Teachers bunking classes

On any given day, more than 80,000 teachers are estimated to be absent from Nepali schools.

School teachers are among the most crucial professionals in any country, responsible for nurturing and educating the next generation. In Nepal, there are more than 325,000 teachers who teach in grades 1-12. This makes schoolteachers one of the largest streams of professionals in this country, much larger than, for example, the military. Like in many other low-income countries, the absence of teachers from school is of grave concern in Nepal. Common sense tells us that the presence of teachers in school is the first step toward effective teaching. Surprisingly, the government does not collect official statistics on teacher absence, making it difficult to assess the magnitude of the problem and work towards practical solutions.