World Vision International Nepal (WVIN) and Togglecorp Solutions Pvt. Ltd signed an agreement to hand over the Kitab bajar platform. ‘KITAB Bazar- an online digital platform, envisions a resilient education system and aims to strengthen the book supply chain of Nepal via bridging the gap between community schools and publication houses, emphasizing the importance of technology through the private partnership model (PPP).

Established with a mission to create software products that focuses

on enhancing the user experience through systems that use and adapt to the latest technologies through constant research and development, Togglecorp Solutions Pvt. Ltd will support operation.

With an intention to share the resources and deliver public service at a better value through KITAB Bazar, the platform was handed over to the private sector through the event.

Promoting the idea of the PPP model in the education sector, through this event, we hope to build synergies amongst the stakeholders working together for a common goal “Education for all”.

Through PPP, we hope to ease access to finance, technology, people and skills, share the burden of risk and create investment opportunities. With a literal meaning - “book market”, KITAB Bazar aims to transform the book market of today through the simplest form of ICT inclusion in the education sector

The platform has been a way to ensure digital equity amongst most community schools in Nepal through a technology-improved solution for education supply chain management all over the country. In 2018, KITAB Bazar was implemented through a project named KITAB (Knowledge Improvement through Access of Books) by World Vision International Nepal (WVI Nepal) with the financial support of the World Bank and technical support from World Vision Australia (WVA).

The Project was devised to strengthen the education system with an aim to transform the book market through the use of a technology-enabled market solution named “KITAB Bazar” and assist Nepali children, especially from grades 1 to 3 with easy access to supplementary reading materials.

The project also aligns with one of the PMEC (Priority Enabling Minimum Conditions) standards – establishing book corners as mentioned in the National Early Grade Reading Program (NEGRP) of the Government’s School Sector Development Program (2073 B.S.- 2080 B.S).

KITAB Bazar has now reached around 1000 schools located in 40 municipalities of 6 districts (Sunsari, Morang, Bajhang, Doti, Kailali, Sarlahi) covering most of the educational working areas of WVI Nepal.

The books through KITAB Bazar have created an impact on more than 50, 000 students in the implementation areas through KITAB Project.

Upon the successful realization of achieved goals and outcomes of the KITAB project, WVIN is desirous to ensure the sustainability of the digital tool (KITAB Bazar) such that the pragmatic solutions introduced by the project can be well integrated across other similar projects and organizations in the sector of education.

For the same, WVI Nepal intends to hand over the platform to a private company, Togglecorp Solutions Pvt. Ltd., for its sustainability while also ensuring the gap between schools and the publication 1 Final Evaluation Report: Knowledge Improvement through Access to Books (KITAB) Project (2021); Project Report (2022) houses is continually bridged.

The company has shown its technical ability to develop a modular, robust and scalable digital platform that can be used in different projects or areas along with a business plan to operationalize it as an open-source for quality supplementary reading materials.

Adopting a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model, various stakeholders including private and public schools, local government, publication houses and organizations working in the education sector will be engaged through the platform. The platform will also be supported by WVI Nepal in all its education programs throughout Nepal and build further on the success of the existing system.

The specific objectives of the workshop are a. To showcase the KITAB Bazar platform as a common digital tool for supplementary reading materials for children as well as organizations working in the Early Grade Reading program b. To promote the notion of Public-Private Partnership (PPP) through handing over the platform to a private sector increasing their ownership towards innovative platforms like KITAB Bazar. c.