KATHMANDU: The ongoing fuel shortage has badly affected private and boarding schools in the Kathmandu Valley for the past few days.

The school buses have not been able to secure adequate petroleum products as promised, resulting in difficulty to receive students.

Moreover, the schools here have also started witnessing waning attendance of students as fewer vehicles are plying on the roads due to vehicle curbs imposed by the government at the time of fuel crisis.

Many schools have started shortening their classes an hour ahead of their routine to help ease off their students in getting back home early in absence of the school bus facility.

"Although the government has announced to provide 20 litres of petrol to each school vehicle, it is not clear where to receive it," commented Ramesh Silwal, Vice-Chairperson of the Higher Secondary Schools Association Nepal (HISSAN).

According to him, the Ministry of Home Affairs has been requested to facilitate the refueling of the school vehicles.

Similarly, National Private and Boarding Schools' Association Nepal (N-PABSON) Chairman Karna Bahadur Shahi argued that if the fuel shortage is to persist like this, the schools here will be forced to shut down owing to the difficulty in students' movement.