KATHMANDU, Sept 12: Tika Ram Limbu teaches English at Shree Melamchi Ghyang Secondary School in Helambu. He starts his day with a cup of coffee and his laptop. This was not his routine until a few months ago. 

After the COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent lockdown, his laptop has been his company from morning to evening. His school started running online classes in April, soon after the lockdown.

Umesh Koirala, a science teacher at the school, has a different routine. He worries a lot about making online classes effective, as he can no longer take his students to the lab to carry out science experiments. He now records videos and posts them on the school's website, and shares with students during online class.

Playing with numbers and solving equations have always been of interest to Kumar Gautam, a Mathematics teacher. The pandemic has, however, posed a challenge for him to teach his students difficult mathematical problems. This is the first time he and his students are learning mathematics via Google classes.

The education sector has been hit hard by the pandemic. Examinations have been postponed. Schools have remained shut for months, and it is still unclear when they will resume. The online classes are difficult for most of the public schools due to limited resources and geographical difficulties. Even the big schools in Kathmandu are struggling to conduct online classes. 

But Shree Melamchi Ghyang Secondary School (SMGSS), a public school in Helambu in Sindhupalchok district located at an altitude of 2,500 meters above sea level, has a different story.

SMGSS has been running free online classes for its students since April. According to Principal Purna Bahadur Gautam, the school first launched Zoom online classes to Grade 9 and 10 students.

Soon after, the school launched Zoom online classes for grade 6 to 10 and Google classroom for primary level students. The school conducted a week-long training for all of its 17 teachers. 

“It was a much-needed move. But implementation was not easy. Some of our students come from remote areas, with limited or no access to the internet. It was tough but we made it happen,” said Tika Ram Limbu, vice-principal of the school.

The school currently has more than 300 students taking online classes. They come from more than 15 districts. 

From July 15, the school began Zoom online classes for students from grades 2 to 10. Classes for grades 2 to 8 are scheduled from 9AM to 12 noon, and grades 9 and 10 join the classes noon to 4PM.

“Teachers host online classes and the students join them. Students submit their homework and assignments via Google classroom. We also conduct online monthly tests. Everybody is punctual. This has been a great experience so far,” said Kumar Gautam, a secondary-level Mathematics teacher.

Each class teacher has created a messenger group to discuss problems related to the course, and to share other information.

On August 26, the school administration hosted an online parents-teachers meeting to discuss the effectiveness and challenges of online classes. More than 110 parents attended the meeting, according to the school administration.

We have the attendance of almost 100 percent students in grades 9 and 10 and this stands at around 80 percent in case of other grades, said Umesh Koirala, a secondary-level Science teacher at the school.

Despite geographical difficulties and technological challenges, SMGSS has proven that “where there is a will, there is a way” by successfully conducting online classes and running the new academic session even during the lockdown amid rising cases of COVID-19.

The government of Nepal has recently given the green signal to private schools to collect fees for online classes. Recently, social media was flooded with news about private schools in the Kathmandu Valley collecting fees from their students.

Millions of students across Nepal are deprived of education as the government has failed to take any effective decision to address the problem. Even amid such difficult situations, the SMGSS has become an exemplary role model for all schools, especially government schools that tend to believe that online classes are not meant for them.

 
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