Participantes (Participants) del acto judicial

According to Flash Report I (2011), there are mainly two types of schools: community schools (supported by the government) and institutional (private) schools (supported by parents). Community schools fall into three categories, namely community aided, community managed and community unaided. The community aided schools obtain regular central government grants in the form of teachers’ salaries for approved positions, earmarked and block grants.

The unaided community schools do not receive regular government grants but get a fixed basic teacher salary and block grants. The institutional schools depend on parents' support and are managed and owned by individual or private and public trusts.

Table 5-2 reveals the trend of school distribution from the year 1990 to 2010 by level and annual growth rate. At the national level, the data indicate that there has been a substantial increase in the number of schools between the years 2005 and 2010. However, there has been a far higher increase in the average annual growth rate of lower secondary schools (4.4%) and secondary schools (6.5%) compared with the increase in primary schools (2.8%) during the period (1990-1995).

Table 5-2 Trends of Total Recorded Schools by Level and Annual Growth Rate, 1990-2010

Level 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010

Annual Growth Rate as in (%)

1990- 1995 1995- 2000 2000- 2005 2005- 2010 Primary 18,694 21,473 25,927 27,252 32,684 2.8 3.8 1.2 3.5 L. Secondary 4,070 5,041 7,289 8,471 11,939 4.4 7.7 1.2 7.1 Secondary 1,938 2,654 4,350 5,039 7,266 6.5 10.4 3.0 7.6

Source: Author’s own calculation of Annual growth rate by using the Flash Report, School Level Educational Statistics of Nepal, 2010.

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It is interesting to note that the increase in the average growth in primary schools was higher (3.8%) during 1995-2000 compared with a relatively low growth rate (2.8%) during the period 1990-1995 and (1.2%) during the period 2000-2005. The number of schools declined in this period (2005 to 2006) due to internal political instability. There could be several reasons for this. It could be that during that time the Maoist insurgency was at its peak, many schools were closed, damaged and occupied by the army and Maoist militants, particularly in the mountain and hilly regions.

Overall, there has been an increasing trend with respect to the number of schools. However, during the period 1990 to 2010 there was irregular variation with regard to the increase in the number of schools. Although the growth rate is uneven, at the national level there has been an increase in the number of schools at all levels.

The data reveal a rapid growth in primary schools from 18,694 in 1990 to 32,684 in 2010, followed by much faster growth in lower secondary (from 4,070 in 1990 to 11,939 in 2010) and secondary schools (1,938 in 1990 to 7,266 in 2010) during the same period (see Table-5.2).

Table 5-3 and Figure 5-1 show that almost 90% of the primary school enrolment of 5-9 year old children was in community schools and the remaining 10% was in institutional schools in 2008/09. The girls’ enrolment figures for private institutions were lower than in the community schools, 50% as posed to 43% in the year 2008/09 (Flash Report, 2008). This shows that if parents had to make a choice, they preferred to send their sons to private schools while they send their daughters to government schools.

Table 5-3 Share of Enrolment at Primary Level by Type of Schools 2008/09-2009/10 Type of Schools 2008/09 2009/10 2010/11 2011/12 Differences

2010-2011

All types of Community (Govt.) 89.7 88.1 90.1 86.0 - 4.1

Institutional (Private) 10.3 11.9 9.9 14.0 4.1

Total 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 NA

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Figure 5-1 Number of schools and Number student Enrolment in both types of schools

There could be several reasons for the disparity between government and private schools. The significant disparities in education could be due to religious and socio- cultural orthodox beliefs. Daughters are expected to get married and leave home whereas sons are expected to stay at home throughout their lives, the heir to their legacy, to take care of their parents till death. Low economic circumstances often compel parents to provide education for only one child, sons being the first priority. For this reason, statistics show that girls are far behind in their education level compared with boys, particularly in rural, poor, illiterate families, ethnic minorities and other disadvantaged groups.

The Flash Report (2009/10) showed that enrolment in government schools had decreased by 2% but the percentage of girls had increased by 1%. The total percentage of enrolment in private schools increased by 2%, however the percentage of girls’ (51%) enrolment remained the same as in the previous year.

The proportion of student enrolment in government schools and private schools at primary level was 86% and 14% respectively during the school year 2011/12. When these figures are compared to the previous year's figures (90% for government schools and 10% for private schools), there was a fall of 4% in student enrolment in community schools. It is highly likely that these students have been enrolled in private schools. The number of private schools has increased, particularly in the urban and city areas across the country.

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The data on community and institutional schools published by NLSS I, II and III is tabulated below. Table 5-4 shows the rising trend in the numbers of children attending private schools. It shows that while only 10% of children attended private schools in 1995/96, the figure reached 18% in 2003/04 and was still higher i.e. 28% in 2010/11. This shows the willingness of parents to send their children to private schools in their quest for quality education

Table 5-4 Trends in Type of Schools Attended by student in Schools in % Type of Schools 1995/96 2003/04 2010/11 Differences

2010-2011

All types of Community 89.7 81.6 71.9 - 9.7

Institutional (Private) 10.3 18.4 28.1 9.7

Total 100.0 100.0 100.0 NA

Source: Nepal Living Standards Survey, 1995/96, 2003/04 and 2010/11

By comparing the data sets in Table 5-3 (FS I, 2010/11) and Table 5-4 (NLSS, 2010/11), it is possible to see that there is a substantial variation in the percentages of children attending community schools and private schools. There is a 14 percentage point difference between community and private schools in the year 2010.The reasons for such a discrepancy could be due to the methodology adopted. While the Flash Survey (FS) data is school administrative data based on school census, the NLSS data is based on household data using the survey methodology designed by the World Bank. The NLSS is conducted at particular intervals (seven years) while the FS conducts a school census every year.

The GON has shown its commitment to education by increasing the budget in the education sector. In 2012, the government allocated 18% of the national budget to the education sector. As a result the number of schools and student enrolment have been substantially increased more than ever before, particularly for girls, children from the poorest regions and low income groups. However, there are significant disparities in terms of socio-economic and geographical factors in school participation rates such as enrolment, children's attendance, NER and internal efficiency rates (promotion, drop-out and repetition rate).

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