By Manjima Dhakal
Kathmandu, Sept. 28: 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 to the local governments.
Although the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (MOEST) has issued the directive with the main aim of making children join the learning activities through alternative modes, many local governments have decided to resume schools stating that they have low risk of COVID-19 in their areas.
Dr. Tulsi Thapaliya, director general of the Centre for Education and Human Resource Development of MOEST, said the Ministry had decided to engage school children in learning activities so that the students would not lose the academic session, because loss of the academic session could have socio-economic impact on future.
However, at the same time schools must not be the centre for infection spread, he said, adding that the local governments and schools could decide to run schools only cautiously.
He also informed that about 15,000 schools across the country have below 100 students, so they can run the classes safely.
Meanwhile, Minister for Education, Science and Technology Giriraj Mani Pokharel has urged the local governments across the country not to resume schools in haste, as the COVID-19 infection rate is increasing.
Minister Pokharel asked schools to adopt alternative methods of teaching rather than calling students to classrooms.
But, public health experts said it was essential to open schools as there was no certainty about the control of COVID-19.
Dr. Sameer Mani Dixit, public health expert, said, “It takes a few more years to control the spread of coronavirus, therefore it will be a big loss in children’s learning if we wait for COVID-19 control. That’s why the schools can open cautiously in low risk zones and can use alternative modes in the highly risky areas.”
Dr. Dixit stated that schools could be open even only in ward level if the area is safe. Although many local governments have allowed keeping 25 students in each class, Dr. Dixit asked to keep only 10 students in each class.
Baburam Marasini, another expert of public health, also said if the schools are open cautiously, it will be a good decision. Otherwise, the virus can spread to every household after seven million school students started going to schools.
Meanwhile, according to our district correspondents, many local governments in State 5, State 4, State 2 and State 1 decided to resume classes with a commitment to follow the safety measures.
As the government declared the academic session from the beginning of mid-September, schools across the country have started making preparations to resume learning activities face-to-face and from virtual mode.