Nepal: Supporting School Sector Development Plan

Education / Education sector development - Secondary

Building on its extensive experience in education, ADB will support the government''s SSDP through results-based lending (RBL). Program-based lending was the appropriate modality to support the School Sector Reform Program (SSRP) which preceded SSDP. The RBL modality is most suited to support the SSDP because (i) the government has demonstrated strong leadership and commitment to implementing reforms in critical areas; (ii) the program requires greater emphasis on translating policies already in place to implementation; and (iii) the JFPs have agreed on a single results framework and a common disbursement-linked indicators (DLIs) framework with the government which increases harmonization, reduces administrative burden and enables effective focus on results. ADB and other JFPs have coordinated due diligence assessments, harmonized key DLIs, and agreed on joint program reviews. A program action plan (PAP) will support timely DLI achievement. ADB's due diligence assessments provide reasonable assurance for effective achievement of results through RBL, with measures to strengthen program systems.

The SSDP builds on achievements and lessons from the SSRP. Midterm and final evaluations of the SSRP noted that while much progress had been made in access and equity in basic education, quality needed a stronger focus. The SSDP will support comprehensive interventions to improve the quality of basic education and expand access to quality secondary education. The SSDP will ensure that all newly built schools and classrooms meet disaster risk resilience standards. The National Reconstruction Authority is implementing a large-scale post-earthquake program for reconstruction and retrofitting of schools in 31 districts, including an ADB project.

ADB has been a leading development partner in education and the program will build on this experience. ADB funding will provide much-needed financial leverage for more investments to improve access to and quality of school education, with particular focus on secondary education. ADB financing will add value through key initiatives, such as the model school program, examination reform, provision of subject teachers, and improved school grant management system. The program will catalyze capacity building and system strengthening in the sector. ADB and other JFPs will adopt strong mitigation measures to address risks in public financial management, procurement, social and environment safeguards, and governance in school education. ADB will facilitate innovative knowledge solutions to implement key SSDP components such as (i) ICT-enriched teaching and learning; (ii) teacher professional development; (iii) activity-based pedagogy for math, science, and English; and (iv) model school development.

Access to basic and secondary schools improved

Quality of school education improved

Model school program pilot tested

School system governance and management improved

The web-based EMIS has developed and is operational, and its reliability has been enhanced, further improvements is ongoing.

The second round of EMIS verification completed in 2019 which showed not a significant difference. The associated DLI is disbursed fully.

The calculation shows there is 6.44% recurring audit observations for FY 2018/19.

The government is compiling information in this regard. Public Service Commission has already completed selection process and have send the education officers to the local government. The government will submit the progress report soon.

17.1 % of total teachers in secondary education (grades 9 12) are women.

The progress report submitted by the MOEST against this DLI stated that 1161 Basic schools and 537 Secondary schools have the full complement of English, Mathematics and Science teachers. Based on this report, the IVA has conducted a sample-based independent verification in 50 Basic and 53 Secondary schools. The IVA report clearly shows that the provision has been met in more than 1000 basic and more than 500 secondary schools at more than 95 percent accuracy. The addendum to the Budget Review Meeting (May 2020) confirms the achievement.

Revised pro-poor scholarship scheme was implemented. A total of 699 students received scholarship. Out of 699 students, the number of females receiving scholarship is 324. This has been now implemented from grade 9 onwards and is nation- wide increased from 15 districts in 2017. Latest achievement is currently been verified the Independent Verification Agency.

The federation of the country into seven provinces and 753 local governments (LGs) has affected the teacher training given some of the institutions such as educational training center were restructured. CEHRD, with the help of TA, is collecting information for the teachers trained in SME till now and ADB along with the government will convene a meeting to assess the available progress.

The progress on the implementation of e-resources is significantly delayed. The achievement of this target is challenging given the poor ICT facility at school. The government has approved the e-resources for Mathematics, Science, and English language materials and has been uploaded in the CDC website and the new learning portal developed by CEHRD. However, the government is yet to communicate on how to download and use the e-resources for teaching and learning to targeted schools of 3500 for SSDP period. ADB is currently supporting the government in establishing the online portal where most of the text books and some learning resources including the ones developed for the DLI is uploaded. The TA will further facilitate the government in rolling out distance education in view of the COVI-!9. The recently held Budget Review Mission also agreed that the government can further assess the implementation of the DLI in line with distance learning in the context of COVID-19 and share its assessment to JFPs.

The draft framework has been discussed thoroughly with concerned stakeholders. With the endorsement of the framework by NEB, MOEST has approved the framework in August 2020.

The piloting of test items were conducted in February 2020 . However, the process will be delayed by COVID19. This target may need revision in view of ongoing policy discussion regarding Grade 10 due to COVID19. Grade 10- SEE for 2020 was halted due to COVID -19 in March 2020. In such a context, the proposed revision to the indicator for grade 8 will be a first step towards improving the quality of examinations in the federal structure.

A total of 222 schools have been selected as per the selection criteria included in the Model School Management Guidelines, 2074.

Out of which, 200 schools have submitted their approved final master plans. As part of implementing the master plan from FY2018/2019, the selected schools have been provided with a grant of NRs 1.5 million. These 200 schools have confirmed on the deployment of the Head teachers and the availability of subject teachers particularly for Math, Science and English teachers.

The progress will be recieved by JRM 2020. This may significantly increase in view of COVID-19.

The progress will be received by JRM 2020. This may significantly increase in view of COVID-19 as teachers are having training as well as it is planned for next year.

The implementation of the loan is undertaken in close coordination with the Ministry of Education and 8 other Joint Financing Partners (JFPs). Regular consultations on implementation are ensured through ongoing review missions. Joint Review Missions with other JFPs are also organized to monitor the progress of achievement of the DLIs.

Extensive consultation is also ongoing given the restructuring of government into federal structure