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Uneven teacher deployment and low enrolment beyond grade 10

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?1256

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

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

Literacy among people aged 5 and above was 79.7 per cent in 2021 (men 86.1, women 73.6). The 16th Plan nonetheless lists Koshi among the provinces declared 'fully literate'; the declaration and the census measure are not the same thing, and the Plan does not explain the criteria.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?

Basic and secondary education and basic health are local powers (Schedule 8, items 8 and 9); provincial universities, higher education and health services are provincial (Schedule 6, items 8 and 9); education and health are concurrent for all three levels (Schedule 9, items 2 and 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

Literacy among people aged 5 and above was 79.7 per cent in 2021 (men 86.1, women 73.6). The 16th Plan nonetheless lists Koshi among the provinces declared 'fully literate'; the declaration and the census measure are not the same thing, and the Plan does not explain the criteria.12

The Auditor General, citing Education and Human Resource Development Centre data, found a basic-level (grades 1–5) teacher–student ratio of 1:11 in Koshi's mountain areas, against a norm of 1:40, while some Tarai schools elsewhere had far more pupils per teacher. The Auditor General says redeployment has not been effective.5

The provincial government reports net enrolment of 92.0 per cent in grades 1–5 but 22.4 per cent in grades 11–12.6

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 need1256

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 education1256

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
Schools and health

Basic and secondary education and basic health are local powers (Schedule 8, items 8 and 9); provincial universities, higher education and health services are provincial (Schedule 6, items 8 and 9); education and health are concurrent for all three levels (Schedule 9, items 2 and 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 learning1256 Not established No official target found 2026-10-20
Filled subject vacancies and retention in hard-to-staff schools1256 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, incl. first and second amendments), Schedules 5–9 — Nepal Law Commission, Government of Nepal, Gazette publication 20 September 2015 (2072/06/03); amended 2016 and 2020. Schedule 5 (federal powers), pp. 193–195; Schedule 6 (provincial powers), pp. 196–197; Schedule 7 (federal–provincial concurrent powers), pp. 198–199; Schedule 8 (local powers), pp. 200–201; Schedule 9 (concurrent powers of all three levels), p. 202. Item numbers are given in each statement that cites this source.. 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

Government plans & policy

  1. आर्थिक वर्ष २०८३/८४ को बजेट वक्तव्य (Budget statement FY 2083/84), presented by Minister Bidur Kumar Linthep — Ministry of Economic Affairs and Planning, Koshi Province, 2083 Asar 1 (15 June 2026). Paras 6–11 (growth, GDP, share of national agricultural production, per capita income, poverty, forest), printed pp. 3–5 (PDF pp. 5–7); para 14 (irrigation), printed p. 6; para 16 (registered small, cottage and micro industries and firms), printed p. 7; para 18 (net enrolment), printed pp. 7–8; para 19 (spending to end of Baisakh 2083), printed pp. 8–9; challenges list (क)–(झ), printed pp. 10–12; para 36 (disaster mapping and early warning), printed p. 20; para 55 (people's hydropower), printed p. 26; para 60 (river control), printed p. 29; paras 69, 71–75 (tourism), printed pp. 33–36; paras 106–107, 110 (agriculture), printed pp. 46–48; para 136 (budget size and composition), printed p. 56; para 137 (sources), printed p. 57; paras 146, 150–151 (land-registration fee concessions), printed pp. 61–63. Checked 2026-10-11

Official data

  1. National Population and Housing Census 2021 (NPHC 2021): National Report — National Statistics Office, Government of Nepal, 2023 (census day 25 November 2021). Part I key results 3, 4, 9 and 11, pp. 1–2; Table 14 (households and population; absentees abroad), p. 58 (PDF p. 73); Table 15 (households, average household size, sex ratio, density, 2011 population and annual growth rate, by province and district), pp. 62–64 (PDF pp. 77–79); Table 24 (population aged 5+ by literacy status), p. 199 (PDF p. 214). Checked 2026-10-11
  2. सोह्रौं योजना (आ.व. २०८१/८२–२०८५/८६) — The Sixteenth Plan, Chapter 9: strengthening provincial and local economies and balanced development — National Planning Commission, Government of Nepal, 2081 BS. Section 9.2, items (1)–(3) and (5) (provincial GDP share and growth FY 2079/80; per capita GDP in US$; multidimensional poverty; absolute poverty; HDI from the Nepal Human Development Report 2020), printed pp. 180–182. Checked 2026-10-11
  3. महालेखापरीक्षकको त्रिसट्ठीऔँ वार्षिक प्रतिवेदन, २०८३ (63rd Annual Report of the Auditor General, 2083) — performance audit section on school teacher deployment — Office of the Auditor General, Nepal, 2083 (released 2026-05-18); audits FY 2081/82. Teacher–student ratio paragraph citing Education and Human Resource Development Centre data (norms 1:40 mountain, 1:45 hill, 1:50 Tarai; basic level 1:11 in Koshi's mountain areas and up to 1:109 in Madhesh's Tarai), printed p. 631 (PDF p. 667). 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.)