Nepal extended the current academic year by two months, to June this year, and decided to cut short the next academic session to ten months, reported The Kathmandu Post. 

The decision was taken in the wake of the disruption caused by the frequent lockdowns, announced the country’s education minister Krishna Gopal Shrestha. 

“The current academic session will end in Jestha (mid-June) as teaching-learning was affected by the pandemic. We will make up for the added time next year by reducing the academic year to 10 months,” he was quoted as saying by the Kathmandu Post. 

Earlier in September last year, the ministry had slashed the curriculum by 30 percent considering the significant learning hours lost to the lockdown. Although the ministry allowed virtual classes from June last year, it said, these classes can’t be a substitute to normal regular classes that include an optimal learning environment. 

Similarly, the National Campaign for Education conducted a survey last year which found that online classes were ineffective for 64 percent of students. Another survey by UNICEF said, 30 percent of total students didn’t have access to the internet.