Nepal's Education Policy Crisis

On March 29, 2026, Nepal’s Ministry of Education, Science and Technology announced two significant policy shifts in quick succession: the cancellation of formal examinations for students up to Grade 5, and a ban on bridge courses and entrance preparation classes taken after the Secondary Education Examination (SEE). The ban on bridge course announcement was followed almost immediately by a minister's clarification narrowing its scope and revised after public confusion, but the episode left a more unsettling question hanging in the air, one that had little to do with the policies themselves.