KATHMANDU — The government has announced a scholarship programme worth nearly Rs 1 billion to ensure continued education for children affected by the devastating Bhotekoshi floods, which disrupted schooling across several districts and left thousands of students facing an uncertain academic future.

The Ministry of Education and Sports unveiled the “Secure Future Scholarship Scheme” on Monday, saying the initiative aims to provide free education and other essential support to approximately 1,000 flood-affected students, from early childhood education through Grade 12.

Education and Sports Minister Sasmit Pokharel formally announced the programme at an event organised at the ministry in Kathmandu.

The initiative will be implemented through collaboration among federal government agencies, provincial and local governments, private educational institutions, and governmental and non-governmental organisations. The ministry has also appealed to businesses, private-sector organisations and other potential partners to contribute to the programme.

Under the scheme, eligible children may receive full, partial or residential scholarships, depending on their circumstances. Support may also include exemptions or waivers of school fees, textbooks, uniforms, educational materials, accommodation and meals.

The Chief Advisor to the Minister for Education, Shailendra Jha, said that a scholarship programme has been initiated in collaboration with associations of private schools to ensure the continuity of education for children affected by the disaster. He stated that both immediate and long-term plans have been introduced to guarantee children’s education while transforming the period of national mourning into a source of strength.

Shriprasad Bhattarai, Joint Secretary at the Ministry, said that the affected students would be categorized into different groups and that the scholarship programme would be implemented by setting priorities based on verified data.

Most Vulnerable Students to Receive Priority

The ministry said scholarship recipients will be selected according to the severity of their circumstances and individual needs.

Priority will be given to children who are unable to attend school because of the floods, students from economically vulnerable families, those who have lost parents or other family members, children whose family members remain missing, and those requiring special assistance.

Affected students will be identified through field surveys and recommendations from schools, ward offices and local governments.

Based on the verified information, the ministry will determine the appropriate level of assistance for individual students and recommend them to participating private schools and supporting organisations.

Minister Pokharel said the programme represents a broader collective effort to protect children's education at a time when families and communities are struggling to recover from the disaster.

He praised private and institutional schools for demonstrating social responsibility during the crisis and said support received from within Nepal and abroad had strengthened the government's ability to respond.

“Seeing so many helping hands extended towards us has made us realise that the state is not alone,” Pokharel said. “It has also sent a message that, at times like these, the state must stand strong.”

The minister said educational institutions had gone beyond their conventional institutional responsibilities to support affected communities. He expressed confidence that cooperation developed during the present emergency could also contribute to long-term disaster preparedness and management within Nepal's education sector.

Private Education Sector Joins Initiative

A significant portion of the resources required for the scholarship programme is expected to be mobilised through Nepal's private education sector.

The ministry plans to work with major educational umbrella organisations, including the Higher Institutions and Secondary Schools' Association Nepal (HISSAN), Private and Boarding Schools' Organization Nepal (PABSON), National Private and Boarding Schools' Association Nepal (N-PABSON), Association of Pre-School Education Nepal (APEN), and Montessori Association Nepal.

Other organisations will also be able to join the initiative.

Under the proposed arrangement, participating private schools and supporting institutions will provide scholarships and other educational and material assistance to affected children on the recommendation of the Ministry of Education and Sports.

HISSAN President Yuvraj Sharma said the initiative represented scholarships and educational assistance worth approximately Rs 1 billion and was expected to benefit around 1,000 students.

He said efforts would also be made to secure support from national and international organisations so that assistance to affected students could be sustained over the longer term.

PABSON President Krishna Prasad Adhikari said the scholarship initiative had been developed through cooperation among five umbrella organisations representing private educational institutions.

He said the programme would be implemented in coordination with the ministry as part of the private education sector's institutional social responsibility.

Education Ministry Secretary Chudamani Paudel, senior ministry officials and representatives of PABSON, N-PABSON, HISSAN, APEN, Montessori Association Nepal and other private education organisations attended the announcement programme.

Nearly 10,000 Students' Learning Affected

The scholarship announcement follows widespread damage caused by the severe flooding in the Bhotekoshi River in Rasuwa on Bhadra 10.

The disaster affected 15 local governments across Rasuwa, Nuwakot, Dhading, Gorkha and Tanahun districts, prompting the government to declare the affected local levels disaster crisis zones.

Preliminary assessments indicate that 19 schools in Rasuwa, Nuwakot and Dhading were either completely or partially damaged by the floods.

The scale of disruption to the education sector extends well beyond the damaged school buildings. According to preliminary figures cited in the report, 16 teachers and 217 students remain unaccounted for, while the education of 9,742 students has been affected.

The figures underline the challenge facing authorities as communities attempt to restore normal schooling while simultaneously dealing with displacement, damaged infrastructure and economic hardship.

Scholarship Programme Aims to Prevent Educational Disruption

Beyond immediate disaster relief, the Secure Future Scholarship Scheme is designed to reduce the risk that children affected by the floods will permanently drop out of education because their families can no longer afford schooling or because their homes and schools have been damaged.

By combining government coordination with resources from private educational institutions and other organisations, the programme seeks to create a structured mechanism through which assistance can be directed to students according to their level of vulnerability.

The ministry has indicated that scholarships will not follow a single model. Instead, assistance will be tailored to individual circumstances—from school-fee waivers and educational materials for students who can remain in their communities to residential scholarships, accommodation and meals for children requiring more comprehensive support.

The initiative could therefore serve both as an immediate education-recovery programme and a longer-term model for public-private cooperation during disasters.

Its effectiveness, however, will depend on the timely identification of affected students, transparent allocation of scholarships and sustained commitments from participating schools, businesses and national and international organisations.

For thousands of children whose education has been disrupted by the Bhotekoshi floods, restoring access to classrooms will be a critical part of the wider recovery effort.