KATHMANDU, NOVEMBER 22

The Ministry of Federal Affairs and General Administration today issued a circular to all local levels, directing them to implement the ‘School Operation Framework-2020 in the Context of COVID-19’ recently endorsed by the Government of Nepal.

In response to a letter from the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, MoFA- GA urged all 753 local governments to act on provisions stipulated in the framework for resumption of teaching-learning activities in their concerned areas. The framework has given authority to the local levels to reopen schools that had been closed for eight months due to COV- ID-19, on the basis of assessment of the present situation.

All schools across the country have remained closed since March 18.

However, reopening schools is a very daunting task as school management committees of all private or public schools are required to hold meetings with stakeholders, including guardians, activists, local clubs and leaders for their consent in relation to resumption of teaching-learning activities. If all the stakeholders agree to reopen schools, classes can be conducted.

All the schools, however, need to obtain permission from local governments before reopening.

Even after that, local governments are required to coordinate with the District Disaster Management Committee to get approval for reopening schools as per the framework.

The district authorities will then study the virus threat in their districts and take a decision whether approval should be granted or not. The framework also states that schools, teachers, parents and students should follow safety measures strictly when classes resume.

As many schools had been converted into quarantine facilities after the government imposed the nationwide lockdown, they would need to be sanitised and disinfected.

Moreover, each school management committee needs to provide details of how many students can be accommodated in a class when physical distancing measures are adopted. Some schools have launched online classes or even physical classes to cover the syllabus of the current academic year, but these classes have not been so effective as majority of students do not have access to virtual classes.