Who We Are and
Why We Do This
We believe every child in Nepal deserves a classroom built around their strengths, not their limitations.
How It All Started
In a Grade 4 classroom in Sindhupalchok, a teacher named Sunita noticed something that stayed with her. Three of her students sat at the back every day, quiet and disengaged. One had a visual impairment. One spoke Tamang at home and struggled to follow lessons delivered only in Nepali. One had a learning difficulty that had never been formally identified. All three were falling behind. None of them were the problem.
Sunita was not a bad teacher. She cared deeply. But nobody had ever shown her how to teach in a way that worked for all three of those children at the same time.
That experience is not unique to Sindhupalchok. It plays out in classrooms across Nepal every single day, from Karnali to Madhesh, from mountain villages to urban schools in Kathmandu.
Universal Design for Learning Nepal was founded to change that. We started with a simple conviction: the right tools, the right training, and the right mindset can help any teacher build a classroom where every learner belongs.
We are still growing. But we are growing because teachers like Sunita are proving, one classroom at a time, that inclusive education is not idealistic. It is possible.
Photo: A teacher engaging all learners in a Nepali classroom
Mission, Vision & Values
What We Do Every Day
To equip Nepali educators with Universal Design for Learning principles, tools, and training so that every learner, regardless of ability, language, or background, can fully participate and thrive in education.
The Nepal We Are Working Toward
A Nepal where flexible, inclusive learning is the standard in every classroom, from Humla to Jhapa, and where no child is left out because the system was not designed with them in mind.
Our Values
Inclusivity
We center the learner who has historically been left out. Every resource we create, every training we deliver, and every partnership we build starts with that commitment.
Equity over Equality
We do not treat all students the same. We recognize that different learners need different supports, and we help teachers provide exactly that without lowering expectations for anyone.
Local Relevance
UDL was developed internationally, but our work is grounded in Nepali classrooms. We adapt, translate, and contextualize every tool for the multilingual, multicultural reality of education in Nepal.
Collaboration
We do not work alone or above anyone. We grow through genuine partnerships with teachers, school leaders, municipalities, and communities who know their learners best.
Evidence and Practice Together
We are grounded in research, but we are tested in real classrooms. Theory and practice inform each other in everything we do.
Our Work in Brief
Four interconnected areas of work, each reinforcing the others.
Teacher Training
Hands-on workshops and professional development that help teachers apply UDL in their own classrooms immediately. Practical, locally grounded, in Nepali and English.
Free Resources
Lesson plan templates, assessment tools, and classroom guides, all designed for Nepali teachers and freely available to download, reflecting Nepal’s diverse languages and curricula.
School Partnerships
Long-term collaboration to embed UDL across grades and subjects. We partner with school leadership, teachers, and parent communities together, not in isolation.
Research & Advocacy
We document what works in Nepali classrooms and share that evidence with policymakers to support integration of UDL into national education frameworks.
The People Behind This Work
We are a team of educators, researchers, and advocates committed to one thing: making inclusive education real in Nepal.
She spent over a decade teaching in public schools across Bagmati and Gandaki provinces before dedicating her work to teacher training and inclusive education. She holds a Master’s in Special Education from Tribhuvan University and has been trained in UDL implementation by CAST.
She designs all training programs and resource materials. With a background in curriculum development and a decade of experience working with multilingual learners in Karnali Province, she brings deep local understanding to everything she builds.
He manages relationships with schools, municipalities, and partner organizations. He grew up in Dhanusha and has worked in community education programs across the Madhesh Province. He is the reason our work reaches classrooms most training organizations never visit.
“We are guided by an advisory board of educators, disability rights advocates, academics, and policy specialists who bring national and international expertise to our work.”
Our Approach
Four principles that guide everything we design, build, and deliver.
Teacher-Centered, Always
We design everything for the teacher standing in front of 40 students on a Monday morning. Our training is practical, not theoretical. Our resources are ready to use, not things that require weeks of adaptation. We respect teachers’ time because we know they have very little of it.
Built for Nepal, Not Borrowed from Elsewhere
UDL is a global framework, but Nepali classrooms have their own realities: multilingual learners, mixed-age groups, limited materials, large class sizes. We do not hand teachers a Western textbook and call it training. Every tool is developed with Nepali classrooms specifically in mind.
Long-Term Over One-Off
A single workshop does not change classroom culture. We believe in sustained engagement with schools, following up after training, providing coaching support, and measuring whether practice is actually changing. We would rather go deep with ten schools than visit one hundred schools once.
Partnerships Over Programs
We do not parachute into communities. We build genuine relationships with local governments, school clusters, and teacher networks so that UDL capacity grows within the system, not dependent on us.
Where We Have Been and Where We Are Going
Universal Design for Learning Nepal is founded. Our first two-day UDL orientation workshop is held in Bhaktapur, bringing together 30 teachers from government and community schools.
We launch our first free resource library with 8 lesson plan templates and 3 classroom guides, all available in Nepali. Our online resources are downloaded over 1,200 times in the first six months.
We expand our training programs to Lumbini and Karnali provinces. We sign our first formal partnership with a school cluster in Dang, embedding UDL support across 6 schools over 12 months.
We host Nepal’s first national UDL symposium in Kathmandu, bringing together over 150 teachers, school leaders, and education officials from across the country. We publish our first impact report in collaboration with Kathmandu University’s School of Education.
We reach 500 trained teachers across 7 provinces. Our resource library grows to over 40 materials. We begin a formal dialogue with the Ministry of Education and Science Technology on integrating UDL into Nepal’s national teacher training curriculum.
Looking Ahead: Our goal by 2027 is to reach 2,000 teachers, partner with at least 50 schools, and contribute to a national policy framework that recognizes UDL as a cornerstone of inclusive education in Nepal.
We Do Not Do This Alone
Our work is made possible through the support of government bodies, academic institutions, civil society organizations, and individuals who share our commitment to inclusive education in Nepal.
Interested in partnering with us? We welcome collaboration with schools, municipalities, research institutions, and organizations working in education, disability rights, and community development.
Get in Touch →Transparency and Accountability
We believe the people and institutions that support this work deserve to see how it is used. Below you will find our annual impact reports, which document our programs, reach, finances, and learnings each year.
Have questions about our finances or programs? Write to us at info@universaldesignforlearningnepal.org and we will be happy to share more.
Be Part of This Work
For Educators
Access free UDL resources and training designed specifically for Nepali classrooms.
Explore ResourcesFor Schools and Organizations
Partner with us to bring lasting UDL practice to your school or institution.
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