Kathmandu, February 13:

Though the government is spending a huge amount of money for school-level education, the results are not very encouraging.

The third survey report of the Technical Review of School Education in Nepal-2006 made public here today states that grade 1 enrolment has gone down by 18 per cent in 2006/2007, while a 25 per cent growth had been recorded the previous year.

Similarly, the enrolment rate in early childhood centres and pre-primary centres has gone down by 13 per cent in 2006/2007, while there was a growh of 16 per cent in 2005/2006.

The report also shows that the retention rate for Dalits is 74 per cent — 3 per cent below the rate for general students. The retention rate at grade 1 among the Janajatis is 78 per cent, while the retention rate at the primary level is 84 per cent. The report shows that the retention rate in grade 1 is poorer than in other grades.

The retention rate is higher in both the lower secondary and secondary levels as compared to the primary level.

At the lower secondary level, the retention rate is 91 per cent — 7 per cent higher than that at the primary level. The retention rate at the secondary level is 93 per cent.

The findings also show that 44 per cent of the lower secondary community schools do not have a single English teacher. Though the government has been laying stress on providing at least two female teachers for each primary school, the report shows that 23 per cent of the schools do not have a single female teacher at the primary level.

The total cost of the first phase of the government’s Education for All (EFA) programme from 2004-2009 is $814 million.