KATHMANDU, June 23: The government is preparing to merge or close more than 15,000 community schools across the country as declining educational quality and an unfriendly learning environment continue to erode trust among parents and students.
According to the Economic Survey 2024/25 released by the Ministry of Finance, out of 35,447 schools operating across Nepal, 73 percent — or 25,876 — are community schools. This marks a decrease from the previous Fiscal Year (FY) 2023/24, when there were 35,876 schools in total, of which 74.1 percent (26,584) were community-run.
Government data further reveals that 15,273 community schools now operate with fewer than 100 students. The Ministry of Education, Science and Technology is developing a policy to either merge or close such schools.
“The government has been increasing the budget to improve the quality of education in community schools, but outcomes remain poor,” said Shiva Sapkota, spokesperson and joint secretary of the ministry.
“Though 99 percent of community school teachers are trained, these schools have failed to gain the trust of parents and students. As a result, enrollment is declining. More than 15,000 schools now have fewer than 100 students. The ministry is preparing policies and programs to address this through school mergers or closures.”
Sapkota added that the government has not achieved adequate returns on its investment in public education. “Starting from the next fiscal year, schools will be restructured under the merger policy, with school mapping and redistribution of resources. Teacher positions will also be adjusted,” he said.
Decisions on mergers and closures will be implemented by municipalities, which hold the authority to restructure schools under the ministry’s guidance, said Deputy Secretary and Information Officer Neelkanth Dhakal. “Most schools with fewer than 100 students are at the basic level,” he said. “Upcoming policies and programs will determine whether these schools will be merged or closed.”
Currently, 1,636 community schools across Nepal have between 500 and 1,000 students, 449 schools have between 1,000 and 1,500 students, and only 100 community schools serve more than 2,000 students.
“It is unfortunate that neither the number of students nor the quality of education in community schools has improved, despite significant government investment and expanded services,” said Dhakal.
The government allocates around Rs 200 billion annually to the education sector. However, according to Bhakta Bahadur Godar, director of the Education and Human Resource Development Center, the educational quality of government schools remains low. “Ninety percent of community schools with fewer than 100 students operate at the basic level, and the number of teacher vacancies is also highest at this level,” he said.
Currently, there are 278,585 teachers working in all types of schools across the country.