Education ministry working to issue guidelines to resume schools

Published On: July 23, 2020 12:25 PM NPT By: Rubi Rauniyar

KATHMANDU, July 23: The Ministry of Education, Science and Technology held a discussion with the stakeholders on procedures to resume educational institutions across the country.

With the government lifting the nationwide lockdown measures starting from Tuesday midnight, representatives of Nepal Teachers Federation, Private and Boarding Schools’ Organization (PABSON), N-BASON, Institutional School Teachers Union (ISTU), Guardians Association and other stakeholders were called at the ministry for a discussion, according to Puran KC, personal aide of the Minister for Education, Science and Technology Giriraj Mani Pokharel.

The cabinet meeting on Monday decided to allow the schools to open school administration and start enrolling the students, starting August 17.

The discussion program was also attended by Minister Pokharel. “They briefed about the challenges and difficulties their organizations are facing due to the lockdown,” KC told Republica. “They reached a conclusion that resuming school operations is the only solution to the current problem.”

According to KC, Minister Pokharel said that a school operation guideline will be issued at the earliest, incorporating the concerns raised during the discussion. “The ministry is preparing to issue a guideline addressing the concerns raised by the stakeholders,” said minister Pokharel. Representatives from the Guardians Association urged the ministry to create an environment so that the guardians can appropriate fees in view of this unprecedented situation. Chairman of ISTU Hem Kumar Thapa said that they decided to call off their agitation following the decision by PABSON and N-PABSON not to implement their earlier decision to send their staff on casual and unpaid leave.

Institutional schools also agreed to resume the online classes from Thursday.

Speaking during the discussion, Minister Pokharel said that the education sector should move ahead with a new strategy. “We should focus on online education.”