Schools reopen across Nepal as third COVID wave weakens

Nepal has reopened schools on Sunday amid a weakening third wave of COVID infection, after a month of virtual classes fueled by the Omicron variant.

The local district administration last week had permitted educational institutions and businesses such as hotels, restaurants, and movie theatres to reopen from Sunday adhering to health and safety protocols.

Rupak Pokharel, a secondary level student prepares for his school on the early morning of Sunday inside his room in a rented flat in capital Kathmandu, after a month of virtual teaching-learning practice.

"I am very happy that schools are going to resume from today and I am really excited about it. Also was longed to meet my classmates and sometimes while taking the virtual classes would create a feeling of detachment with the teachers but with the resumption of physical classes, I wouldn't need to go through it. I can easily interact with them further facilitating the teaching-learning process. I have received both the shots of anti-COVID vaccine which has built the confidence on me," Pokhrel said before heading for his in-person class which resumed after a month.

As per the decision of the COVID-19 Health Crisis Management Coordination Center (CCMCC), universities, schools, tuition centers, training, and other educational activities, dance bar, dohori restaurants, lounge, pub, cinema hall, health club, gymnasium, swimming pool, Futsal, will be allowed opening till 10:00 pm.

The CCMCC has however made the safety protocol mandatory. Similarly, the CCMCC had recommended the Ministry of Home Affairs, and Ministry of Education, Science and Technology for the arrangement of regular school classes for students above 12 years and on alternate days for those under 12 years.

"After a gap of about one month, we again have resumed the physical classes from today after conducting virtual classes in the past weeks. During the virtual classes, all of the students weren't able to attend it, many of them underwent various kinds of problems. Following the decision and announcement from the authorities we have resumed our in-person classes," Shreedhar Nepal school in-charge of Royal Public High School, a local school in Kathmandu said.

"As we resume the in-person classes we have strictly followed the health protocols such as our students in secondary levels half of them have already received the second or complete dosage of anti-COVID vaccine which has given a bit assurance. Despite the assurance we have made the masks compulsory for the students, a pair of students take a seat on every bench and they also possess personal sanitizer and we have been tracking their body temperature using the Thermo guns," School In-charge, Nepal added.

Schools and educational institutions of Nepal were closed last year in wake of rising infection due to coronavirus. First, to report COVID-19 cases in entire South Asia in early 2020, Nepal till date has reported 972,632 cases with 934,680 recoveries and 11,882 deaths since the outbreak of infection from Wuhan of China in late 2019.