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Lower learning results

How can staffing and spending improve learning for the pupils least well served?

Place-specific evidence and policy choices. A budget promise is not a completed service; older figures retain their reporting period. Proposed options and indicators below are for public discussion, not adopted government commitments.

Contested choiceA regional priority with choices about delivery and fairness

How can staffing and spending improve learning for the pupils least well served?12

Updated 2026-10-13 · Version 1 · Sources · Change history

Question 1 What is the issue, and why does it matter?

The Education Review Office's 2023 national assessment found that Grade 10 students in Karnali and Sudurpashchim scored lower on average than those elsewhere. Literacy among women aged 5 and above (68.9 per cent) is well below that of men (86.6 per cent).12

The choice is how to improve outcomes in this province, who benefits first, and which institution can act. The figures below belong to the stated reporting period; they are not a real-time measure of today’s conditions.

Question 2 What do current law and policy say?

Federal: Health policy, standards and specialised hospitals (Sch. 5 item 16). Provincial: Health services; higher education (Sch. 6 items 8, 9). Local: Basic and secondary education; basic health and sanitation (Sch. 8 items 8, 9; Sch. 9 items 2, 3).3

Provincial executive power rests with the Council of Ministers. The Chief of Province (governor) performs constitutional and legal functions, generally on the Council’s recommendation and consent; the governor is not the department delivering these services. Provincial revenue and expenditure estimates go to the Provincial Assembly.4

Question 3 What is known, uncertain or disputed?

Known

The Education Review Office's 2023 national assessment found that Grade 10 students in Karnali and Sudurpashchim scored lower on average than those elsewhere. Literacy among women aged 5 and above (68.9 per cent) is well below that of men (86.6 per cent).12

Uncertain

A province-wide number does not identify the worst-served wards or prove the same problem in every municipality. Before spending, establish a current local baseline, service quality, staffing, access barriers and the full operating cost.

Disputed

The policy choice is how to balance universal access, concentrated investment, affordability and fiscal sustainability. The alternatives below are Policy Nepal’s discussion options derived from the problem evidence, not claims that officials or parties have endorsed them.

Questions 4–5 What are the options, and what do they cost and achieve?

Options are listed in no particular order. Policy Nepal does not recommend one; real policies often combine them.

Match teachers and support to actual need12

Use verified school enrolment, subject vacancies, attendance and learning checks to redirect support to overcrowded or under-served schools.

Benefits
  • Can address shortages without assuming every school needs another building.
Costs
  • Requires reliable records, staff consultation, teacher support and travel allowances where needed.
Trade-offs
  • Reassignment can disrupt schools and families; remote schools need protected minimum provision.
What does implementation require?
  • Agree staffing criteria with local governments, publish vacancies and fund remedial learning before evaluating results.

Remove barriers to staying in education12

Combine safe travel, accessible facilities, language support and targeted financial assistance with pathways to technical skills.

Benefits
  • Can help girls, disabled learners and low-income households remain enrolled and learn.
Costs
  • Scholarships, safeguarding and counselling need recurring budgets and fair selection.
Trade-offs
  • Higher enrolment alone is not proof of learning or later employment.
What does implementation require?
  • Track attendance, progression and learning separately by gender, disability and ward, protecting children’s personal data.

Combining options

Start with a verified baseline and maintenance of functioning services, then test additional investment against the same outcomes. Publish who pays for capital costs, recurring costs and any household charges; an unfunded operating plan is not a sustainable solution.

Question 6 Who is responsible?

Shared
Remote services: health and schools

Federal: Health policy, standards and specialised hospitals (Sch. 5 item 16). Provincial: Health services; higher education (Sch. 6 items 8, 9). Local: Basic and secondary education; basic health and sanitation (Sch. 8 items 8, 9; Sch. 9 items 2, 3).3

Provincial
Chief Minister, Council of Ministers and Provincial Assembly

Provincial executive power rests with the Council of Ministers. The Chief of Province (governor) performs constitutional and legal functions, generally on the Council’s recommendation and consent; the governor is not the department delivering these services. Provincial revenue and expenditure estimates go to the Provincial Assembly.4

Question 7 What have parties and leaders said and done?

What was said or promised is shown apart from what was recorded as done. Every entry needs a dated source. A missing entry means the position is not established, not that someone opposes or is neutral.

This dossier presents official evidence and research options. It does not assign a position to a chief minister, governor, mayor or political party without a dated source specific to this issue.

Said or promised

Position not established in reviewed sources.

Recorded actions and outcomes

Position not established in reviewed sources.

Question 8 What would progress look like, and when do we check again?

IndicatorLatest official figureOfficial targetRevisit
Attendance, grade progression and independently checked learning12 Not established No official target found 2026-10-20
Filled subject vacancies and retention in hard-to-staff schools12 Not established No official target found 2026-10-20

Sources

Grouped by type of evidence. Government plans show what government intends; they are not proof of results. Party material shows what a party says.

Constitution & law

  1. The Constitution of Nepal (English translation, as amended by the Second Amendment, 2020), Schedules 4–9 — Nepal Law Commission, Government of Nepal, Promulgated 20 September 2015; amended 28 February 2016 and 18 June 2020 (as stated in the document). Schedule 4, list for 'Province No. 6', pp. 190–192; Schedule 5 (federal) items 7, 9, 11, 12, 14, 15, 16, 18, 19, 20, 22, 26, 27, 29, 30, 32, 34, pp. 193–195; Schedule 6 (provincial) items 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 17, 19, 20, pp. 196–197; Schedule 7 (federal–provincial concurrent) items 9, 11, 13, 15, 17, 18, 23, 25, pp. 198–199; Schedule 8 (local) items 4, 8, 9, 10, 11, 15, 17, 18, 19, 20, pp. 200–201; Schedule 9 (all three levels) items 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 12, p. 202. Checked 2026-10-11
  2. Constitution of Nepal, English translation with first and second amendments — Nepal Law Commission. Articles 162, 166, 207–208; Schedules 6–9. English translation; Nepali text authoritative.. Checked 2026-10-13

Official data

  1. National Assessment of Student Achievement 2023: Main Report — Grade 10 — Education Review Office, Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, Not dated on the pages read (assessment conducted 2023). Executive Summary, pp. xiv–xvii (province findings). Checked 2026-10-09
  2. Nepal Living Standards Survey IV 2022/23: Statistical Report — National Statistics Office, Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers, Government of Nepal, June 2024. Table 6.1 'Literacy rates by sex', printed p. 98 (PDF p. 117); Table 9.1 'Distribution and Proportion of absentee population by sex', printed p. 152 (PDF p. 171); Table 16.8 'Remittance receiving households (Percent)', printed p. 279 (PDF p. 298). Checked 2026-10-11
Change history
  1. 2026-10-13 — Expanded the province challenge into the same eight-question format as national issues. (Regional issues deserve equally accessible evidence, options, responsibilities and tracking. Original dates and sources retained; policy options are editorial proposals.)