Section V
LITERACY
AND EDUCATION
5.1 Literacy
Rates
According to this survey
individuals are considered literate if they report that they can read
and write. The survey shows that 38 percent of the population six years
and older is literate in Nepal (see Table 5.1). Literacy rates are substantially
higher in urban areas (64 percent) than in rural areas (36 percent).
Regional disparities also exist, with the highest literacy rates found
in the Western Development Region (44 percent), and the lowest rates
in the Mid-West and Far-Western Development Regions (around 31 percent).
The stratification by ecological belt reveals that the hills have the
highest overall literacy rate (45 percent).
In Table 5.1 literacy rates
for population by two age groups are presented according to different
quintile groups. The literacy rate in both the age groups can be seen
to be at a higher level in each quintile group starting from the first
to the fifth. Increase in the level of literacy rate in each quintile
group can be observed for both males and females. The stark difference
in the two sexes lie in the quantum of increase of literacy rates as
they move from the first to the fifth quintile. In most of the quintile
groups the female literacy rate is less than half of the male literacy
rate. The quantum of literacy rate for the females compared to the males
is even poorer in the higher age group of 15 years and over.
There are marked gender
disparities in literacy rates: 52% of males are literate as compared
to 24% of females. These gender disparities persist across all classifications
(development region, ecological belt and urban/rural residence). They
are most marked in the Mid-West and Far-West Development Regions, the
mountain belt, and in rural areas, especially rural Terai. The gender
gap in literacy rates is the smallest in Kathmandu.
Table 5.2 shows the literacy
rates across age groups for the population 6 years and older. Literacy
rates decline with age for both males and females, and the pattern is
observed in urban and rural Nepal. The gender gap is narrowing, with
the younger age cohorts showing less disparity in literacy rates. For
example, among 10-14 years olds, 68 percent of males are literate, as
compared to 51 percent of females. Among the 50-54 years age cohort,
the literacy rates for males is 36 percent and is only 3 percent for
females.
Next, these numbers are
compared to the literacy rates as computed from the 1991 Census (see
Table 5.3). Literacy is defined as the self-reported ability to read
and write in the Census tabulations also. The definition for the ‘literacy’
in this survey and 1991 census are identical comprising the twin combined
ability to read and write. However the two abilities were determined
by asking separate questions to all the respondents concerned in this
survey as against to the approach through single querry in the census.
This could be the reason for the literacy rate in this survey having
slightly lower compared to the census. Considering the simply the ability
to read the results even shows a hifher level of literacy rate as 44
percent in this survey. The rankings across Development regions, ecological
belt, urban/rural residence and gender are similar. The absolute numbers
reported are comparable, but there is a five year difference in the
reporting period. Assuming that literacy rates improve with time, the
NLSS literacy rates are somewhat lower for people over 15 years of age
than those reported by the 1991 Census.
5.2
Educational Status
The population 6 years
and older can be classified into three groups according to educational
status: those who have never attended school, those who have attended
school in the past and those currently attending school. There are noticeable
differences across regional dimensions, across the ecological belts
and urban/rural location of residence (see Table 5.4). Gender differences
are also sharp across all these domains. The Far-West Development Region
has the highest non-attendance rates for both males and females: 48
percent of males have never attended school and the corresponding number
is 84 percent among females. The Western Development Region has the
lowest non-attendance rates for both males and females. Rural-urban
differences are large, with 60 percent of the rural population never
having attended school; the corresponding urban number is 32 percent.
The proportion of population
that never attended school in different consumption groups ranges from
a maximum of 72 percent to a minimum of 39 percent. Share of female
population that never attended school compared to the males as well
as for the country is higher in all the consumption groups. Female population
that never attended school goes as high as 85 percent in the first quintile
and is down to only 54 percent in the fifth quintile which is at par
with the male population in the first quintile.
Educational status exhibits
distinct patterns across age groups, with the percentage of non-attendance
increasing sharply in older age groups (Tables 5.6-5.8). School attendance
rates among the younger age groups (10-14 years) are high in urban areas
(85 percent for males and 79 percent for females) and among rural males
(77 percent). However, girls in rural areas have significantly lower
school attendance among this age group (54 percent). Overall, in Nepal,
over two thirds of children 6-14 years are currently attending school.
Individuals who
never attended school were also asked why they never attended school.
Tables 5.9 - 5.11 shows the tabulations for individuals 6-24 years of
age for the primary reason of non-attendance. The relative importance
of the reasons differ across gender and geographic domains. For females,
in all development regions, rural areas, and especially the Terai, the
most important reason is that the parents did not want the children
to go to school. Parents do not seem to value education for daughters.
Two other reasons cited often for females are the need to help at home
and the high costs of schooling. For males, the main reason for non-attendance
is different across the different domains. In urban areas, 38 percent
of males cite that the expenses associated with schooling are the primary
reason for their non-attendance, and this is also the predominant reason
in rural Eastern Terai. However, in the rural Western Hills/Mountains
it is the need to help at home or with the family business which is
the major deterrent to school attendance for 36 percent of this age
group.
The table 5.9A shows that
percentage distribution of main reasons for not attending schools in
different quintiles is too expensive for the male whereas it is parents
did not want for the females. There is a negative correlation between
the quintiles (consumption groups) and the percentage who have never
attended school - as increases the quintiles decreases the percentage
of who never attended school.
Tables 5.12 - 5.15 show
the percentage of the population 15 years and older who have attended
school, both in the past and those who are currently in school, and
the average years of schooling for this group. The average years of
schooling for those who have attended school in the country is 7 years.
Males in school have an average of 7.1 years, and females 6.77 years.
The Central Development Region, urban areas and the Hills have higher
than average years of schooling for both males and females.
The average years of schooling
for those who have attended school in the country can be seen to range
from 5 years in the first quintile to 8 years in the fifth quintile.
Compared to this the male average years of schooling is higher and those
of fremales are on the lower side in all the quintiles.
Gross enrollment ratios
for primary, lower secondary and secondary school are presented in Table
5.16. The primary gross enrollment ratio is computed as the number of
children attending primary school as a percentage of the target age
group for primary school, that is the number of children 6-10 years
of age . Overage children and repititions could result in a ratio greater
than 100. The gross primary school enrollment ratio is 86 for Nepal.
This ratio is 100 for males and 72 for females. Gender disparities are
evident across all classifications. It is only in urban areas that gender
disparities are low at the primary level. Lower secondary ratios fall
sharply to 39 for Nepal, and to only 11 for secondary school. Gender
disparities increase with the level of education.
Net enrollment ratios are
shown in Table 5.17. This ratio differs from the gross enrollment ratio
in that the numerator is the number of children in the appropriate age
who are currently attending the given level of schooling. Hence, the
net primary enrollment ratio is the number of 6-10 year olds attending
primary school, as a percentage of the number of 6-10 years olds in
the population.
Net primary school enrollment
rates are significantly lower than the gross enrollment rates -- 57
for Nepal as a whole, 67 for males and 46 for females. The wide disparity
in the net and gross enrollment rates seems to indicate that there are
many children who start school late, or that there is a large grade
repetition. The net enrollment rates for lower secondary and secondary
school are 19 percent and 9 percent respectively. Inter-regional disparities,
differences across urban-rural location and across ecological belts
are also observed in these rates.
The target age group for
lower secondary school is assumed to be 11-13 years and for seondary
school it is 13-15 years.
Table
5.1: Literacy Rates (Population 6 Years and Older) - By Gender
Table
5.2: Literacy Rates for the Population 6 Years and Older By Age Category,
Rural, Urban and All Nepal
Table
5.3: Literacy rates for population 6 years and older by sex, 1991 Census
and NLSS Survey
Table
5.4: Educational Status of Population 6 Years and Older (In Percent)
Table
5.5: Educational status of Population 6 Years and Older, Rural, Urban
and All Nepal (In Percent)
Table
5.6: Educational Status of Population 6 Years and Older by Gender, Urban
Nepal, 1994-95 (In Percent)
Table
5.7: Educational Status of Population 6 Years and Older by Gender, Rural
Nepal, 1995-96 (In Percent)
Table
5.8: Educational Statusof Population 6 Years and Older by Gender, Nepal(In
Percent)
Table
5.9: Primary Reason for Not Attending School for Population 6-24 Years
That Has Never Attended School, By Gender and Development Region (In
Percent)
Table
5.9A: Primary Reason for Not Attending School for Population 6-24 Years
That Has Never Attended School, By Gender and Consumption Group(In Percent)
Table
5.10: Primary Reason for Not Attending School for Population 6-24 Years
That Has Never Attended School, By Gender and Ecological Belt(In Percent)
Table
5.11: Primary Reason for Not Attending School for Population 6-24 Years
That Has Never Attended School, By Gender and Urban/Rural Residence(In
Percent)
Table
5.12: Percentage of Population 15 Years and Older Who Ever Attended
School and Their Mean Years of Schooling Nepal 1995-96
Table
5.13: Percentage of Population 15 Years and Older Who Ever Attended
School and Their Mean Years of Schooling by Age Category, Urban Nepal
1995-96
Table
5.14: Percentage of Population 15 Years and Older Who Ever Attended
School and Their Mean Years of Schooling by Age Category, Rural 1995-96
Table
5.15: Percentage of Population 15 Years and Older Who Ever Attended
School and Their Mean Years of Schooling by Age Category, Nepal 1995-96
Table
5.16: Gross Enrollment Rates By Level of Schooling and Gender, Nepal
1995-96
Table
5.17: Net Enrollment Rates By Level of Schooling and Gender, Nepal 1995-96
Table
5.18: Type of School Attended by Individuals Currently in School, Nepal
1995-96
[Contents]
