exams, quizzes, or small projects can be considered as the options of conventional paper-based examinations. Moreover, some modes of communication such as chat channels and discussion groups in social media could also benefit to the learners. There is limited preparedness to cope with such pandemic in Nepal, thus, there must be cooperation and coordination among the different sectors to combat the impacts of COVID-19. There could be a multifactorial fight during the pandemic to increase health literacy, develop better detection tools, and enable action by local, provincial and federal governments ( Alvarez-Risco et al., 2020c ). Continuous awareness and sensitization about the risks of COVID-19 also play a vital role to reduce the havoc created by the pandemic ( Quispe-Cañari et al., 2021 ).

Overall, this study comprises the education system in Nepal and COVID-19 imprints in the school and university education in Nepal. Also, we have tried to highlight the pros and cons of the pandemic on academia during the lockdown and suggested the possible way forwards. In this context, the concerned stakeholders should provide necessary services and develop appropriate strategies for virtual means of the education system to compensate for the repercussion caused by COVID-19 lockdown. Sustainable solutions are essential to manage the crisis and build a resilient education system in the long run. Thus, the insights from this study could be helpful to cope with the problem due to the pandemic and contribute to adopting an appropriate policy for the revival of educational institutions. Also, the present work contributes to the necessary way forward to tackle the crisis in academia in Nepal in the future.

Declarations

Author contribution statement.

All authors listed have significantly contributed to the development and the writing of this article.

Funding statement

This research did not receive any specific grant from any funding agency.

Data availability statement

Declaration of interests statement.

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Additional information

Not applicable.

Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful to the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (MoEST), Department of Education (DoE), GoN and University Grants Commission (UGC), Nepal for supporting data in this research.

• Alvarez-Risco A., Mejia C.R., Delgado-Zegarra J., Del-Aguila-Arcentales S., Arce-Esquivel A.A., Valladares-Garrido M.J., The Peru approach against the COVID-19 infodemic: insights and strategies. Am. J. Trop. Med. Hyg. 2020; 103 (2):583–586. [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Alvarez-Risco A., Estrada-Merino A., de las Mercedes Anderson-Seminario M., Mlodzianowska S., García-Ibarra V., Villagomez-Buele C., Carvache-Franco M. ITSE; 2020. Multitasking Behaviour in Online Classrooms and Academic Performance: the Case of university Students in Ecuador during COVID-19 Outbreak. [ Google Scholar ]
• Alvarez-Risco A., Del-Aguila-Arcentales S., Rosen M.A., García-Ibarra V., Maycotte-Felkel S., Martínez-Toro G.M. Expectations and interests of university students in covid-19 times about sustainable development goals: evidence from Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, and Peru. Sustainability. 2021; 13 (6):3306. [ Google Scholar ]
• Azzi-Huck K., Shmis T. 2020. Managing the Impact of COVID-19 on Education Systems Worldwide: How Countries Are Preparing, Copying, and Planning for Recovery. https://blogs.worldbank.org/education/managing-impact-COVID-19-education-systems-around-world-how-countries-are-preparing [ Google Scholar ]
• Barkur G., Vibha Kamath G.B. Sentiment analysis of nationwide lockdown due to COVID 19 outbreak: evidence from India. Asian J. Psychiatr. 2020; 51 :102089. [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Basnet B.B., Bishwakarma K., Pant R.R., Dhakal S., Pandey N., Gautam D., Ghimire A., Basnet T.B. Combating the COVID-19 pandemic: experiences of the first wave from Nepal. Front. Public Health. 2021; 12 (9):613402. [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Basnet B.B., Pant R.R., Bishwakarma K., Paudel S., Pandey N., Adhikari S.K., Ranabhat K., Ghimire A. A year trend analysis and spatial distribution of COVID-19 cases in Nepal. Asia Pac. J. Publ. Health. 2021 [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Basnet B.B., Basnet R., Panday R. Prospects for controlling future pandemics of SARS in highlights of SARS-CoV-2. VirusDis. 2021 [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Chalise H.N., Dhungana H.N. Fears of COVID-19 catastrophe as Nepal reports death from new Coronavirus. J. Phys. Med. Rehabil. Disabil. 2020; 6 :47. [ Google Scholar ]
• Dawadi S., Giri R., Simkhada P. Sage submissions; 2020. Impact of COVID-19 on the Education Sector in Nepal- Challenges and Coping Strategies. [ Google Scholar ]
• Department of Education . 2018. Flash Report I (2017-2018), Sanothimi, Bhaktapur, Nepal. https://www.doe.gov.np/assets/uploads/files/cbe2b2b1ae68bb5bdaa93299343e5c28.pdf [ Google Scholar ]
• Flaxman S., Mishra S., Gandy A., Unwin H.J.T., Mellan T.A., Coupland H., Bhatt S. Estimating the effects of non-pharmaceutical interventions on COVID-19 in Europe. Nature. 2020 [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Hiltz S.R., Wellman B. Vol. 40. 1997. Asynchronous Learning Networks as a Virtual Classroom; pp. 44–49. (9) [ Google Scholar ]
• International Association of Universities . 2020. The Impact of COVID-19 on Higher Education Worldwide Resources for Higher Education Institutions. https://www.iau-aiu.net/IMG/pdf/COVID-19_and_he_resources.pdf [ Google Scholar ]
• Kapasia N., Paul P., Roy A., Saha J., Zaveri A., Mallick R., Barman B., Das P., Chouhan P. Impact of lockdown on learning status of undergraduate and postgraduate students during COVID-19 pandemic in West Bengal, India. Child. Youth Serv. Rev. 2020; 116 :105194. [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Manzoor A. 2020. Online Teaching and Challenges of COVID-19 for Inclusion of PWDs in Higher Education. https://dailytimes.com.pk/595888/online-teaching-and-challenges-of-covid-19-for-inclusion-of-pwds-in-higher-education/ [ Google Scholar ]
• Marahatta S., Paudel S., Aryal N. COVID-19 Pandemic: what can Nepal do to curb the potential public health disaster? JKAHS. 2020; 3 (1):1–14. https://www.jkahs.org.np/jkahs/index.php/jkahs/article/view/213 [ Google Scholar ]
• Michael P., Murphy A. COVID-19 and emergency e-Learning: consequences of the securitization of higher education for post-pandemic pedagogy. Contemp. Secur. Pol. 2020; 41 (3) [ Google Scholar ]
• Mid-Western University . 2020. Digital, Virtual and Alternative Teaching-Learning and Operating Systems Policy Guidelines (2020) https://www.mwu.edu.np/mwu-dvatlosp-guideline-2020/news/ [ Google Scholar ]
• Poudel K., Subedi P. Impact of COVID-19 pandemic on socioeconomic and mental health aspects in Nepal. Int. J. Soc. Psychiatr. 2020; 66 (8):748–755. 2020 12. [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Panthee B., Dhungana S., Panthee N., Paudel A., Gyawali S., Panthee S. COVID-19: the current situation in Nepal. New Microbes New Infect. 2020; 37 :100737. [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Pant R.R., Bishwakarma K., Qaiser F.U.R., Pathak L., Jayaswal G., Sapkota B., Pal K.B., Thapa L.B., Koirala M., Rijal K., Maskey R. Imprints of COVID-19 lockdown on the surface water quality of Bagmati river basin, Nepal. J. Environ. Manang. 2021; 289 :112522. [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Quispe-Cañari J.F., Fidel-Rosales E., Manrique D., Mascaró-Zan J., Huamán-Castillón K.M., Chamorro–Espinoza S.E., Mejia C.R. Self-medication practices during the COVID-19 pandemic among the adult population in Peru: a cross-sectional survey. Saudi Pharmaceut. J. 2021; 29 (1):1–11. [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Tribhuvan University Online Class Nirdeshika. 2020. https://neporesult.com/news_notices/tribhuwan-university-online-class-nirdeshika/ [ Google Scholar ]
• TU . B.S. Tribhuvan University; Kathmandu, Nepal: 2012. Tribhuvan University, TU semester system operational guideline - 2070. [ Google Scholar ]
• UNESCO . UNESCO; 2020. COVID-19: Impact on Education. https://en.unesco.org/covid19/educationresponse [ Google Scholar ]
• UNESCO and IESALC COVID-19 and higher education: today and tomorrow. Impact analysis, policy responses and recommendations. Isaac. 2020;(9):1–46. http://www.iesalc.unesco.org/en/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/COVID-19-EN-090420-2.pdf [ Google Scholar ]
• University Grant Commission . 2020. Education Management Information System (EMIS), UGC Report on Higher Education 2017-2018. https://www.ugcnepal.edu.np/uploads/publicationsAndReports/b6ABmh.pdf [ Google Scholar ]
• Viner R.M., Russell S.J., Croker H., Packer J., Ward J., Stansfield C., Mytton O., Bonell C., Booy R. School closure and management practices during coronavirus outbreaks including COVID-19: a rapid systematic review. Lancet Child Adolesc. Health. 2020; 4 (5):397–404. [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• WHO . 2020. World health organization. Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak. https://www.who.int. [ Google Scholar ]
• WHO . 2021. World health organization. Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak. https://covid19.who.int/ [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Yáñez J.A., Alvarez-Risco A., Delgado-Zegarra J. Covid-19 in Peru: from supervised walks for children to the first case of Kawasaki-like syndrome. BMJ. 2020; 369 :m2418. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Zhu N., Zhang D., Wang W., Li X., Yang B., Song J., Tan W. A novel coronavirus from patients with pneumonia in China 2019. NEJM. 2020; 382 :723–733. [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]

• Culture & Lifestyle

• Madhesh Province
• Lumbini Province
• Bagmati Province
• National Security
• Koshi Province
• Gandaki Province
• Karnali Province
• Sudurpaschim Province
• International Sports
• Brunch with the Post
• Life & Style
• Entertainment
• Investigations
• Climate & Environment
• Science & Technology
• Visual Stories
• Crosswords & Sudoku
• Corrections
• Letters to the Editor
• Today's ePaper

Without Fear or Favour UNWIND IN STYLE

What's News :

• Congress presses on probe
• Koshi Head summons assembly session
• Caste-based abuse against ex-chief
• Civil aviation bill
• Forest fires

History and politics of Nepal’s school education

Ishwari Bhattarai

To understand the historical and contemporary context in which schooling education in Nepal developed, one has to raise certain questions: When and how did formal school education evolve? How did the state regulate the opening of schools before and after the 1950s? How did intersectional dynamics of caste, class, gender and societal politics play in the establishment and expansion of schools? How the state-led ‘nationalisation’ of schools and ‘standardisation’ of curriculum shaped the knowledge and impacted the learning experience of children from diverse social backgrounds? Readers will get answers to these questions in the book ‘School Education in Nepal: History, Politics and Society’ published by Martin Chautari, a Kathmandu-based research organisation.

In the past couple of years, under its book series, Martin Chautari has published a few other volumes on school education in Nepal, namely ‘School Education in Nepal: History and Politics of Governance and Reforms’, and ‘School Education in Nepal: Communityization, Federalism and Disaster’. Recently, another volume focusing on the Financial Aspects of School Education also came out.

The evolution of school education during the later decades of Rana rule from around the 1930s until the end of the Panchayat period in the 1990s is captured thoroughly in ‘School Education in Nepal’. Organised into six key chapters—apart from the introduction that sets a brief tone of the history of school education in Nepal—the book examines how successive regimes during the Rana and Panchayat period used school education as the most important tool to further their interests by restricting and regulating schooling, and the functioning of schools. This historical scholarship uses a wide range of published and unpublished archival sources complemented by interviews and personal accounts. All the chapters offer an intersectional element of dynamics of caste, class and gender and societal politics with the larger political context of the evolution of school education in Nepal.

Caste and school education

Historically class and caste system has played a significant role in determining access to formal schooling in Nepal. The erstwhile upper castes, traditionally placed in the dominant social position, have had greater access to education that helped them capitalise on socially valued resources. While traditional lower castes—such as Dalits and others in the margins—have had restricted access. This volume sheds light on how the caste system school education, influenced the appointment of teachers, development of school curriculum, and teaching style. An elaborate description of the history of upper caste Brahmins' access to school education has been captured by Arjun Panthi in his article on the educational dynamics of Brahmins. Panthi gives the readers an insight into the Harihar Sanskrit School in the erstwhile Gulmi district (now Arghakhanchi), started by a local individual philanthropist almost 100 years ago. Established around 1970 B.S. and later financed by a rich local Brahman man Harihar Gautam, the author pictures the context of student recruitment, curriculum and teaching method, provision for fellowships, its affiliation with a college as well as opportunities for higher education in Varanasi, India.

All these networks of relationships are likely to have shaped the social mobility of Brahmins since the past. The book also illuminates how the students who studied there were socially mobile, entered state institutions and expanded their power and influence, acquiring the necessary cultural capital. The text indicates that a good number of individuals from this region entered state institutions and Nepal’s bureaucracy in contemporary times because their families had the opportunity of early schooling.

While the children affiliated with the Ranas, the affluent class, and the ‘powerful’ families, had opportunities to attend schools, children in Dalit and other communities on the margins were facing many challenges. How did the Dalit students struggle for education in a rigid caste-ordered society? Devendra Upreti and Shivahari Gywali try to answer this question in the article ‘Dalit Education in Hindu Society’ and trace the history of Dalit education from the Rana period. The authors track down an account of the initiatives taken by a few individuals to educate Dalit children. Expansion of Dalit education in various parts of Nepal saw conflicts on multiple fronts. Along with tensions in the community, the chapter sheds light on how Dalit students continuously suffered discrimination in schools, although the nature and scale of discrimination varied across different regions. Reading through the chapter, it becomes evident that social conflicts emerged on the question of segregation/integration of Dalits with other ‘upper caste’ children in the same classroom/schools. Due to persistent discrimination faced by Dalits , there were efforts to open schools exclusively for them in different places.

Gender, school education and politics

The other key theme in the book is the complex relationship between gender and politics in school education. When formal schooling was just introduced, it was, by default, the domain of men. However, there are selected examples where women, particularly those belonging to upper castes/class, began attending schools during the late Rana period. Exploring the issue of women's education in the late Rana period, Lokranjan Parajuli outlines multifaceted debates that took place during this time in his article. Initially, women were missing from formal schooling. Even when there were efforts to expand formal schooling among girls, it was primarily viewed as a complementary effort to support men and reproduce patriarchal dominance. Despite this dominant motive, Parajuli shows how young girls who got a chance to enter schools also participated in the public discourse of freedom and equality, expressing their views in the newspapers and magazines published at that time.

School education evolved with political and social change in and beyond Nepal. There are regional, national and international political context that has shaped the growth of schools. Through formal schooling, the state began to socialise children and aimed to create a common ‘Nepali’ identity. This was done through the standardisation of school textbooks and curriculum that promoted the idea of a common national identity. The state politics on school education had a differential impact across Nepal. The regions where non-Nepali speakers were predominant were highly impacted by the state-led initiatives of ‘standardisation’ and ‘homogenisation’ of curriculum and imposition of the Nepali language as a compulsory medium of communication. The experiential and descriptive account by CK Lal provides the social and political analysis of schooling and its evolution in the southern central Tarai. Lal presents a vibrant picture of how the context of school education changed with local and national political dynamics. He provides a chronological picture and discusses the role played by local elites to educate children during the early period through ‘home schooling’ to the impact of a state-led project of nationalisation of school education leading to ‘homogenisation’ and ‘standardisation’ during the Panchayat period.

While locally powerful individuals and communities took the initiative to establish most of the schools until the early decades of Panchayat they largely operated autonomously. With the phenomenal growth of schools across Nepal after the 1950s, they appeared to be sites for political consciousness. The locally managed autonomous functioning of schools was seen as a threat to the regime by the Panchayat government. The government then converted all of them to ‘national’ schools introducing new policies. The schools turned to a new political battleground. Lokranjan Parajuli in his second article engages the question of the politics of school education during the Panchayat period and argues that by converting community schools into government schools and teachers as salaried ‘government employees’ the government sought to produce citizens loyal to the nation. This deliberate attempt to control and regulate schools was furthered through the introduction of new curricula and mandatory imposition of the Nepali language as a medium of education. Despite significant political changes during the post-Rana period, the author observes that the Panchayat regime continued a controlled and regulatory approach fundamentally not different from the earlier political regime.

The Panchayat government aimed to craft citizens loyal to its regime, and therefore textbooks were designed accordingly. Among these, the history textbooks in particular were deliberately written with an aim to erase Nepal’s diverse historical context and dynamics to produce a ‘homogenous’ monolithic history. Written almost two decades ago in English and its Nepali translation has been included in this volume, Onta engages with the question of how Nepali Rastriya Itihas (the national history of Nepal) was produced and disseminated through school textbooks in the Panchayat period. With an aim to produce uncritical citizens, this article argues that the Panchayat period textbooks crafted selective Nepali ‘icons’ and historical narratives to construct a common ‘Nepali’ and ‘ bir ’(brave) history. In doing so, there was an erasure of ambivalence and contradictions. This selective, hyper-masculine bir history produced during the 1970s and 1980s has had a deep impact on the psyche of young students.

The political changes even after the 1990s did not bring any fundamental alterations in the ideas on school education as the curriculum and textbooks were largely the continuum of the Panchayat past. I recalled my high school days when my experience was exactly the same as the one highlighted in the article. Being socialised into such schooling in the first decade after the fall of Panchayat government, I hardly had any critical approach to knowledge until I joined my university-level education. The Panchayat era was quite successful in producing a large band of uncritical citizens. This continued during the democratic period too. The author concludes this article by delineating a need for a critical reflection on the impact of such distorted histories among the masses through school education.

Although a couple of articles included in the volume are published elsewhere too, it is a welcome addition to the contribution of the history of education in Nepal to regenerate new debates in a contemporary context. Not only does the book document the cultural, historical and political context in which school education evolved but also examines the various facets of it—including political events, social changes and economic conditions happening in Nepal until the 1990s. Overall, it is a valuable resource for anyone interested in the evolution and politics of school education in Nepal and South Asia.

School Education in Nepal: History, Politics and Society

Editors: Lokranjan Parajuli, Pratyoush Onta, Devendra Upreti

Publisher: Martin Chautari

Ishwari Bhattarai Bhattarai is a researcher at Democracy Resource Centre Nepal, Kathmandu.

Related News

The more you read, the more you realise how much you don’t know

English translation of Abhay K’s ‘Fool Bahadur’ out

A trailblazer’s tale of service and progress

Books will remain integral to human existence

Female writers need more support

Learning should reflect on behaviour

Most read from books.

Editor's Picks

Kathmandu Valley’s toxic air exacerbates respiratory illness

Melodrama for monarchy

Flood survivors struggle to rebuild their lives 15 years on

Jobs being created in Nepal lack quality: Experts

Kathmandu’s public transport remains an ordeal for many

E-paper | april 11, 2024.

• Read ePaper Online

• Privacy policy
• Terms and conditions

Essay on importance of women education in Nepal in 300 words

IMPORTANCE OF WOMEN EDUCATION IN NEPAL  

What is education.

Education means knowledge and abilities required for the all round development of human beings. It is believed to be the light of knowledge that changes the dark world into the glistering bright one. It is considered the real foundation of personal, social, national, and international development. So it is essential to provide all women with education.

IMPORTANCE AND CHALLENGES OF WOMEN EDUCATION

Education determines the fate of a person, a society or a country. It is the only medium that can lead a society or country to the top of success and progress. For this both men and women should be equally educated so that they can equally contribute to the well-being of nation. As they are considered to be the two wheels of the same cart, a society or country cannot progress in absence of any of them. Unfortunately, most of the women in Nepal are still far away from the light of education. Therefore, it is essentially important to highlight women education to build new Nepal. In our society, women have secondary roles to play. They have to give birth to the baby, look after them, cook food, wash dishes and clothes, and collect firewood and so on. They are treated as objects that are possessed by males. They are considered to be decorating things for a house. They are not allowed to go out of their houses. They are believed to be safe inside the houses. Parents do not like to send their daughters to schools or colleges. They think spending money in education is useless. Instead, they are trained to do household work. Due to poverty, social traditions, lack of education etc. most of the women are still uneducated in our country. Then, how can the new Nepal be fulfilled unless they are educated?

IMPORTANCE OF WOMEN EDUCATION IN FAMILY AND COUNTRY

Nepal just have been the loktantrik state with the aim of empowering all people ensuring their equal space in state affair. It is the prime duty of the government to develop access of all women to education.

Posted by Nepticle Blog

You may like these posts, post a comment, popular posts.

Essay on Social evils in Nepal-2021

SOCIAL EVILS                      …

essay on environmental pollution in 250 words-Nepal-2022

ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION Environment simply…

Essay on 'Tourism in Nepal' in 250 words

TOURISM IN NEPAL We want to visi…

• Book articles
• environmentalpollution
• formationofFossil
• human brain
• importance of agriculture
• pleasure of reading
• Rights and duties
• rivers in nepal
• student life

Featured post

Structures and Function of brain

Hello Everyone! Welcome to my blog. Here you can find any articles related to General knowledge, creative stories, articles on different subjects, Essay writting, photography and so on.

• anti-social practices (1)
• Articles (24)
• Be positive (1)
• Book articles (1)
• children day special (1)
• conscious mind (1)
• creativity (1)
• cyber law (1)
• Democracy (1)
• dowry system (1)
• drug addiction (1)
• Education (1)
• environmentalpollution (1)
• excursion (1)
• Forest in Nepal (1)
• formationofFossil (1)
• health is wealth (1)
• history (1)
• history of earth (1)
• human brain (1)
• importance of agriculture (1)
• internet (1)
• multimedia (1)
• newspapers (1)
• patriotism (1)
• pleasure of reading (1)
• quiz time (1)
• Rights and duties (1)
• rivers in nepal (1)
• social service (1)
• student life (1)
• student mind (1)
• subconscious in plants (1)
• tourism industry (1)
• unix and linux (1)
• value of science (1)

Most Popular

Essay on democracy in Nepal in 250 words.

DEMOCRACY IN NEPAL Democracy is a …

Essay on Student life in 250 words

STUDENT LIFE The period of a human life spent at  school  or college for …

Essay on rights and duties in 250+ words

RIGHTS AND DU…

HUMAN BRAIN Brain There are vario…

IMPORTANCE OF WOMEN EDUCATION IN NEPAL   WHAT IS EDUCATION? Education …

essay on science and human values in 300 words

THE VALUE OF SCIENCE The present of era is t…

Essay on pleasures of reading | School Essay | College Essay-2021

PLEASURES OF READING              …

Social Widget

• Essay Samples
• College Essay
• Writing Tools
• Writing guide

↑ Return to College Essay

Education system in Nepal – Research Essay

Introduction

In my research essay, I explore the education system in Nepal. I am already aware that the education system in Nepal was based on home schooling and Gurukula, but since they become a democracy in 1951, they have made many improvements. It is my intention to find out what those improvements are.

Methodology

My main methodology will include reading written research on the subject from local libraries, University libraries, and trusted online resources. I will also research and read records and websites relating to trusted statistics. They have school and higher education, where a student has to apply for higher education as people have to in other countries.

A student gets a school-leaving certificate for completing school and getting their education. Grades 11 and 12 are considered higher secondary education, for which a student gets a certificate for completing by the HSEB, which is the Higher Secondary Education Board.

If you opt for higher education, then you may earn your bachelor degree, masters and PhD in a Nepal college. There is also vocational education that starts in lower school and allows a person to work towards a trade and get a “Technical School leaving Certificate”. Research

The first school in Nepal was made only for elite learners and was opened in 1853. More have come about since democracy broke out in Nepal, and again in 1971 when the country built its education department and started allowing and funding schools in Nepal.

In 1971, there was a literacy rate of 5%. There were also a total of 10,000 students spread across 300 schools. Now much of the population receives some sort of education and the number of schools, big and small, is 49,000. The adult literacy rate has jumped from just 5% to 60.3%.

Nepal has done a good job to come so far in such as short space of time, but there is still a long way to go. Poverty and social exclusion are two very big restraints on people and their ability to get a good (or usable) education. There are also more males getting an education than females. There are 46.3% of females getting an education, whereas there are 73% of males getting an education. These are very good figures and show that the government in Nepal has been working towards improving the education system in Nepal. Conclusion

The education system in Nepal is not as bad as it was, but there are still massive holes in their education system. They really need to up the pace if they want to get anywhere near to the quality levels of many other countries.

There are clearly more opportunities for students in Nepal these days than there was, and they have certainly created a good structure on which to build a good education system, but it needs a lot of work. Too many people are excluded from school because of poverty or social exclusion, and females are not getting as good of an education than male students are (especially since fewer females attend school).

Follow Us on Social Media

Get more free essays

Send via email

Most useful resources for students:.

• Free Essays Download
• Writing Tools List
• Proofreading Services
• Universities Rating

Contributors Bio

Find more useful services for students

Free plagiarism check, professional editing, online tutoring, free grammar check.

Education in Nepal

The education within Nepal has just recently been rising and continues to develop. With the help of several international organizations, education system is being assisted. It is essential for the educational progress and development to decrease the scarcity rate as well as to promote community improvement. Because of the damages that the previous administration management imposed in their education system, Nepal’s government tries to undo and make a superior proposition for education to be better. Before the modern education started in the country, schooling had been restricted and only elite classes are privileged, while the rest of the people stayed mainly illiterate and untaught. Then, when the new era was introduced, education was offered only to sons of the upper classes. Girls infrequently received proper education.

At present, regardless of the establishment of an education structure in Nepal way back, government offered a community school in which students receive regular government grants. There is also the presence of a school managed by local people who are enthusiastic of having school on their vicinities. Though they do not receive any grants from the government regularly, people are helping one another to support and manage so that their schools will be identified as a real community schools.

Nepal’s education scheme is based on the outline of United States. The country served as a guide in forming Nepal’s education curriculum. Grades 1-5 are considered primary education. Their main objective of teaching is for children to read, write and do arithmetic. The secondary education, 6-8, stresses personality development and trains the students for higher learning. For 9-10, upper secondary, serves as the stepping stone for the higher secondary level. The classes 11 and 12 are both regarded as higher secondary. Education, science, humanities, and commerce are the main courses for higher secondary. The Ministry of Education is in charge for the management and the direction of school-rank education in the country. They recently formed the Department of Education, which begun its operations in 2000, with its significant function of giving fair access to education, creating excellencies, internal and external effectiveness improvement and making a growth-pleasant venture education.

The commitment for education broadens throughout the country. More improvement in all aspects of education as well as for the encouragement of a knowledgeable and well-performance nation is what people are hoping and looking forward to.

• Terms and Condition
• Privacy Policy

• _Compulsory English 11
• __Language Development
• __Literature
• _Compulsory English 12
• _Writing Comprehension
• _News Writing
• _Grade 9 English
• _Grade 10 English
• _NEB Material Downloads
• _Technology

Today's Main Post

For more videos visit our channel.

Write an essay on "Technical Education in Nepal" || Essay on Technical Education in Nepal

  write an essay on "technical education in nepal".

The term "Technical Education" comprises the two words "Technical" and "Education". Technical word has come from the noun "Technique" which means skills needed for practical job or connected with practical use. The word "Education" means knowledge or to make someone able in doing something very good. Technical Education means, knowledge or education given practically to make someone able to do the job skillfully, or make people work with machine or tools. So technical knowledge is making people able to work with machine, use tools and instruments. It is the process of making the humans fit to work with machine, tools, instruments etc. The combination of human and machine helps to bring economic prosperity and progress in any country.

Nepal is one of the developing countries in the world. To bring this nation at the level of perfection in terms of economy and technology, technical education is must. In each and every sector, technology is used, so technical man power is needed. Many structures, factories, companies, industries need technical man power and technical persons are created through Technical Education. Our country is agricultural country, and technology can aid a lot of support in this sector. To manage man power in these fields more and more technical persons are needed. The increasing demand of technical persons can be fulfilled producing technical persons through technical educational institutions. Any county can't step ahead in lack of technical persons. Such is the case in our country to. If our country can't produce technical man power, we must import such people from other countries and it is too costly to import such persons from other countries. The better solution is produce such people here in own country.

Technology has great effects on the people of Nepal because through media, they see other country being developed because of their efforts and investment in technology and technical education. It has a great influence on people because people of advanced countries have been living luxurious life style. If people are back stopped with technology, and technical education, evry nation will certainly develop. If people start working with machine and eqipments they produce much more, and even the country wil be able to export to other countries increasing national income.

Post a Comment

Thanks for visiting this site.

Unicode Converters

Nepali date converter.

Social Plugin

Popular posts.

Solution: NEB-GRADE XII 2079 (2023) Model Question Compulsory English || Sub Code 0041

Press Release Writing || Press Release of Behalf of the Airlines by General Manager of Nepal Airlines || NEB Grade 12 Press Release Writing

Presse Release Writing Grade 11 English

Total pageviews.

• class 9 English
• Com English 11 Language Development
• Com English 11 Literature
• Com English 12 Language Development
• Com English 12 Literature
• grade 10 English
• neb download
• Youtube Videos
• September 3
• November 10
• September 12
• December 10
• November 59

Menu Footer Widget

Copyright (c) 2020 dreamslearningzone All Right Reseved

Contact form

To revisit this article, visit My Profile, then View saved stories .

• Backchannel
• Newsletters
• WIRED Insider
• WIRED Consulting

Amanda Hoover

Students Are Likely Writing Millions of Papers With AI

Students have submitted more than 22 million papers that may have used generative AI in the past year, new data released by plagiarism detection company Turnitin shows.

A year ago, Turnitin rolled out an AI writing detection tool that was trained on its trove of papers written by students as well as other AI-generated texts. Since then, more than 200 million papers have been reviewed by the detector, predominantly written by high school and college students. Turnitin found that 11 percent may contain AI-written language in 20 percent of its content, with 3 percent of the total papers reviewed getting flagged for having 80 percent or more AI writing. (Turnitin is owned by Advance, which also owns Condé Nast, publisher of WIRED.) Turnitin says its detector has a false positive rate of less than 1 percent when analyzing full documents.

ChatGPT’s launch was met with knee-jerk fears that the English class essay would die . The chatbot can synthesize information and distill it near-instantly—but that doesn’t mean it always gets it right. Generative AI has been known to hallucinate , creating its own facts and citing academic references that don’t actually exist. Generative AI chatbots have also been caught spitting out biased text on gender and race . Despite those flaws, students have used chatbots for research, organizing ideas, and as a ghostwriter . Traces of chatbots have even been found in peer-reviewed, published academic writing .

Teachers understandably want to hold students accountable for using generative AI without permission or disclosure. But that requires a reliable way to prove AI was used in a given assignment. Instructors have tried at times to find their own solutions to detecting AI in writing, using messy, untested methods to enforce rules , and distressing students. Further complicating the issue, some teachers are even using generative AI in their grading processes.

Detecting the use of gen AI is tricky. It’s not as easy as flagging plagiarism, because generated text is still original text. Plus, there’s nuance to how students use gen AI; some may ask chatbots to write their papers for them in large chunks or in full, while others may use the tools as an aid or a brainstorm partner.

Students also aren't tempted by only ChatGPT and similar large language models. So-called word spinners are another type of AI software that rewrites text, and may make it less obvious to a teacher that work was plagiarized or generated by AI. Turnitin’s AI detector has also been updated to detect word spinners, says Annie Chechitelli, the company’s chief product officer. It can also flag work that was rewritten by services like spell checker Grammarly, which now has its own generative AI tool . As familiar software increasingly adds generative AI components, what students can and can’t use becomes more muddled.

Detection tools themselves have a risk of bias. English language learners may be more likely to set them off; a 2023 study found a 61.3 percent false positive rate when evaluating Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) exams with seven different AI detectors. The study did not examine Turnitin’s version. The company says it has trained its detector on writing from English language learners as well as native English speakers. A study published in October found that Turnitin was among the most accurate of 16 AI language detectors in a test that had the tool examine undergraduate papers and AI-generated papers.

Lauren Goode

Karen Williams

William Turton

Schools that use Turnitin had access to the AI detection software for a free pilot period, which ended at the start of this year. Chechitelli says a majority of the service’s clients have opted to purchase the AI detection. But the risks of false positives and bias against English learners have led some universities to ditch the tools for now. Montclair State University in New Jersey announced in November that it would pause use of Turnitin’s AI detector. Vanderbilt University and Northwestern University did the same last summer.

“This is hard. I understand why people want a tool,” says Emily Isaacs, executive director of the Office of Faculty Excellence at Montclair State. But Isaacs says the university is concerned about potentially biased results from AI detectors, as well as the fact that the tools can’t provide confirmation the way they can with plagiarism. Plus, Montclair State doesn’t want to put a blanket ban on AI, which will have some place in academia. With time and more trust in the tools, the policies could change. “It’s not a forever decision, it’s a now decision,” Isaacs says.

Chechitelli says the Turnitin tool shouldn’t be the only consideration in passing or failing a student. Instead, it’s a chance for teachers to start conversations with students that touch on all of the nuance in using generative AI. “People don’t really know where that line should be,” she says.

You Might Also Like …

In your inbox: The best and weirdest stories from WIRED’s archive

Jeffrey Epstein’s island visitors exposed by data broker

8 Google employees invented modern AI. Here’s the inside story

The crypto fraud kingpin who almost got away

It's shadow time! How to view the solar eclipse, online and in person

Steven Levy

Kate Knibbs

Will Knight

Matt Burgess

Benj Edwards, Ars Technica