• BLOG SURF
KATHMANDU, DECEMBER 13
When the Government of Nepal announced a nationwide lockdown on March 18,2020 to curb the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, teaching learning processes in the majority of Nepal's schools (both public and private) came to a complete halt.
Nepal had faced a similar situation in April 2015 when a strong earthquake struck western and central Nepal. Nepal also faces seasonal, localised school closures in the southern plains during the monsoons and in the northern mountains due to heavy snowfall and drop in temperatures in the winters.
None of these closures have been as devastating to teaching-learning as the ongoing COV- ID-19 pandemic.
The negative effects of the pandemic on learning continuity have been closely associated with factors including students' gender, place of residence, type of school attended, disability, the majority of which are largely determined by a family's socio-economic status.
The resulting learning losses are likely to lead to increased inequality, with significant impact for the country's human development.
A version of this article appears in the print on December 14, 2021, of The Himalayan Times.
