The education hub of Nepal

If you went to school in Nepal, the textbook in your bag almost certainly began its life in Sanothimi. Over several decades the government chose this quiet stretch east of Kathmandu to house the offices that plan, write, print and examine school education for the entire country. Today Sanothimi is often called the education hub of Nepal.

Curriculum Development Centre

The Curriculum Development Centre, known by its initials CDC, is responsible for the national curriculum for schools. Teams of subject experts, teachers and editors here decide what children study in each grade, write and revise the textbooks, and prepare teachers' guides. When the curriculum changes — for example to add local languages, new science content or life-skills lessons — the work happens in these offices.

National Examination Board

The National Examination Board manages the major school-level examinations, including the Secondary Education Examination at the end of grade ten and the grade twelve examinations. Each year, results day brings crowds of anxious students and parents to notice boards and websites, and the name Sanothimi appears in newspapers across the country.

Teacher training and education review

The Centre for Education and Human Resource Development coordinates teacher training and education programmes, continuing the work of the older National Centre for Educational Development that trained generations of teachers here. The Education Review Office assesses how well schools and students are actually performing, publishing studies on learning achievement that inform policy.

Janak Education Materials Centre

Across the road, the presses of Janak Education Materials Centre print millions of government textbooks each year. Before the school year begins, trucks loaded with bundles of books leave Sanothimi for district headquarters as far away as Humla and Taplejung. The timely arrival of these trucks is a national news story every spring.

Sanothimi Campus

Sanothimi Campus, part of Tribhuvan University's Faculty of Education, is one of the oldest teacher-education institutions in the country. It offers bachelor's and master's programmes in education, and many of Nepal's headteachers, education officers and textbook writers studied here. The campus grounds, with their old trees and open spaces, are a pleasant green pocket in a crowded municipality.

What this means for the neighbourhood

The education offices have shaped Sanothimi's character. There are bookshops, photocopy shops and stationery stores on almost every corner, hostels and rented rooms for students, and cheap canteens serving dal bhat and momo. The area is busiest on weekday mornings; weekends are much quieter.

For visitors there is nothing formal to tour, but it is worth walking the streets around the campus to sense how one small neighbourhood quietly influences the lives of millions of Nepali children.