Schools in Kathmandu Valley resuming physical classes gradually

Many schools have begun resuming classes from this week as COVID-19 cases are on the decline in the Kathmandu Valley. With permission from the concerned local level authority of Lalitpur and Bhaktapur districts, several schools within the two districts have started physical classes following the health and safety protocols. However, Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC) has not yet decided on the issue.

6th National Yoga Day: Yoga key to physical, mental wellbeing

In today’s scenario where everyone is longing to adopt western culture and lifestyle, it is a matter of happiness that the world is adopting the eastern yoga culture to resolve problems created by modernisation. Yoga, the culture of Asia including Nepal, India, Bhutan and other Himalayan regions, is now becoming a global culture. It has been scientifically proven that yoga aids in mental, physical and spiritual wellbeing of humans especially those suffering from depression, stress and other physical...

Surge in gadget use: Brighter side of the pandemic

While the COVID-19-induced lockdown has adversely affected virtually all sectors throughout the country, it has had a silver lining in one critically important sector: education. The crisis has come as a boon for education sector as learning virtually has found widespread adoption. To make things sweeter, it has been found to be more effective than traditional methods of both teaching and learning, in most of the cases.

Align academic session with fiscal year: Stakeholders

A discourse has begun in education sector whether to begin the new academic session of school education from the new fiscal year. At a time when the current academic session is not likely to end in April as earlier amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, the stakeholders suggested to extend it to June and start the new one from mid-July. If the academic session starts from mid-July together with the new fiscal year, it will be easy to manage academic and administrative work of school education, the stakeholders...

Provinces implementing school nursing scheme to retain girls

School nursing programme of provincial government has become effective to provide emergency medical services and to generate health awareness among children at the local levels. Bagmati Province had started the school nursing programme "One School One Nurse" three years ago and now the programme is emulated by other provinces due to its effectiveness. Provinces have started the programme with a target to depute health workers in all community schools, but now only a limited number of schools have...

TU, other varsities gear up to conduct deferred examinations

Major universities of the country are preparing to conduct their halted examinations in physical presence from mid-December after a recent Cabinet meeting decided to allow academic institutions and universities to conduct the exams from now. The oldest university, Tribhuvan University (TU), has announced that it would conduct the final examinations from December 13. The TU has been all set to conduct examinations of the fourth year Bachelor of Science, Management and Education from December 13,...

Private schools, teachers facing existential crisis due to coronavirus

As COVID-19 pandemic hits every sector, private schools, which are among the worst-hit, are facing existential crisis. Private schools are mired in serious problems as their only source of income -- fees collected from students -- have become scarce or irregular due to the disturbance in academic activities for more than eight months now. Because of this, teachers and other staffers employed there are forced to change their occupation. Unable to get remuneration for long, some are even struggling...

Uncertainty of final exams worries 12th graders

Future of around 450,000 students of Grade XII, who are waiting for their examination for six months, has become uncertain as the government has not taken a concrete decision about their board examinations. The examinations of grade 12 scheduled to have been held from April 20 onwards were deferred, and when the government failed to fix the new schedule amid growing COVID-19 cases, students and their guardians are in dilemma regarding their future. Now, the students have a new fear that they cannot...

'Exercise caution while opening schools'

Many schools across the country have decided to resume classes, six months after the closure of schools owing to fear of COVID-19. The schools started resuming classes with a commitment to following safety measures after the concerned local governments decided to open schools. The local governments decided to resume classes after the Students Learning Facilitation Directive, 2077 handed over the major responsibility of managing learning environment for school students at this critical situation...

Ambitious literacy campaign not realised even in 12 years

In the fiscal year 2008-2009, an ambitious National Literacy Campaign was launched with a target to eliminate illiteracy from Nepal in two years. However, due to the lackluster performance of the government over the years, the target has not been achieved even 12 years after it was launched. The government authorities while marking the World Literacy Day on Tuesday once again reiterated their commitment to eliminating illiteracy from the country within this year. However, considering the poor implementation...