The Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC) has given the go-ahead to all schools under its jurisdiction to run classes, 10 months after they were closed over the risk of the coronavirus pandemic. The schools, which have been closed since March 20, 2020, have been given permission to reopen from Sunday, January 24, 2021.

A meeting of the KMC’s Education Committee took a decision to this effect on Sunday. KMC Mayor and Committee Chair, Bidya Sundar Shakya, said all schools have been informed about the decision and they have been asked to make arrangements to run classes by preparing school operation modality based on the health safety protocols issued by the Ministry of Health and Population.

Mayor Shakya shared that schools will operate as per Health Safety Standards issued by the Ministry of Health and Population and ‘Guidelines for Facilitation of Student Learning through Alternative System, 2020′, under the monitoring and supervision of the school management committee and the guardians’ association.

Although some of the institutional schools within KMC had opened since the last week of November, the community schools had only partially opened. The meeting also gave permission to Saraswoti Niketan Secondary School at KMC Ward no. 12, Brahmatol and Shivapuri Secondary School at Maharajgunj, KMC Ward no 3 to run classes on Computer Engineering and to Vishwo Niketan Secondary School at KMC Ward no. 11 to run classes on Electrical Engineering. This technical education programme is taught from Grade 9 to 12.

KMC has provided a grant of Rs 5 million to these schools for construction of physical infrastructure and managing the human resources to run the programme. There are 91 community and 541 institutional schools in KMC.