DOLPA: With the down in temperature, the entire academic institutions in the upper part of Dolpa district have been closed for six months. The schools in Chharka, Tinje, Saldang, Vijer, Phoksundo, Dho, Mukot and other VDCs that are at the altitude of above 4000 metres would remain closed for six months. Shiva Dhungana, a teacher at Siddhartha Kula Primary School in Tinje, said that the schools were closed after conducting the annual examinations like previous years after the chilling cold following the snowfall in the Himalayan region. He said that temperature in the region has dipped sharply this year due to snowfall from mid-October. With the closure of the schools, all the students from the upper Dolpa leave for Kathmandu, Nepalgunj, Surkhet and lowlands to escape the biting cold. The District Education Office, Dolpa, also said that the schools in the upper Dolpa are closed informally for the six months as living was not possible there due to severe cold during winter. However, the schools in the lowlands in the district would remain closed only for two months from mid-December after conducting the annual examinations, the Office said.