BHAKTAPUR: The Non-Formal Education Centre (NFEC) is all set to establish Non Formal Education Management Information System (NFEMIS) in coordination with UNESCO to collect data on the real illiterates of the nation.

Talking to The Himalayan Times today Babu Kaji Karki, deputy director, NFEC, said the NFEMIS is necessary to ascertain the exact number of illiterates throughout the nation in order to launch future targeted interventions.

“We have been launching more than five different programmes targeting the illiterates and for the capacity building of illiterate women who had been deprived of education during their school-age,” he said.

Karki further informed that a systematic record keeping of illiterates would help in more programmatic outcome of literacy in future. “Besides, the NFEMIS data would come handy in preparing non-formal education policy, rules and regulation in future,” he added.

The NFEC has already started piloting the programme in three districts -Rasuwa, Rupendehi and Makawanpur. The NFEMIS staffers are soon carrying out a household survey to collect the data and other records.

As plans are, the pilot programme will run for two years after which it will be extended throughout the country followed by a national survey to be carried out by the Central Bureau of Statistics, according to Karki. Taparaj Pant, national programme officer, UNESCO, said that they were going to support NFEC financially and technically to set up NFEMIS.

“NFEC did not have proper data management therefore we are just trying to help them install the NFEMIS.”

Critics have maintained that the national literacy campaign launched by the government led by the UCPN-Maoist last year could not be as successful as desired due to the dearth of accurate data on the literacy front.