The European Union (EU), the current Development Partner Focal Point for Education, has released six million euros (approximately Rs 700 million) to the government of Nepal. 

Rensje Teerink, EU ambassador to Nepal, communicated the message regarding the fund release to Finance Secretary Shanta Raj Subedi through a letter in mid-February, according to a statement issued by the EU. 

This payment by the EU is the last tranche of its current budget support totaling 31,200,000 euros (approx NRs 3.7 billion). 

The allocated fund has been disbursed as part of EU’s efforts in making continuous contribution to Nepal’s education sector, the statement added. 

“Ensuring access to quality education for all is a prerequisite for lasting development, and Nepal has made a good progress over the last years. The EU shares the vital importance Nepal attaches to education and it is therefore a focal area of our cooperation “Ambassador Teerink is quoted in the statement as saying.

The success of the School Sector Reform Plan/Programme (SSRP) is evidenced by the increase in the net enrolment rate for basic education from 73 percent in 2008 to 89.4 percent in 2015, the EU said. 

“Similarly, the share of students repeating classes has significantly declined and there is also an increase in continued attendance of students at primary level.”

“Moreover, there has been a steady increase in new entrants in grade one with preschool experience. The overall decrease in disparity in access across gender, income groups, ethnicity and caste is a significant accomplishment for basic education in Nepal,” the statement read.  

The EU’s support to the SSDP will be to the tune of 61,400,000 euros (approx Rs 7.2 billion). “This will be done alongside the continued recovery efforts following the 2015 earthquakes and at the time when the country is gearing towards transition from a centralised to a federal form of governance,” the statement reads. 

The SSDP, like the SSRP, follows a sector-wide approach, bringing key stakeholders—government, teacher and parent organisations, civil society as well as development partners together, and thus  enhances coordination, impact and results in the education sector, the EU added.