System Reform Options
Improving Financial Accountability
- Tracking whether existing funds are reaching their intended locations on time is a good win-win point. Analysis from Nepal using 2019-20 data shows that only 16.6% of the schools received their first trimester funds within the first two months, with the majority receiving funds in the fourth month. Over 60% of the community schools in the provinces with the highest multidimensional poverty rate – Karnali, - and the largest population of poor - Province 2 - only received the funds in the fourth month. Good example: After a media investigation found that 65% of textbook funds were lost to corruption in the Philippines, a nationwide multistakeholder audit collaboration involving the Department of Education and CSOs led to significant improvement in textbook procurement. (p. 52 and p.111) https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000259338/PDF/259338eng.pdf.multi
Enhancing Financing Equity
- Equity in financing: Any serious effort to improve equity in public education requires looking at existing financing supports. This policy paper provides a sense of the technocratic solutions that ought to be examined in Nepal. https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000375326/PDF/375326eng.pdf.multi
- RCT evidence from researchers at the University of Minnesota , such as Glewwe et al. (2011), demonstrates the impact of equitable financing on education outcomes. Their study in Honduras showed that increasing funding to disadvantaged schools resulted in improved student achievement and reduced disparities in educational opportunities.
Broadening Discussion Towards Integrated Services and Cross-Sectoral Interventions
- The importance of integrated services and cross-sectoral collaboration for early childhood development and addressing challenges like climate change has been recognized globally. Understanding that education challenges cannot be solved just by the education sector; and that education improvements benefit individuals, societies and nations, integrated action is necessary. The UNESCO Policy Paper on Integrated Early Childhood Development Services and the UNESCO Policy Paper on Education in a Changing Climate emphasize the need for comprehensive, multi-sectoral approaches to address these issues (UNESCO, 2019; UNESCO, 2020).
- RCT evidence from researchers at Harvard University, such as Björkman and Svensson (2009), highlights the impact of integrated services on education outcomes. Their study in Uganda showed that combining deworming treatment with school-based health services led to improved school attendance and academic performance.
Embracing Non-state Actors
- One of the major needs is to ensure non-state providers and state providers are under one umbrella, with limited regulations on infrastructure/inputs, but a balance of focus on inputs, processes and outcomes for children and communities. In a country where at least one-quarter are educated in private schools (many more in urban centers) and increasing emphasis on tuition, it is important that these institutions are under the purview of government at least minimally so that the state understands the situation and can take steps to reduce stratification. https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000383550/PDF/383550eng.pdf.multi
Separating Regulatory and Operational Roles of the Ministry
- Currently, the Ministry of Education plays both roles, and so it's no surprise that we have similar problems in the aviation sector and the education sector. By hiring and deploying teachers who make up more than 85% of the school budget, the central govt continues to be the de facto operator of the education system. It’s better to split the roles for better function. Let the central govt set standards, let them take exams, conduct interviews, and certify that any given candidate meets basic criteria to teach a particular subject area/grade level. Then let the local govt/SMC's decide which among the qualified candidates they want to choose for their area's and schools. This same principle can be applied not just to teacher deployment but to testing, curriculum etc.
- The concept of separating regulatory and operational roles has proven effective in many well performing (in education outcomes) countries around the world as well as in various other sectors. For instance, in the aviation industry, the separation of regulatory bodies, like the Federal Aviation Administration, from operational entities, such as airlines, ensures more effective regulation and oversight. Applying a similar principle to the education sector in Nepal would allow for better regulation and decision-making at both the central and local levels.