Trends in Education of Nepal

Education in Nepal was long based on home-schooling and gurukulas The first formal school, established in 1853, was intended for the elite. The birth of Nepalese democracy in 1951 opened its classrooms to a more diverse population.

Nepal's 1971 education plan hastened its development in the country In 1951 Nepal had 10,000 students in 300 schools and an adult literacy rate of five percent.^[1] There were 49,000 schools in 2010,^[1] and by 2015 the overall adult literacy rate was 63.9 percent (males 76.4 percent and females 53.1 percent).^[2] Poverty, the social exclusion of women, lower-caste discrimination, and indigenous bias are now the primary barriers to equitable access to education.^[1]