Experts and stakeholders at a high-level dialogue in Madhesh Province, Nepal’s region with the lowest literacy rate, have emphasized the need for policy changes and strengthening the foundation of basic education to improve academic quality. The two-day dialogue, organized by the Ministry of Education and Sports in collaboration with UNESCO Nepal, concluded on October 5, 2026, in Simara, Bara district, Madhesh Province.
Chudamani Paudel, Secretary at the Ministry of Education and Sports, announced that extensive amendments to the Education Act are being prepared to address shortcomings and create a quality educational environment in Madhesh Province. Secretary Paudel expressed surprise at the decline in Madhesh’s education quality, noting that it was once good but the reasons for its current state remain unclear. Member of Parliament Arbind Shah also stressed that improving higher education quality in Madhesh depends on strengthening basic education first.
Participants in the dialogue advocated for making education timely, practical, skill-oriented, and life-skill based. They emphasized prioritizing digital literacy and integrating new technologies like artificial intelligence (AI) into the education system. Shailendra Jha, Chief Advisor to the Education Minister, highlighted the importance of technical and vocational education to specialize higher education. Discussions also included developing a system under the National Qualification Framework to recognize knowledge and skills acquired through formal, informal, and skill-based learning.
Madhesh’s Educational Challenges
Madhesh Province faces significant educational challenges, with the National Census 2078 (2021) reporting its literacy rate at 63.5 percent, the lowest among all provinces in Nepal. While this marks an increase from 48.54 percent, a substantial gender disparity persists, with 72 percent of men literate compared to 55 percent of women. Rautahat, Mahottari, Sarlahi, and Bara are among the districts with the lowest literacy rates in the country, and all eight districts of Madhesh Province are yet to be declared fully literate by the target date of September 4, 2025.
The province has become a major hub for sending workers to Gulf countries, leading many parents to send their children to cities like Kathmandu, Biratnagar, Sindhuli, and Hetauda for quality education. Critics point to the provincial and local governments as primarily responsible for the low literacy rate, citing their tendency to allocate over half of their total budgets to ‘piecemeal development projects, temples, mosques, and pond beautification’ while investing barely five percent in education. For the current fiscal year 081/082 (2024-2025 AD), the Madhesh Province government allocated only Rs 2.90 billion to the education ministry out of a total budget of Rs 43.89 billion, representing just six percent.
Path Forward and Unresolved Issues
The Ministry of Education and Sports is prioritizing policy reforms and preparing extensive amendments to the Education Act for overall educational improvement in Madhesh Province. However, the passage of the Education Act bill faces hurdles due to ongoing disputes with the Teachers’ Federation regarding their demands. Additionally, a Higher Education Qualification Framework is being developed to standardize academic quality and streamline the equivalence process for certificates obtained from abroad.
Despite these initiatives, specific timelines for the completion and implementation of the Education Act amendments and the full operationalization of the National and Higher Education Qualification Frameworks remain unclear. The precise reasons for the decline in Madhesh’s education quality, as noted by Secretary Paudel, have also not yet been definitively identified.
