By A Staff Reporter
Kathmandu, Nov. 6: The government has been stating that the alternative mode of education is the only option for school children this academic session as schools have remained closed for eight months because of COVID-19. But the big irony is that the government has no record of students based on their access to technology.
The Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (MOEST) has issued Alternative Learning Facilitation Directives with the target to engage students in learning from different mediums like Internet, radio, television and even in physical presence.
And, for the effective implementation of the plan, the MOEST has asked schools across the country to send details of students according to their access to technology. However, the government has no official data of students even five months after it initiated to collect the data.
Gehanath Gautam, Director of Centre for Education and Human Resource Development (CEHRD) of the MOEST, said release of the details of students was delayed because some local levels had not sent the details yet.
Gautam said the details would be released soon after they are received from all local governments. Gautam asked all local governments to formulate plan and mobilise students in classes according to their access.
Gautam said that now the government was taking support from the latest data of UNICEF. According to the data, more than two-thirds of schoolchildren are deprived of distance learning in Nepal during COVID-19.
Only three out of 10 children have access to television, radio and Internet-based learning platforms in Nepal. Among them, only 80 per cent children use distance learning platforms for their learning activities, according to the recent Child and Family Tracker Survey report of UNICEF Nepal.
Although many students are deprived from classes, the government has brought School Level Curriculum Adjustment Models, 2077 with a target to complete the academic session by Mid-April next year. Now, all schools across the country need to give continuity to alternative modes of teaching as directed by the models.
But the stakeholders are not satisfied with the ongoing learning activities of students. Bidhyanath Koirala, an educationist, said the government is likely squander the academic session of students because it failed to mobilise students for learning activities.