Although the new academic year has started in Karnali Province, it is still unclear when schools in the province will start regular classes.

A majority of schools in the province have already started admission campaigns after publishing results of the last academic session through internal evaluation.

In the past, the new academic session used to start from mid-April. But this year, as the country got gripped by the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic, the new session began from June 15.

“Most of the schools have launched enrollment campaigns after the announcement of the new academic session. But we do not know when classes will start,” said Khagendra Thapa, headmaster of Janajyoti Secondary School in Neware, Surkhet.

According to him, his school will not be conducting regular physical classes any time soon, as some of its students and teachers have been infected with Covid-19.

“We are looking for options to conduct alternate classes after the end of the prohibitory orders. The school administration plans to start classes by adopting multiple alternative teaching approaches,” Thapa said.

The majority of community and private schools in Karnali Province have started launching enrollment campaigns.

Janakalyan Basic School at Lekbeshi Municipality Ward No. 1 in Surkhet has also started an admission campaign for the new academic session. “We launched the student enrollment campaign this week. We are waiting for the municipality's decision to start regular classes,” said Deurupa KC, a teacher at the school.

KC says conducting online classes is not feasible for the school since most of the students and teaching staff don’t have access to the internet or mobile phones.

“We have launched the admission campaign by following strict health standards. But we don’t know when classes will start,” he said. According to KC, the school published the final results of the last academic session based on the students’ terminal examination records.

Panchadeval Secondary School in Bhairabi Rural Municipality of Dailekh also launched a student enrollment campaign from July 16 to July 30.

“We will start textbook distribution after completing the admission campaign. If the prohibitory orders are extended, students will be asked to self-study at home since conducting online classes is not feasible here,” said Sobin Kumar Thapa, an employee of the school.

Mansarovar Secondary School in Humla has also started an admission campaign with the help of telephone. Dan Bahadur Aidi, a teacher at the school, said, “We have started calling the guardians to inform them about the admission season for the new academic session.”

According to him, the school based in the district headquarters of Humla is also not in a position to start online classes due to unavailability of the internet and mobile services.

In Dolpa, Janaprabha Secondary School of Tripurasundari Municipality recently started the admission campaign for the new academic session.

“But classes cannot be operated until the end of the prohibitory orders,” said Yam Prasad Sharma, headmaster of the school.

According to the Education Development Directorate in Karnali Province, all community schools in the province have started enrollment campaigns for the new academic session. The directorate has informed schools to conduct classes through alternative medium until the rate of Covid-19 infection lowers.

On June 15, the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology announced the new academic session and informed schools to adopt alternative teaching methods to continue with teaching-learning activities. Schools were advised to use available technology like radio, television and internet among others to start the new academic session.

But most schools in the rural parts of the province are unable to conduct classes through the online medium, officials at the directorate say.