Nepal School Education Sector Plan (SESP)

Description What is done in the programme or project and why, what results are pursued, who benefits from the activities and who are involved in the implementation.

Nepal School Education Sector Plan (SESP) is funded jointly by the Government of Nepal and donors covering the whole school sector education in Nepal. The programme was launched in 2021 and extends until 2030. The costed plan is for the first five years. SESP is a continuation to the previous education sector programs SSDP (2016-2021) and SSRP (2009-2016), which Finland also supported. The SSRP achieved significant results, especially in access to school education. In the SSDP, the number of out of school children decreased further, participation particularly in secondary education increased and the focus was increasingly shifted towards improving quality of education. The new School Education Sector Plan SESP is designed based on Nepal’s new federal model. SESP focuses in further ensuring equitable access to and participation in school education for all children; enhancing the relevance and improving the quality of school education; and improving the governance and management of school education. The final beneficiaries and rightsholders are the approximately 8.2 million pupils in Nepal from pre-school school to 12th grade. In addition, the direct beneficiaries are teachers working in schools (320 576) and education sector officials at different levels. Nepal is one of Finland's long-term partner countries for bilateral development cooperation and continues to be one of the least developed countries in the world. Teaching is one of Finland's three main cooperation sectors in Nepal. Nepal’s Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (MoEST) is responsible for the implementation the plan. Local Governments and Provinces are responsible for the actual means by which many of the activities of the plan are implemented. Joint Financing Arrangement of Joint Financing Partners as well as Finland’s bilateral agreement will be signed with the Ministry of Finance of Nepal. The total estimated budget of the SESP for the first five years is around EUR 7.2 billion. Nepal will cover around 90% of the costs of the programme, while the estimated share of all donors is under 10%. The funding of Finland will be a maximum of 19 million euros for the period 2022-2026.