COVID likely to delay start of new academic year

The start of the new academic year in Nepal which had been pushed back by two months to June 15 looks uncertain now due to the second wave of the coronavirus that has been raging across the country.

Due to the impact of the coronavirus last year, the Ministry of Science, Education, and Technology, which had pushed back the start of the new academic year, is gauging the current situation.

The number of infections and deaths related to COVID-19 has been rising in Nepal and prohibitory orders have been imposed in 74 districts till date. As the second wave of the virus has been affecting children too at a higher rate schools had stopped physical classes even before the prohibitory orders were announced.

The spokesperson of Ministry of Science, Education, and Technology, Deepak Sharma, said that the Education Act had been amended to start the new academic year from June 15 which has been published in the Nepal Gazette. He also mentioned that this information has already been shared with all the concerned stakeholders and that the ministry has not taken any decision regarding the new situation.

If the provision to start the new academic year from June 15 is not amended then schools will have to open on the said date and dates for new admissions will have to be announced accordingly. In the previous years, the academic year used to be over by Chaitra-end and the new academic year used to start from Baisakh. However, due to the coronavirus pandemic, the start of the new academic year had been shifted to June 15.

Meanwhile, Laxman Sharma, Chairperson of Nepal National Teachers Association, has said that given the current crisis brought about by the COVID-19 it is not possible to take admissions and start the new academic year from June 15. He also said that the problem is though teachers are ready to start online classes not all students in all the regions have access to the digital medium of learning.

Thus, Sharma shared that if the impact of the coronavirus subsides then classes could be started from Bhadra (mid-August).

The other issue is that the Secondary Education Examination (SEE) and Class 12 examinations have also been halted for the time being and until these examinations are completed it is not possible to take new admissions, he added.