Nepal makes progress in expanding access to pre-primary education: UNICEF

Nepal has made significant strides in expanding access to pre-primary education with enrolment rate soaring to 86 per cent in 2017 from 12 per cent in 2000, according to a UNICEF report released on Tuesday.

The progress has helped Nepal rank among the high performers in the world as regards access to pre-primary education in the last two decades, the UN education body said.

Nepal incorporated one year of pre-primary education in the law and formally recognised it as part of country's free and compulsory basic education in the 8th Amendment to the Education Act promulgated in 2016.

"Nepal has made great progress in expanding early childhood education to an increasing number of children. At the same time, it can do more by substantially improving its quality for all children regardless of their socio-economic backgrounds,"Tomoo Hozumi, UNICEF Representative to Nepal, said.

We must make sure that no child is left behind so that we can walk the talk on leaving no one behind' principle of the SDGs, he added.

The UNICEF report, however, points out that Nepal's national education budget allocates less than 3 per cent for the pre-primary education, which is not enough to ensure quality early childhood care and education services.

Nepal spends USD 14 per pre-primary-age child annually compared with USD 26 for Tanzania, USD 25 for Zimbabwe and USD 24 for Tajikistan from the government's budget.