It looks like the target of making all Nepalis aged 15-24 literate by 2015 will be missed—yet again. But not by much. Since the Maoist government led by Pushpa Kamal Dahal first launched the National Literacy Campaign (NLC) in 2008 with the goal of universal literacy within two years, the target has had to be revised twice and the goal pushed farther into the future each time. Yet the enormous progress made in the same time should not be underestimated.
The total number of illiterates aged 15-60 which stood at 7.8 million in 2008 is now down to 3.1 million, thanks to targeted interventions like NLC. In recent times, the added focus on non-formal education has also paid rich dividends. As a part of its new plan, the Non-Formal Education Center plans to educate 1.7 million students in the next year. [break]
Of course, there continuous to be a big debate over the quality and efficacy of school education. Can getting students to school be considered a mark of literacy or can they be considered literate only after they acquire a certain level of employable expertise? The sad fact is that nearly two-third of all students who enroll at primary level never finish schooling. Innovative approaches are being applied here as well.
The midway meal program for students and the pilot program of offering food aid to poor families who send their wards to school have both been highly successful. The scope of these programs must be expanded. Arguably, in the current context, it might be a better idea still to equip people with employable skills rather than textbook education which seem to have little practical value, as the steady crowd of ‘educated’ youth leaving the country in search of unskilled labor in the Gulf illustrates.
But again, the achievements so far must be appreciated. We must remember that the last few years have not been easy for policymakers as political instability continues to eat away at the efficacy of social initiatives.
Even in these unfavorable times, various innovative measures have been successfully employed to boost school performance. The government honors the best performing community and private schools from around the country every year. There are efforts underway to arrange for education of children in their mother tongues (studies have shown that children learn faster when taught in their native language).
The use of technology in rural schools has allowed rural students to keep in step with the rest of the country, and the world at large. As such, even if the desired success is not being achieved, there has been a lot of progress. Yet some areas which could boost educational outcomes continue to be overlooked.
Logistical hurdles like unavailability of textbooks in rural regions and lack of monitoring of schools can be solved relatively easily, given the will. The secret to success will be to consolidate the right practices while looking to plug the existing loopholes. The whole country might not be literate by 2015, but given the steady progress, the goal might not be too far down the line.
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