Scheduled for Wednesday, 29 July 2026 in Lalitpur, the event reflects a broader effort to ground education policy and practice in Nepal in rigorous, up-to-date data on how children are actually learning to read and do basic math and to use that evidence to shape collective next steps among the people and institutions responsible for improving those outcomes.

Devi Ram Acharya, a representative from the Ministry of Education, Science, and Technology facilitated the session on the importance of foundation learning assessment while the ASER team presented on testing tools and how to do an assessment.

The program has increased teacher’s knowledge of the importance of learning assessment and assessing children’s foundational skills as there were few teachers during the feedback session who mentioned that they were glad to come to know about learning assessments and how simply the foundational learning assessment tools can determine whether children have foundational literacy and numeracy skills. The program was successful in highlighting the importance of foundational learning assessment for children’s improved learning.

The report launch event was successful in highlighting the evidence generated on the foundational learning outcome of children in the surveyed region of Karnali province as well as the importance of citizen-led assessment. The result of the findings, and the evidence generated, sensitized the government officials and other participants on the stark learning result of children in Karnali Province. The guests realized the importance of the CLA and how this can be a powerful tool in understanding children’s learning in the community and how the evidence generated can inform education policy-making and relevant interventions for improving children’s learning outcomes of foundational literacy and numeracy. In the speeches that the guests gave, they highlighted that the findings from the ASER Karnali have pushed them to take further steps in improving children’s learning. They also highlighted the need for education to be time-relevant and context relevant.

The meeting contributed to the discussion on gaps between curriculum, policy, and learning assessments from the diverse participants. The meeting also emphasized on the need to focus on delta reporting of learning i.e. what children already knew before learning and what change is seen in his/her learning outcome after learning. The participants acknowledged that all the stakeholders in the education sector need to communicate, coordinate and work together to improve children’s learning.

The participants showed interest in different kinds of CLAs such as paper-based and tab-based.  They were also interested in knowing how the data collected is processed. Overall, it was a successful event in evoking interest in CLA and informing them about its importance in improving the learning of children in the context of Nepal.

Similarly, on 22nd March, 2023, a consultation event was organized with youth, who have worked as volunteers on CLA. About 34 youths participated in the event. Galli Galli had provided training to these volunteers on CLA, and the process to conduct CLA. The purpose of the event was to gain volunteers’ insights and experiences of CLA that they conducted in a school-level setting.

During the event, the participants discussed the strengths and limitations of CLA. Volunteering for CLA provided them the opportunity to understand and see the reality of the learning situation of children in schools and the status of the learning level of children.

The program became a learning and networking event for the participating CSOs. The participants had increased knowledge of citizen-led assessment, foundational learning assessment tools, how to use assessment tools, and how they can use the data collected from CLA for informed decision-making.

The team met with the chairpersons of rural municipalities, ward presidents, chief administrative officers, and education officers. The Programme Manager Ms. Pramila Bisunke and Programme Officer Ms. Jasmine Shakya of the project briefly explained the status of children’s learning outcomes in the present context, explained the assessment tools, and its process of assessment, and also presented a brief summary of specific rural municipalities.

The Chairperson of Simta rural municipality, Mr. Ain Bahadur Chand committed that he would share the results in the upcoming meeting with school principals. The Vice Chairperson of Siddha Kumakh rural municipality, Mr. Ram Bahadur Basnet emphasized the multifaceted aspect of quality education such as teacher’s teaching, children’s motivation to learn and learning environment at home and school which need to be considered for improved learning. The Chairperson of Shiwalaya, Mr. Sher Bahadur Shahi and the Chairperson of Barahtaal rural municipality, Mr. Bhim Bahadur Bhandari appreciated the efforts made by ASER Nepal in mirroring the learning situation of children in their locality and committed to take the evidence further in their team for discussion and interventions for improving children’s learning.

At the end of the report dissemination in each Rural Municipality, the team also distributed the assessment tools, copies of report, and community report card.

During this ASER, 11 Master trainers from Dungeshwor, Shivalaya, Sanni Triveni, Simta, and Siddha Kumakh Rural Municipalities were trained. Those 11 master trainers later trained a total of 76 local volunteers to conduct the full-scale assessments in 5 different Rural Municipalities.  In total 1248 households were surveyed and 2111 children were assessed.