WHY WE’RE NEEDED

Teach For Nepal nurtures every student’s potential and cultivates leaders to enhance education. We’re here to help more children succeed and shape Nepal’s future—because every young dream matters.

WHY THE PROBLEM?

These numbers are neither inevitable nor intractable. There are several reasons why our public education is failing. Teach for Nepal focuses on two primary problems:

1. Lack of sufficient resources

Most public schools are under-resourced and struggle to both get and retain teachers. In schools where the government has not allocated enough teachers, or in remote areas where teachers do not want to live, primary school teachers have to teach secondary level students. As a result, teachers are overburdened and the education of students appearing for the SLC is being compromised by teachers who are not qualified to adequately prepare them to excel in the board examination.

2. Socio-cultural orientation against a teaching career

Our social and cultural orientation is such that the best and the brightest Nepali minds are discouraged from pursuing teaching as a career. Those who do extremely well in the SLC are expected to choose a career in science, technology, or business. The teaching profession, especially in the primary and secondary levels at public schools, is often viewed as a last choice, if one at all. This contributes to the significant existing gaps in knowledge and capacity available at public schools.

 

MODEL OF CHANGE

Teach For Nepal Model

To address the immediate need for education equity in Nepal, and to bring long term systemic change, Teach for Nepal believes that we need a sustained social movement of individuals who are committed to ensuring that all children in Nepal receive quality education. To this end, Teach for Nepal will recruit outstanding university graduates and young professionals from all fields. Selected applicants, our "Fellows", will receive training and support in transformational teaching to make an immediate impact in the classroom. As alumni, they will lead various initiatives to bring about systemic change in the long term.

Immediate impact in the classroom

Teach for Nepal will recruit Fellows in Nepal and among Nepalis abroad to teach in high-need public schools for two years. Teach for Nepal will primarily recruit individuals with the knowledge and skills to teach Math, English, and Science. They will receive intensive training in transformational teaching. Teach for Nepal will also provide resources and support to enable them to have an immediate impact in their classrooms. Through dedication, hard work, and passion Fellows will help their students make measurable academic achievement during their tenure.

Transformation through experience

During their two years of teaching, Fellows will gain deeper insights into the problems of educational inequality in Nepal. They will develop an understanding of the challenges that students, schools, and communities face in high-need areas. Their experience and success in the classroom will help them develop a conviction that pervasive inequalities can be eradicated. Their experiences in classrooms will help the Fellows develop confidence and commitment, which will guide them towards innovating solutions and to becoming further committed to engage in the long term.

Long term systematic change

Teach For Nepal builds an alumni network that works inside and outside the education system to bring fundamental transformation. Moved by the experience of the classrooms and with the conviction of the insights they have gained as teachers, Teach For Nepal Alumni now become advocates and organizers, policy makers and entrepreneurs, political and social leaders, educationist and administrators – leaders in different sectors – with one vision: to end inequity in education and bring quality education to all children in Nepal.

The solution is Leadership.

It’s easy to assume that there’s a single cause behind the challenges faced by Nepal’s public education system. Commonly, teachers’ capacity and principals’ leadership are scrutinized, with discussions often pointing to the individuals in these roles as the main source of the problem. However, the truth is far more complex. The issues in our education system are deeply systemic, influenced by a wide range of factors and players within the education ecosystem. These include government bodies, local education authorities, policymakers, teachers’ unions, civil society organizations, international agencies, and even global agendas shaping education reforms. Each of these elements plays a role in either supporting or hindering the progress of public education. Given the complexity of the problem, there is no single, one-size-fits-all solution for improving Nepal’s public education system. The key lies in injecting the entire education ecosystem with youth leaders who are deeply rooted in the local context. These young leaders possess the knowledge, skills, and innovative thinking needed to understand the system’s challenges and drive meaningful change. By empowering them to take an active role, we can rejuvenate the system, creating a more dynamic, responsive, and sustainable education environment. This approach ensures that reforms are relevant, effective, and led by those who truly understand the needs of students and communities.

We cannot ensure equitable education for all children in Nepal without a systemic reform where all entities within the ecosystem undergo revision, revival and rejuvenation. For this we need to invest in a new generation of Nepali youth leaders, who are rooted in the reality of our communities, deeply embody the values of service, transformational change and collaboration, leading systemic reform across these sectors.