Nepal - Secondary Education

The second official level of education is the lower secondary level that typically begins at age 10 in the sixth grade and lasts through the eighth grade. Earlier, between 1951 and 1971, this was known as the middle level and consisted of sixth and seventh grades. The National Education Commission in 1992 defined the objective of the lower secondary level as "preparing morally and ethically upright citizens possessed of an appropriate level of knowledge in subject matters such as Nepali language, mathematics, and science." In 1996, the total number of lower secondary schools in Nepal was 5,041 with 726,300 students and 16,821 teachers. In 1996, only 26 percent of all children aged 11-13 were enrolled at the lower secondary level with the enrollment of girls being a little less than 19 percent. In 1996, the promotion rates at this level were fairly good with over three-fourths being promoted to next level each year. Repetition rates were below 20 percent at all the three grade levels and dropout rates were below 12 percent.

Until 1992, the secondary level, comprised of the grades 9 and 10, was the final level of schooling in Nepal. The secondary school enrollment in 1996 was 290,143 with 2,654 schools and 14,585 teachers. At the end of grade 10, a national level SLC examination is conducted by the Higher Secondary Education Board (HSEB) based at Sano Thimi. The net enrollment rate in secondary school in 1996 was a little over 17 percent. This implied that among all 14- and 15-year-old children only about one-sixth enjoyed the privilege of education.

Since 1992, Nepal has started the higher secondary school education system consisting of the grades eleventh and twelfth. The Higher Secondary Education Board (HSEB) conducts the national examinations. The higher secondary level is available in specialized areas such as science, management, humanities, and education. The system is based on the system prevalent in India and is popularly known as the ten-plus-two system. In 2000, there were 657 higher secondary education institutions, a large number of which were based in relatively affluent urban areas and were managed by the private sector. The National Education Commission (NEC) had recommended the opening of such institutions in remote and rural areas and focusing on five areas of general, professional, technical, polytechnic, and Sanskrit education. However, these recommendations remained largely elusive as late as 2001. In 2000, there were 42,000 students enrolled at the plus-two level.

In the 1950s, vocational training was introduced in the lower secondary classes, and it was described as prevocational education. At the secondary level, almost 25 percent of the curriculum consisted of vocational training. In addition, a vocational branch was also introduced to facilitate secondary school graduates to directly enter into the job market after SLC. The vocational subjects included agriculture, agronomy, horticulture, poultry, animal husbandry, dairy science, fishery, industrial electrical installation, furniture and metal work, building construction, and bamboo work. In the early 1980s, vocational education in secondary schools began to be curtailed and secondary schools were no longer viewed as terminal institutions for vocational training. In 2000, vocational instruction through secondary schools was treated as one subject with a weight of about 14 percent and minimal emphasis on skill acquisition.

Since the 1980s, the government has established technical schools in different regions of the country. Initially there were seven such technical schools, six in the public sector and one in the private sector. The courses offered at these schools were at the lower secondary (those who have completed grade one through five and are above 15 years of age) and secondary levels (those who have completed seventh grade and are over 15 years of age). The courses offered were for three years duration, followed by one year of on-the-job training. The six public sector schools were: a mechanical training center at Kathmandu that focused on general mechanics, electrician, and sanitary fitting; a technical school at Jumia that focused on building construction, health, and agriculture; and a uttarpani technical school at Dhankuta that focused on agriculture. There was also a technical school at Jiri that focused on agriculture, building construction, and health; a technical school at Lahan that focused on agriculture and building construction; and a technical school at Sano Thimi that focused on motor mechanics, general mechanics, general fitting, agriculture, cutting, and tailoring.

Since 1990s, the technical education at the secondary level became the responsibility of the Council for Technical Education and Vocational Training (CTEVT). International assistance further strengthened the infrastructure in nine technical schools and a tenth grade SLC diploma was required to enroll in these schools. In 1998, stipends were being paid at seven of these schools that ranged between NR 300 and 475 per month. In addition, the CTEVT also has trade schools and 118 private technical training institutes. The trade schools offer courses of as short as one year, and as long as two and a half years. The trade and affiliated technical schools also conduct skill-oriented short-term training courses and these last between two and eight weeks. Besides the Ministry of Education and NGOs, other ministries such as labor, women and social welfare, industries, tourism, communications, and water resources also provide vocational training in related sectors.