Santoshi Ram, a resident of Nankar in Khadak Municipality-11, Saptari, was studying in grade 8 at Hira Secondary School in Dakneshwari. The teacher asked for a birth certificate for 'registration'. She did not have such a certificate. Mother Manju Devi tried to get the birth certificate. But no one in the locality was ready to give her land. Manju's husband Tuntun was working in Qatar. Santoshi stopped going to school after not having a birth certificate.

Save the Children, in collaboration with Sabal Nepal, maintains a database of children in Khadak and Surunga municipalities of Saptari. Sabal Nepal officer Niranjan Yadav learned that Santoshi had stopped going to school for two years because she did not have a birth certificate. After he convinced the locals to get land, Santoshi's birth certificate was obtained in Kartik 2081. After that, she started going to school again. 

Along with 16-year-old Santoshi, her six other sisters also have birth certificates. 18-year-old Pooja, who dropped out of school in the 5th grade because she did not have a birth certificate, did not go to school again. She helps her mother with household chores. 

In Madhesh, the number of children who have interrupted their education due to lack of a birth certificate is large. In the National Census, 2078, it was found that about a quarter of children did not have a birth certificate. According to Yadav, an official of Sabal Nepal, in the recent period, 342 children have been deprived of education in Khadak and Surunga municipalities of Saptari due to lack of birth registration and other reasons. 

Birth registration is considered the main reason for the low education and literacy rate among children in Madhesh Province compared to other provinces. The 'Madhes Profile-2082' prepared by the Policy and Planning Commission of the Madhesh Province Government states that the education indicators of Madhesh Province have shown significant challenges compared to the national level.

The literacy rate of Madhesh Province is only 63.5 percent, while the national literacy rate has reached 76 percent. The literacy rate of Madhesh Province is very poor compared to other provinces. The literacy rate of Rautahat (58.8 percent) and Mahottari (59.8 percent) of Madhesh Province is at the bottom of the country.

69.1 percent in Parsa, 60.30 in Sarlahi, 67.7 percent in Saptari, 65.2 percent in Dhanusha, 65.1 percent in Siraha and 64.5 percent in Bara are literate. The literacy rate of women in Madhesh is much lower than that of men. Among the literate, 72 percent are men and only 55 percent are women. 

At a program in Janakpur on 20th December, the then Education Minister Mahavir Pun expressed surprise at hearing that many people in Madhesh Province were still illiterate. Recalling that he was taught by teachers of Madhesh origin even when he was studying in the hills or when he moved to Chitwan, he said, ‘At that time, I thought, how much the people of Madhesh have read/written! However, hearing that Madhesh Province has not been declared literate is one of the many surprises in life.’ 

While Pun was the minister, a high-level task force was formed to make Madhesh Province a literate province by the middle of the upcoming Baisakh. Pun has now resigned from his ministerial post and is running for the House of Representatives from Myagdi.

The Madhesh provincial government is in a hurry to declare a fully literate province. But it does not seem to be paying attention to increasing the literacy rate. Out of the total budget of the provincial government of Rs 46.58 billion in the current fiscal year, only Rs 3.57 billion has been allocated to the Ministry of Education. This is only 6 percent of the total budget of the Madhesh province. The Madhesh provincial government, on the other hand, has set a goal of 'building globally competitive human capital with knowledge, skills and competence'.

Madhesh Province's Education and Culture Minister Rani Sharma Tiwari said that the state of education is pathetic due to the lack of matching of teacher posts, the provincial government being deprived of authority and the local level not managing teachers. 'The federal government has also discriminated in the budget allocated to the education sector of Madhesh. The provincial government has also allocated a small budget,' she said, 'The problems of extreme poverty, unemployment, health and other issues in Madhesh Province are linked to education, but investment is being made in other sectors.' 

Rautahat in Madhesh was the only one among the 10 districts with the lowest literacy rate in the country in the 2008 census, Mahottari was added in 2008, Bara, Sarlahi, Dhanusha and Siraha were added in 2008, and Saptari was added in 2018. Joint Secretary at the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, Shiva Kumar Sapkota, informed that Rs 1.35 billion has been spent in the last 6 years to make Madhesh Province literate. He said that the Madhesh Province government and local levels should spend within the Rs 150 million allocated in the current fiscal year and declare it a literate province by next Baisakh. 'It is too late to declare Madhesh Province literate,' he said, 'It should be declared a literate province as soon as possible.' 

There are 12 indicators to determine who is literate. A person is considered literate if he/she can read and write the characters and letters of the national language or mother tongue, can read price lists and bills written in Nepali or mother tongue, can write and read his/her name and age and that of his/her family members. Similarly, a person who can recognize and use numbers and letters of mobile phones and calculators, write numbers from 0 to 9, count from 1 to 100, keep accounts of transactions, read and understand simple pictures, posters, signboards and traffic signs is considered literate. In addition, a person who shows active participation with his/her thoughts in community programs, tells the time by looking at the clock, tells the date by looking at the wall, and fills out bank vouchers and uses checks is considered literate. 

Before the Madhesh movement (around 060), Madhesh education was considered a relatively fertile ground. Students from the mountains and hills used to come to study in government schools and campuses in Janakpur, Birgunj, and Rajbiraj. Teachers who taught science and mathematics in the nooks and crannies of the mountains and hills were from Madhesh. Recently, Madhesh Province has become nothing more than a 'hub' for sending manpower to the Gulf countries, says Professor Bhogendra Jha, who is also the former vice-chairman of the Policy and Planning Commission of Madhesh Province. 'When I taught at Janakpur's Rarab Campus, there were students from 54 districts,' he says, 'now the children here study in Kathmandu, Biratnagar, Sindhuli and Hetauda.'

Dilip Thakur, acting secretary of the Madhesh Province Ministry of Education and Culture, says that the main problem of Madhesh Province is in education. He says that many children from Dalit, Muslim and disadvantaged groups still do not have access to education. 'Many children in Madhesh Province have not been able to reach school,' he says, 'There is also a problem with quality education. There are no teacher vacancies, and some of the vacancies that exist do not have teachers.' 

Recently, there have also been positive signs in Madhesh education. The primary education completion rate in Madhesh Province has reached 93.1 percent, which is equal to the national average. The ratio of students reaching grades 1 to 8 has reached 86.2 percent. The early childhood education enrollment rate in Madhesh Province is 91.5 percent. ‘Although the latest education indicators show some improvement in access to basic education in Madhesh Province, a large amount of work remains to be done,’ the Madhesh Profile states, ‘It is necessary to address gender inequality and infrastructure shortages at the higher levels, especially by improving literacy.’

Students are weak in mathematics, Nepali, and science. The provincial Ministry of Education does not have data on teacher vacancies. Thakur, Secretary of the provincial Ministry of Education, said that the authority regarding teachers lies with the federal ministry and the local level, so there is no information on vacancies. ‘Last year, the Madhesh Province government appointed 60 volunteer teachers and deployed them in schools where there was an insufficient number of teachers. This year, the process of appointing 82 volunteer teachers is underway,’ he said. 

Sohan Sah, former vice-chairman of the Policy and Planning Commission of Madhesh Province, claims that education in Terai-Madhesh has been problematic since the restoration of democracy (048 BS). According to the data provided by Sah, in the 2011 census, only Rautahat in Terai-Madhesh (now Madhesh Province) was among the 10 districts with the lowest literacy rate in the country. In the 2015 census, two districts of Terai-Madhesh (Rautahat and Mahottari) were among the least literate districts. In the 2016 census, six districts of Madhesh (Rautahat, Mahottari, Bara, Sarlahi, Dhanusha and Siraha) were among the 10 districts with the least literate. In the 2018 census, Saptari was added, bringing the number of districts to 7. 

Sah claims that work has been done in education reform since the provincial government came to power. He says, ‘501 schools in 13 municipalities of Madhesh have been improved. The provincial government has made appropriate investments in school infrastructure in the past 7 years.’

The biggest problem of extreme poverty and illiteracy in Madhesh is among the Dalit and Muslim communities. In Madhesh Province, Dalits constitute about 19 percent of the population and Muslims 12.50 percent. Analyst Bhogendra Jha says that the social index of Madhesh Province will remain weak until policies and programs that uplift the Dalit and Muslim communities are prioritized. 

Janakpurdham Sub-metropolitan City Deputy Mayor Kishori Sah says that a separate plan should be brought for students from the Dalit and Muslim communities. ‘It is difficult to include all children in the mainstream of education with a single policy and plan,’ he says. ‘Many children from the Muslim community study in madrasas. Their statistics and problems do not reach us.’ 

Sah emphasizes that the Dalit and Muslim communities, who are far from poverty, unemployment, illiteracy, and health services, must be brought into the mainstream. ‘To strengthen the overall situation of Madhesh Province, work should start from this weak link. But it does not seem to be a priority for all three levels of government,’ he says. Both voters and candidates do not seem serious about the problems related to education in Madhesh Province. Candidates claim that education is a priority. 

Candidate Mahendra Rai Yadav has won all elections since 2074 from Sarlahi 2. He is the candidate from the same constituency in the upcoming elections as well. When asked, ‘Is the education situation in your area critical?’ Yadav had said, ‘Since all responsibility for education lies with the local level, federal MPs cannot do anything,’ which is being criticized on social media. 

There are 32 constituencies in eight districts of Madhesh Province. Education, health, agriculture, and irrigation are on the election agenda of almost all candidates. Although the problems seen in the education sector of Madhesh are linked to politics, the priority of all three levels of government is only on physical infrastructure. 

Congress candidate Rampaltan Sah, who reached about 100 houses in Kathpulla, Hanspur, and Kumhar Tol of Dhanusha 1, did not get any votes from voters on the agenda related to education. "Voters demand that the problems of employment, irrigation, drinking water, and waste should be solved," he said. "There is not much discussion with voters on issues of education and health."

Madhesh Province has the Rajarshi Janak University under the federal government. Madhesh Province has also established the Madhesh Agricultural University in Saptari, the Madhesh University in Parsa, and the Madhesh Health Sciences Institute in Janakpur. The establishment and operation of the Agricultural University in Saptari has been stalled due to a dispute between the Janata Samajwadi Party Nepal and the Janmat Party over who will take the lead. The Madhesh University in Birgunj is running smoothly. The institute in Janakpur has started teaching MBBS since last year.