Nepal begins rewriting its school curriculum, with AI on the agenda

What happened

The revision updates the National Curriculum Framework introduced in 2019. According to Republica, it followed a decision at a meeting chaired by Education Minister Sasmit Pokharel on 24 April 2026. A task force was formed with Professor Balchandra Luitel, Dean of the School of Education at Kathmandu University, as coordinator, and Yubraj Paudel, Director General of the Curriculum Development Centre, as member secretary. Republica reported that the task force was given five months to prepare its recommendations.

Republica described the aims set for the task force. It is to move school teaching beyond rote learning, make education practical and of good quality, and build life skills. It should also reflect democratic and social values, support the Sustainable Development Goals, and respond to new global trends. The task force was asked to hold wide discussions with experts and the public, both online and in person. Kathmandu Post quoted Purushottam Ghimire of the Curriculum Development Centre, who said people who will use the curriculum should help design it.

The task force set up 12 thematic committees. The Kathmandu Post names nine of their subjects: artificial intelligence and ICT, disaster risk reduction, indigenous knowledge systems, technical and vocational education, civic values, teaching and assessment methods, early childhood education, teacher preparation, and mother-tongue and medium-of-instruction policies. Pokharel said the ministry wants a curriculum that is current, practical and useful in daily life, and that it will no longer be written without public input.

Consultations took place in all seven provinces. The first phase covered 28 districts and was to be followed by input from all 77 Education Development and Coordination Units and through the Curriculum Development Centre website. The Kathmandu Post reported that consultations were due to finish by 16 September, before drafting begins. The draft must then be approved by the Curriculum Development and Evaluation Council, which the education minister chairs. After that, experts prepare new textbooks, which the Curriculum Development Centre must approve before they reach schools.

What people asked for

Onlinekhabar reported on 11 September that the workshops brought together teachers, students, headteachers, parents, experts, policymakers and local government representatives. Across provinces, three requests stood out in the ministry's summary: reduce the curriculum load, make education more useful for jobs and starting businesses, and bring in new technologies, including AI. The Kathmandu Post added that participants wanted AI formally included in school education, with more weight on digital literacy and locally rooted knowledge.

The suggestions differed by province. In Madhesh, participants asked for updated technology content and AI knowledge, less content overall, and more teacher training. In Lumbini, they asked for a lighter load and for AI to be used to encourage creativity. Koshi participants wanted learning to be practical and technology-friendly, with more technical and vocational education. Gandaki participants asked for practical, skills-based schooling with more agricultural and technical education. Karnali participants asked for less confusion from frequent curriculum changes and better monitoring of how the curriculum is actually taught.

Some requests point to what any AI content would need in practice. Several provinces asked for more support and training for teachers, and for teachers to have a larger role in writing the curriculum. Adding a new subject is only part of the work. Teachers need to understand it well enough to teach it, schools need suitable equipment, and textbooks need examples that make sense to Nepali children. The sources do not say what form the AI content will take.

What it means in Nepal

Students now in Grade 11 or 12 will finish school before any new textbooks appear, so this change will not affect them directly. Their younger brothers and sisters may study under it. If AI and digital literacy become formal parts of school education, future first-year engineering students may arrive with more background in computing than students do now. The sources give no date for when new textbooks will reach classrooms.

The process also shows that the government now treats digital skills as part of basic education, alongside languages, values and life skills. Teaching AI well at school level is a technical task as well as an educational one. Someone has to decide what a ten-year-old or a fifteen-year-old should understand about data, algorithms and the limits of AI tools, write examples that work in Nepali classrooms, and explain the ideas clearly. People with computing knowledge who can also teach and write may be useful in that work.

Engineering students can take part in a smaller way now. The Curriculum Development Centre collected feedback through its website as well as through workshops. Explaining technical ideas in simple language, to younger students or to family members, is also good practice for any engineer. Clear explanation is a skill employers and clients value, and it is harder than it looks. A good place to start is any topic from a first-year course explained to a Grade 8 student.