School & Study in Nepal

Children in Nepal start kindergarten at the age of 3: Lower Kinder Garden or LKG. A year later they go to Upper Kinder Garden or UKG.

From the age of 5 they go to primary school: this lasts from years 1 to 7. Years 8 to 12 is secondary school and ends with the SLC exam for the School Leaving Certificate. This is followed by a 4-year bachelor’s degree.

With your SLC you can also go for PCL training for a Proficiency Certificate Level. This is a vocational training course, mainly for ’technical’ studies, where learning in practice is very important. Think of nursing, construction, laboratory technology, etc. You can then start working or continue studying: a bachelor’s program lasts 3 years.

(Many PCL graduates choose to first gain a few years of work experience. This way they can continue studying for their Bachelor degree. This way they improve their future prospects. This is extra important for girls, lower castes, young people without a network/ connections and/or with a background of poverty, raised in homes and/or from the countryside. All important things in Nepal).

Once they have completed their bachelor’s degree, students can obtain their master’s degrees in 2 years. Real students then need another 5 years for their PhD.

A different trajectory applies to a number of disciplines. For example, for those who want to become a lawyer. After the first, they must complete a second bachelor’s degree: 3 years of LL.B or bachelor of law.