active· Education

Expenditure Verification and System Audit of Project reference 446787 CREASION, 452358 REDD BARNA and 454964 PIN

Contract related to: Expenditure Verification and System Audit of Project reference 446787 CREASION, 452358 REDD BARNA and 454964 PIN - Nepal¿s Constitution (2015) guarantees the right to compulsory and free education up to basic level and free secondary education to every citizen. The government, with support from the EU and other partners, has undertaken a series of national programmes in the education sector over the past two decades that have contributed to reducing education inequalities, improving governance, financing, and efficiency. However, challenges remain, especially in learning outcomes and equity in education, especially for girls and marginalised groups.  Nepal¿s progress in education has experienced a severe shock with the COVID-19 pandemic, which increased pre-existing disparities in access, participation and learning outcomes. An intensive corrective response over the next years will be necessary to recover the learning losses. The Government of Nepal has worked in close coordination with development partners from 2020 to 2022 to develop the School Education Sector plan (SESP), which covers 2021 to 2030. The SESP differs from previous school sector plans in that it is designed in line with the new federal structure of governance for the Education system in Nepal, which has devolved many responsibilities for school education to local governments. The SESP is funded jointly by the Government of Nepal and donors covering the whole school sector education in Nepal. This action supports the SESP and has been jointly programmed with the government and development partners, in particular with UNICEF and Finland focusing on SDG (and SESP) targets such as quality, gender equity and inclusive education. It¿s aligned to the Global Partnership for Education (GPE). This action foresees support for 4 years, including the transitional year. The potential EU support to the 2 years following these will be assessed after the Mid Term evaluation of the EU Multi-annual Indicative Programme (MIP) 2021-2027. In line with the vision of the SESP, the overall objective of the EU action will contribute to a well-educated and skilled society in Nepal which is able to play an active role in the social and economic development of the country. The action will support three specific objectives of the SESP: 1.        improve equitable and inclusive access to education for all children, especially those who are socially and economically disadvantaged, children from marginalised groups and children with disabilities 2.        improve the quality and relevance to free basic and secondary education and ensure minimum learning achievements of each child3.        strength the local system delivery capacity by promoting good governance, intergovernmental coordination and collaboration and by developing institutional capacity at local levelThe main expected results will be: i) improved education enrolment and completion of all children; ii) reduction of disparities in learning outcomes; iii) improved teaching quality and student learning achievements and iv) improved capacities of local governments in implementation of the SESP.While the action will support the nation-wide education system through the budget support modality, the complementary measures will focus on the three provinces with lowest learning outcomes so far (Karnali, Sudurpashchim and Madhesh), and also provide an opportunity to increase visibility through `EU-supported schools¿.