Improving the Quality of Education and Building Disaster Resilience in Schools

According to the 2010 Human Development Report of the UNDP, Nepal ranks 138 among the 172 countries worldwide. The Human Development Index (HDI) value of Nepal is far below the average for South Asia. This is reflected in the low literacy rate, where only 57.9% of the population over 15 years of age is found to be literate and only 15.4% of the population over the age of 25 has achieved a secondary level of education. The education system in Nepal is facing significant challenges related to quality and access. Poor management, rote teaching methodology, and the lack of competent teachers and training programs are affecting the quality of education and causing an extremely high dropout rate, as well as high student to teacher ratios. This is especially the case in Outer Terai, a far western region of Nepal..