Because of the school system and the institutionalised programmes to promote school education, young people have more access to school education and therefore have a better chance for becoming literate. Lack of institutional development is another constraint that has been hindering the expected steady growth in adult literacy. The high literacy rate among the younger age group is attributed to the rapid expansion of primary education in the past four decades.

Although there has been significant development in the literacy percentage and the gender parity during the EFA period, the goals and targets are still far from being attained. Several problems are encountered in the planning and implementation of literacy programmes. These are mainly related to the lack of resources, both human, financial and material. The other major problem is connected with the difficult socio-economic situation in which adults as well as children find it difficult to join literacy activities and derive the benefits of literacy for improving their style of living. Because of this situation there has been a growing concern regarding the need to combine literacy with socio-economic development programmes. Many NGOs, INGOs and CBOs are working in this line in tandem with the government. The mode of conducting such programmes is through non-formal education.

D. Women's Education (BPEP)

The country's national target is to eradicate illiteracy by the end of the Twelfth Plan. In the Ninth Plan period, the target is to achieve 70% literacy among the 6+ year population group. This will require providing effective literacy to 3,216,000 illiterate adults and 784,000 out-of-school children. This is rather a challenging task. In order to fulfil this target, national literacy campaigns have been organised.

The Ninth Plan of Nepal has emphasised literacy campaigns as one of the major strategies for the eradication of illiteracy. This strategy has been adopted based on national experiences as well as on similar international efforts.

In 1992, Mass Literacy Campaigns were launched in Vyas VDC of Tanahun District with the assistance of the government and some INGOs (World Education and PACT). Similarly, Banepa Municipality of Kabhre District launched the campaign with the assistance of the government, UNESCO and a local NGO (CEFA). Banepa Municipality is reported to have achieved a 94% literacy rate among its 6+ age population.

In 1997, the National Council of Non-Formal Education of the Ministry of Education decided to launch mass literacy campaigns in five districts (one each in the five Development Regions) of Nepal.

The National Council for Non-Formal Education intends to expand the campaign, gradually extending to other districts.

In view of the problems and potentialities of development of NFE and its contribution towards the achievement of EFA goals, the government conducted a national workshop entitled "Education for All: The Role of Non-Formal Education". The workshop was jointly organised by National Council for NFE and the UNESCO National Commission in collaboration with UNESCO/PROAP. Following are some of the important recommendations of the workshop:

1. Non-formal education should be considered as part and parcel of the national education system and priority should be given to the NFE Programme.
2. A system for the collection and up-keeping of statistics on literacy should be developed.
3. Various levels of literacy should be defined in terms of their equivalents with formal education.
4. The challenging task of the eradication of illiteracy cannot be fulfilled by a simple programme approach alone. Therefore, literacy campaigns with firm national policy and commitment should be continued.

The Literacy Programme has been divided into three levels:

The time allotment was 300 hours for the Basic Level, 150 hours for the Middle Level and 150 hours for the Self-learning Level.

The National Council of Non-Formal Education, Ministry of Education, developed and published a National Non-Formal Education Curriculum in 1997. According to the National NFE Curriculum there are seven functional content areas:

The curriculum has been prescribed for the entire country.

NGO contribution to expanding non-formal education in Nepal, especially in rural areas, has been recorded as very significant. According to the report "Impact study of Adult Education in Nepal" carried out by CERID in 1996, about 500, mainly NGOs, are carrying out literacy promotion activities in Nepal. International NGOs, such as PACT and World Education Inc., are also implementing literacy programmes, with the financial assistance from USAID. Similarly, the United Mission to Nepal and the Save the Children Alliance can be found at the INGO level engaging in promoting literacy programmes in Nepal.

In view of this important contribution towards EFA and also in view of the continued interest and commitment of NGOs in playing an important role in the achievement of EFA in the country, an NGO Round Table Meeting on EFA Assessment 2000 was held jointly by APSE and the National Research Centre for Non-Formal Education (NRC-NFE) in Kathmandu on 23 May 1999 to review the current situation of NFE activities regarding OSP and adult literacy education as well as to explore the roles of NGOs towards achieving the national EFA goals.

One of the main purposes of education for youths is to prepare the youths for productive employment. The Jomtien Declaration has also included skills training of youths as one of the dimensions of the Basic Learning Needs.

The targets in the NPA as well as National Development Plans have listed the total target in the form of programme developments. The Eighth Plan and the Ninth Plan have, however, listed the targets of the training courses to be provided by the Council for Technical Education and Vocational Training (CTEVT).

Nepal has taken several steps towards achieving the goals of EFA to expand basic education and life skills for youths and adults. The first step in this direction is to incorporate life skills into the school curriculum in various forms, catering to lower secondary and secondary school students (a total population of 1,172,801). Vocational education has been incorporated into school education as an optional subject at the secondary school level, aimed at the total secondary school student population of 344,034.

In order to develop specific job-related skills training and education, the following steps have been undertaken by the government:

Review of the Eighth Plan (1992-1997) indicates that CTEVT has undertaken more short-term programmes than targeted, whereas some long-term training programmes were unattained, as the following table shows:

In the Ninth Plan, CTEVT aims to conduct 5,000 basic and middle-level technical manpower trainings. Different technical and vocational training centres under CTEVT will provide short-term training to 20,000 people. After the development of the CTEVT Act, 160 training institutions have come up in the private sector. Although detailed data regarding the number of training courses from these institutions are not available, it is estimated that private institutions are running programmes worth NRs. 324 million.

CTEVT constitutes a section of the total training providers. The report of the Employment Development Committee presented an estimate of 100,219 training courses covering all aspects of skill requirements in the VDCs and municipalities. The following table lists the major training providers, training provided and expenditure regarding skills-training activities:

Annually, the government has been spending about NRs. 700,000,000 in skills training and vocational education. Besides the national programmes, several international agencies are also providing assistance in the form of helping the national programmes, as well as in running special training facilities. Table 3 lists the various international agencies involved in technical training assistance.

The trend in the labour market indicates that there will be a growing demand for skilled labourers and a decline in the demand for unskilled labourers. Moreover, if Nepal is to attract foreign investment, it should have trained manpower and potentially trainable people in high technology industries. In this direction, besides mobilising the existing training institutions, new agencies are also being developed.

In order to promote Distance and Media Education in Nepal, Radio Nepal and Nepal Television are playing a major role. Private radio stations and TV channels, which are recently established, and other media companies have also become active in providing media education.

Gorkhapatra Sansthan, the government-owned press, has a great role in media education. Similarly, other presses are also aware of their social obligations. Radio dramas and street dramas performed by the Ministry of Health and the NGO Sarvanam are found very effective.

Some of the education programmes broadcast by Radio Nepal are as follows:

The Distance Education Radio Programme entitled ''Service Brings Reward" was introduced with the aim of promoting and crystallising the know-how and the skills acquired by the grassroots-level health workers in connection with reproductive health and contraceptive measures. The programme was introduced in Dang District on a trial basis at the end of December 1995 and terminated in the first week of June 1996.

Test results show that the participants increased their knowledge, positive attitudes and skills as a result of the programme, They found the programme helpful in enhancing their knowledge in that area. They gained new information and skills in the areas of ensuring a well-planned family size, contraceptive methods and counselling. Preliminary analysis of the impact evaluation shows some promising results.

The preliminary result of Nepal RCP Impact Monitoring Study 1995-96 shows that because of Distance Education Course, the quality of client-provider interaction increased. Further analysis shows even better results when combined with four days' on-the-spot Interpersonal Communication and Counselling (IPC/C) training.

Nepal Television has been broadcasting the Meena cartoon series. This series includes information on cultural rights, participation, protection against violence and exploitation, minimum age, access to information, child-care facilities and social security. The Meena cartoons also provide messages on discrimination, making the interest of the child paramount, community and family responsibility, nationality, standard of living and health care concerns.

In relation to health issues, the Ministry of Health reaches the people through different kinds of advertisements. Recently, the Ministry of Information and the Ministry of Health jointly banned smoking and alcohol-related advertisements from electronic media and replaced them with the advertisements of health related programmes.

The Distance Education Centre (DEC), under the Ministry of Education, is running several programmes for the dissemination of basic knowledge and important information related to day-to-day life, as well as important subjects of education such as English, mathematics, science, environment, health, music and drawing. DEC has also started to run modules 2 and 3 of its 10-month (2.5 months x 4) training programme in collaboration with NCED.

In line with its commitment to achieve education for all. His Majesty's Government of Nepal initiated special efforts and implemented large-scale projects to expand, consolidate and improve the functioning and the quality of the basic and primary education. Special efforts initiated in this direction include:

• Preparation of the Basic and Primary Education Master Plan (1991-2001) by a national team of educationists
• Formation of the National Education Commission by the newly-elected democratic government (1992)
• Design and implementation of the Basic and Primary Education Project (1992-1998)
• Design and implementation of the Primary Education Development Project (1993-1999)

In 1991, His Majesty's Government commissioned a team of national educationists to prepare a primary education master plan with the aim of achieving universal primary education by the year 2000. The team prepared a detailed 10-year plan covering all major components of basic and primary education.

The newly-elected democratic government in 1992 constituted a National Education Commission to frame education policies in line with the national aspirations. The 1992, the National Education Commission reconfirmed the commitment of His Majesty's Government to achieve universal primary education and to improve the quality of education in line with the Jomtien Declaration of Education for All (1990) and the summit goals of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (1990). The 1992 Commission endorsed most of the policy and programmatic recommendations contained in the Basic and Primary Education Master Plan. The new democratic government gave top priority to primary and basic education as a means of promoting basic human rights and as a strategy for poverty alleviation. Among other priorities, the 1992 Commission emphasised the urgent need to address the educational needs of different linguistic groups and ethnic minorities, and to bring about the long overdue quality improvement of the education system.

The Basic and Primary Education Project (BPEP) was designed to identify efficient management structures, to expand and enhance access and learning conditions, and to improve the quality of primary and basic education. BPEP was implemented in a phased manner, covering 19 districts in the year 1992/93, adding six districts in 1993/94, and extending to another 15 districts in 1994/95 (thus totalling 40 of the 75 districts in the country). It was executed with the financial assistance of DANIDA (US$ 16.28 million), UNICEF (US$ 4.64 million), JICA (US$ 15.73 million) and IDA (loan of US$ 30.60 million). The external assistance amounted to 26% of the total BPEP expenditure and the remaining 74% (NRs. 10,976 million) was borne by His Majesty's Government.

BPEP adopted a management structure which led to the efficient delivery of project inputs on one hand, and which facilitated the development of programmes and materials on the other.

BPEP has made a significant contribution in programme development of different components, including:

• development of the new primary education curriculum;
• revision of textbooks, teachers guides and development of supplementary materials;
• development of schools and Resource Centres;
• development of teachers training packages;
• development of management training programmes;
• development of non-formal education packages;
• development of the special education programme; and
• development of the women's education programme

BPEP implemented several activities in order to improve the quality of primary education in the project districts. A summary of the activities is presented in Table 1.

BPEP also institutionalised several measures to strengthen the management of basic and primary education at different levels.

On the basis of the positive experiences from BPEP implementation, HMG has made the following policy decisions:

• Adoption of the Resource Centre structure and provision of School Management Committees as a tier of educational management
• Government decision to provide at least 10 days of recurrent training to every teacher each year
• Placement of at least one female teacher in each primary school
• Inclusion of ECD component in the regular structure of the MOE
• Decision to introduce the coupon system instead of the reimbursement policy for receiving free textbooks from dealers in the districts
• Inclusion of parents and representatives from disadvantaged communities on School Management Committees
• Gradual introduction of Compulsory Primary Education (CPE) in all 75 districts

The Primary Education Development Project (PEDP) was implemented in 1993 as a complement to BPEP with focus on the development and consolidation of the teacher training system. PEDP was financed with an ADB loan of US$ 20 million. The most significant contribution of PEDP was establishment of a network of nine primary teacher-training centres. Specific details of PEDP's contribution toward improving the quality of the basic and primary education are outlined below.

• The National Centre for Educational Development has been established as an apex body of primary teacher training with the responsibility of planning, programming and managing primary teacher training, as well as training school supervisors, Headmasters and education management personnel. The infrastructure of NCED has been built in Sanothimi, Bhaktapur.
• Nine Primary Teacher Training Centres have been established in Bhojpur, Sunsari, Janakpur, Kavre, Bara, Tanahun, Rupandehi, Surkhet and Doti Districts to provide long-term training for untrained primary school teachers and school management training for the primary school Headmasters of 75 districts.
• Six District Education Office buildings have been completed.
• The project has succeeded in providing training for 22,141 teachers, 4,659 Headmasters, 264 supervisors and 115 education management personnel.
• 1,495 schools have been built and 1,425 schools have been provided with furniture out of 1,500 targeted schools. Toilets and drinking water have been provided to 950 out of 1,000 targeted schools.
• The project has supported the improvement of physical facilities (rehabilitation and educational materials) of the Faculties of Education of Birgunj Campus and Sanothimi Campus and provided fund for producing qualified manpower for primary education (B.Ed. in primary education).

The 1990s have remained a decade of development and consolidation efforts in the primary and basic education area of Nepal. Experiences gained and lessons learned from these efforts point to some promising strategies that could make a difference in optimising the quality and efficiency of the primary and basic education system. Some of the promising strategies are:

• co-operative and participatory planning processes at the central, district and community levels;
• establishment of Resource Centres and provision of Resource Persons (each for about 15-25 schools) to create a training, supervision and support system for the qualitative improvement of the primary and basic education;
• integration of special education programmes with primary and basic education;
• encouragement and recognition of local quality improvement efforts such as development of the RC as a community resource, and development and use of teaching/learning materials at the school level;
• management and use of educational information at the school and RC levels; and
• nutrition (afternoon food) programme for children in the rural areas as motivation to enrol and complete primary education.