lliteracy

Iliteracy

A person who is able to read and write short and simple sentences related to daily life in his/her mother tongue or national language with understanding and who is able to communicate with others and perform simple tasks of calculation is a Literate person .

Nepal's literacy is 45.2%. Nepal is the world's 15th illiterate country. More than half the total population of Nepal can not read and write. Female literacy is less than the half of the literacy of males (Female - 28%, Male - 65%) .

Nepal Literacy Facts

• There are 26277 government schools in Nepal with 6018806 students
• On average a school has about 230 students
• On average a school has about 5 teachers, a teacher has 50 students
• About 200,000 students are studying in 473 colleges in Nepal

Modern education in  began with the establishment of the first school in 1853; this school was only for the members of the ruling families and their courtiers. Schooling for the general people began only after 1951 when a popular movement ended the autocratic Rana family regime and initiated a democratic system. In the past 50 years, there has been a dramatic expansion of education facilities in the country. As a result, adult literacy (age 15+) of the country was reported to be 48.2% (female: 34.6%, male: 62.2%) in the Population Census, 2001, up from about 5% in 1952–54. Beginning from about 300 schools and two colleges with about 10,000 students in 1951, there now are 26,000 schools (including higher secondary), 415 colleges, five universities, and two academies of higher studies. Altogether 5.5 million students are enrolled in those schools and colleges who are served by more than 150,000 teachers.

Despite such examples of success, there are problems and challenges. Education management, quality, relevance, access are some of the critical issues of education in Nepal. Societal disparities based on gender, ethnicity, location, economic class, etc. are yet to be eliminated. Resource crunch has always been a problem in education. These problems have made the goal of education for all a challenge for the country.