In Nepal, the right to education for marginalised and excluded communities is challenged due to discrimination, stigma and exclusion based on gender, caste, ethnicity, disability, language, and other socio-economic factors. Additionally, insufficient allocation and poor management of budget, low capacity of governments, poor policy planning and implementation also hinder their right to quality education. 

Thus, the project led by National Campaign for Education Nepal (NcE Nepal) aims to support a strong civil society movement able of advocating for quality public education, working towards inclusive and gender responsive education policy development, implementation and monitoring to ensure no one is left behind in the education system.  

The project will continue the efforts previously made, during the project phase implemented between April 2022 – December 2023. During this phase, the overall objectives can be divided in three: 

1. Develop CSOs as diversified, inclusive, accountable, and credible actors working with marginalised communities to demand quality public education for all in Nepal. 

2. Promote conducive government policies and accountable governments at local, provincial, and federal levels to advance education policy, planning, and implementation processes influenced by CSOs. 

3. Develop inclusive and gender responsive education policies, plans, and programmes at all levels for marginalised groups through robust CSOs' engagement. 

The main stakeholders involved in the project will be: governments at both local, provincial, and federal levels; CSOs, NCE members, and teacher groups; marginalised communities; and parliamentarians and political parties. 

By the end of the project, the following outcomes are expected to be achieved through collective engagement and ownership of CSOs:   

• NCE Nepal’s capacity is improved for internal governance and accountability for the inclusion of marginalised communities, particularly for women and girls, Dalits, youth, disabled, Muslim, LGBTIQ+, Madheshi, Janajati, and poor. 

• Improved capacity of CSOs to engage in public education advocacy, social accountability, and policy dialogues. 

• Strengthened agency and leadership of CSOs for promoting inclusion and gender equality in education policies, plans, and programmes at all levels. 

• Enhanced policy environments and improved capacity of the government on accountability for the engagement of CSOs in planning, implementation, and monitoring of education policies, plans, and programmes. 

• Promote learning collaboratives, learning generation and sharing to strengthen CSOs' institutionally in relation to social accountability, inclusion, and gender equality in education.  

• Engaged CSOs to influence the development of inclusive and gender responsive education policies, plans, and programmes at all levels. 

To sustain the learnings and achievements NCE will deepen its structure at local level, in addition to strengthening members and youth champions to influence local policies and plannings to reflect lessons learned. Furthermore, the project has envisioned sustained mechanisms, partnership, coordination, networking, and mobilising voluntary workforce of CSOs and advocacy champions to lead the advocacy efforts. The engagement of marginalised groups and their empowerment will facilitate sustainable results. 

A previous phase of the project was implemented between April 2022 – December 2023. The current project is part of the EOL extension phase of 2024-2026. Read more about the previous phase of the project here.