Field Visit to Nepal: Preparing for Scale-Up in Inclusive Education
July 21st, 2025
Good Neighbours UK recently travelled to Nepal to visit inclusive education projects led by GNI Nepal in the districts of Janakpur and Bardiya. The visit focused on monitoring progress, learning from communities, and preparing for the next phase of the programme to expand access for children with disabilities.
Inclusive education is a growing priority for GNI Nepal, and this trip marked an important step toward scaling up our impact. By observing classroom activities, meeting with families and teachers, and engaging with implementation staff, the visit helped identify both strengths and areas for further adaptation.
What Families Taught Us
In Janakpur, where the pilot project “Access to Learning for Disabled People” concluded in 2023, families shared how assistive devices and improved teaching methods had helped their children participate in school. One child who received a wheelchair was able to sit their final school exams – a milestone celebrated across the community.
Families expressed a clear need to extend support further, particularly for children still out of school. In Bardiya, where the second phase has recently launched, the tone was more cautious. Many parents had not previously considered formal education a realistic option for their children.
Teachers noted that early engagement and trust-building in the community will be essential for future success.
“We have transformed our vision of children with disabilities, and we hope the behaviour towards them in the community also transforms,” said one teacher in Bardiya.
Teachers Are Leading Change
Teachers in Bardiya had recently completed inclusive education training and shared how it changed their approach.
“There was a girl in a wheelchair, and we told her parents to take her somewhere else — we didn’t know how to teach her. After the training, we realised we were responsible for adapting. All children should learn together.”
Others spoke about shifting from teacher-led to child-centred approaches and starting to adjust lessons to meet different learning needs. While barriers like poverty and overburdened families remain, the training helped build confidence and showed that inclusive education is achievable.
Co-Designing a Model for Scale
A core part of the mission was to work with GNI Nepal on designing a model that could be replicated in other municipalities. Drawing on lessons from Janakpur and emerging insights from Bardiya, we focused on:
Strengthening school-level implementation
Investing in local partnerships
Reinforcing sustainability through community ownership
A joint workshop explored practical steps for expanding the programme in ways that remain rooted in local context and need.
We also met with GNI Nepal’s new Country Director, Mr. M. Mainuddin Mainul, and senior staff at the national office in Lalitpur. These conversations helped us understand how the strong community presence we witnessed in the field stems from GN’s values – daily practices of transparency, responsiveness, and local leadership.
Acknowledgements
Our sincere thanks go to Mr. Lok Bahadur Taru, Programme Manager at GNI Nepal, whose thematic expertise enriched every exchange; Education Coordinator Mr. Arun Chaudhary, whose longstanding relationships with stakeholders were invaluable; and Mr. Tupendra Khulal, Cluster Coordinator in Janakpur, whose support was critical throughout the visit.
We also appreciate the continued collaboration of Mr. Mainuddin Mainul and Dharmendra Karn at the national office.
What’s Next
As we prepare to support the scale-up of inclusive education in Nepal, our focus will remain on listening closely to communities, strengthening school capacity, and working alongside GNI Nepal to adapt models that deliver lasting change.
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