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Policy brief: Data literacy and AI readiness for the revised school curriculum

To: CDC task force and thematic committees (AI and ICT; Mathematics; Science; Social studies) From: Ram Chandra Giri, Data Science Nepal (open curriculum project) · rcgiri.physics@gmail.com Note: classroom pilots have not yet been run; statements below about classroom impact are goals, not results.

1. The opportunity

Nepal's school curriculum (Grades 1–12) is being revised, with consultations reported in 2026 and an AI and ICT thematic committee (Kathmandu Post, 14 Sep 2026). Students will meet data and AI-based tools in daily life. Today's statistics teaching (reported as calculation-heavy in Grade 8) rarely covers asking questions, collecting data fairly, interpreting results, or the ethics of data.

2. What we offer

A free, openly licensed (CC BY 4.0 / MIT), bilingual-ready curriculum for Grades 8–12 built on Nepali data: * a spiral of five grade bands (40 units, 123 lessons in v0.1) using one investigation cycle (PPDAC); * a no-code track deliverable inside compulsory Maths/Science/Social, and a code track for optional Computer Science and Grades 11–12; * teacher guides, rubrics, assessment banks, and offline delivery (USB bundle) for schools with weak connectivity; * data ethics and responsible AI use from Grade 8.

3. Fit with current subjects

See competency-map.md (maps units to current subjects) and docs/alignment/current-syllabus-notes.md (summary of the current syllabi as publicly reported).

4. Requests

  1. Review curriculum/grade-08/unit-01-what-is-data and curriculum/grade-09/unit-03-sql-basics as sample units.
  2. Nominate a CDC/CEHRD contact for alignment and a teacher group for piloting.
  3. Consider adopting or adapting units with credit (CC BY 4.0); no licence fees.

5. Costs and risks

  • Cost: zero licence cost; computers needed only for Track B; Track A needs paper and a calculator.
  • Risks: teacher preparation time; connectivity; Nepali text quality (teacher review is recommended before classroom use); data licences (we never redistribute restricted data).

6. Next 6 months

Pilot in 3–5 schools (urban/rural, public/private, with/without internet); revise; publish v1.0 as a fixed citable edition.