Executive Summary
Nepal faces a significant "learning crisis" where, despite achieving a high primary school net enrolment ratio of 96.9%, a large proportion of children complete their schooling without acquiring foundational literacy, numeracy, and transversal skills. This disconnect between access and learning outcomes perpetuates social disparities, contributes to a high youth unemployment rate of 23.4%, and hinders the nation's long-term human capital development. The root causes are systemic, including inadequate teacher professional development, capacity constraints in newly federalised local governments, and a nascent engagement with educational technology, compounded by a significant gender digital divide and the absence of a dedicated national policy for AI in education.
In response, the British Council has proposed the "AI4Ed Nepal: quality education service delivery through innovation" project. This two-phase initiative is designed to strengthen the quality of basic education through the responsible and effective implementation of AI technologies. The project's vision is to build a rigorous, context-specific evidence base to inform the principled use or non-use of AI, and to critically examine both its potential benefits and risks.
Phase One (December 2025 - August 2026) will focus on foundational evidence-building. It will conduct comprehensive mixed-methods research to map AI literacy and readiness, support a cohort of teachers in classroom-based action research to generate practice-driven insights, and facilitate high-level policy dialogue through stakeholder roundtables and an international conference.
Phase Two (indicative) will leverage the findings from the first phase to design and implement practical, scalable interventions. This is anticipated to include co-developing national standards for AI in basic education, creating AI literacy resources for teachers, piloting AI-enabled assessment and mentoring tools, and building the capacity of local governments to support these innovations. The project aims to empower teachers, strengthen local governance, and inform national policy, ultimately contributing to a more inclusive, equitable, and future-ready education system in Nepal.
1. The Educational Landscape in Nepal: A System in Crisis
The project addresses a convergence of deep-seated challenges within Nepal's education system. While the country has made commendable progress in expanding access to schooling, this has not translated into meaningful learning, leading to what is widely recognised as a learning crisis.
The Disconnect Between Schooling and Learning
A critical disconnect exists between school attendance and the acquisition of essential skills. This phenomenon of "learning poverty"-where children are physically in classrooms but not effectively learning-has far-reaching consequences. It compromises Nepal's ability to ensure equity and inclusion, weakens future opportunities for children, and poses serious risks to the country's economic growth, innovation, and global competitiveness.
Socio-Economic Consequences
The deficiencies in the education system are a direct contributor to significant socio-economic challenges, most notably:
- High Youth Unemployment: The youth unemployment rate stands at 23.4%, significantly higher than regional or global medians.
- Gender Disparity in Employment: Female unemployment (12.25%) is notably higher than male unemployment (9.79%).
- Skills Mismatch: A persistent mismatch between the skills acquired through education and the demands of the labor market is a primary factor behind graduate unemployment, which has contributed to social and political unrest.
Systemic Root Causes
The learning crisis is underpinned by several structural and systemic issues:
- Teacher Professional Development: There is a significant inadequacy in teacher preparation and a limited availability of meaningful continuing professional development (CPD). Teachers often lack access to responsive, classroom-based mentoring and support. Female teachers, who constitute 47.4% of the primary school workforce, face additional barriers stemming from restrictive socio-cultural norms that compel them to juggle professional duties with caregiving.
- Challenges of Federalisation: The 2018 devolution of education responsibilities to local governments (Palikas) was intended to make services more responsive. However, many Palikas struggle to fulfil their mandates due to shortages of skilled human resources, limited pedagogical expertise, constrained finances, and the absence of robust, data-driven monitoring and accountability mechanisms.
- The Nascent State of AI in Education: The integration of AI into Nepal's education sector is in its infancy, characterised by limited awareness, fragmented experimentation, and a lack of systematic research. Most teachers lack the training and resources to engage with AI, and a significant gender digital divide presents a major equity concern.
- The AI Policy and Governance Gap: While Nepal has a Digital Nepal Framework (2019) and a National AI Policy (2025), there is no dedicated AI in Education Policy. This absence of clear guidance leaves policymakers and practitioners without a framework, risking ad hoc, inequitable initiatives that overlook critical issues of access, privacy, and accountability.
2. The AI4Ed Nepal Project: Vision and Strategy
The AI4Ed Nepal project is designed to address these foundational challenges through a collaborative, evidence-based, and phased approach.
- Vision: To build a rigorous evidence base that informs the principled use or non-use of AI in Nepal’s education system. The project will explore how AI can responsibly enhance teaching and professional development while critically examining risks associated with socio-economic, infrastructural, and gender-based digital divides to ensure that any adoption is contextually appropriate and ethically sound.
- Mission: To collaborate with government stakeholders and educators to build capacity, inform policy, and support the implementation of AI in education, fostering sustainable improvements in teaching, learning, and school system performance.
- Overall Objective: To contribute to strengthening the quality of basic education service delivery in Nepal through the responsible and effective implementation of AI technologies.
The project is structured in two distinct but interconnected phases, ensuring that interventions are grounded in robust evidence and local realities before scaling.
3. Phase One (December 2025 - August 2026): Building the Foundation
The initial phase of the project is dedicated to generating evidence, fostering grassroots innovation, and building stakeholder consensus to guide future interventions.
Key Activities and Interventions
- Comprehensive Mixed-Methods Research: A foundational study will be conducted to map the current state of AI in basic education. This research will:
- Assess the extent of AI literacy and use among teachers.
- Identify systemic enablers and barriers to AI integration.
- Employ a participatory approach involving federal, provincial, and local government representatives, as well as teachers, head teachers, and community stakeholders.
- Focus qualitative data collection in Kathmandu Valley, Lumbini, and Madhesh, with quantitative surveys extending across all provinces.
- Incorporate a gender-sensitive lens to ensure the experiences of both female and male teachers are represented and to identify inequalities.
- Utilise the British Council’s established Action Research and Mentoring Scheme (ARMS).
- Empower teachers to experiment with AI tools to address specific classroom challenges and students' learning needs.
- Generate practical, practice-driven insights into the real-world opportunities and challenges of AI integration.
- Employ a cascading support model with one super-mentor guiding six mentors, who in turn support the 18 teachers.
- Multi-Stakeholder Roundtables: Thematic roundtables will focus on AI capacity, professional development, and standards. Geographical roundtables in Lumbini and Madhesh will ensure local perspectives are included.
- International Conference: A high-profile event to bring together policymakers, educators, researchers, and international experts to share findings, showcase innovations, and inform the development of a national AI in Education framework.
4. Phase Two Scaling and System Integration
The design of Phase Two will be directly informed by the findings and recommendations of Phase One. The anticipated focus is on translating evidence into practical tools, resources, and systemic change.
5. Theory of Change and Expected Outcomes
The project is designed to catalyse specific behavioural shifts and achieve measurable outcomes that contribute to long-term improvements in the quality of education.
Behavioural Shifts
- Teachers: Shift towards more reflective, interactive, and technology-enabled pedagogy.
- Mentors and Teacher Educators: Move from one-off training to sustained, classroom-based mentoring using AI-enabled approaches.
- Local Government Officials: Take on a stronger leadership role in driving innovation in teaching and assessment within their jurisdictions.
- National Policymakers: Systematically use research evidence to inform the development of AI-in-education standards and embed them within national CPD frameworks.