Government Decision to Shift Academic Session Causes Widespread Confusion, Leaving Schools and Local Governments Uncertain
The government’s decision to push the new academic session, which was supposed to begin on Baisakh 5, to Baisakh 21 has created confusion and disorder across the education sector. The Ministry of Education’s directive not to admit students until Baisakh 15 and not to begin teaching before Baisakh 21 has disrupted the system under which the academic session starts simultaneously across the country, leaving students and teachers confused.
Following the ministry’s decision, local governments have started running classes in their own ways. Schools in Urlabari Municipality of Morang have already come into operation from Wednesday, while Biratnagar Metropolitan City has instructed schools to begin teaching from Baisakh 15. Since the Constitution has given local governments authority over education up to Grade 12, the contradiction between the ministry’s directive and the conduct of local governments has thrown the overall academic calendar into disarray.
Stakeholder officials themselves are unaware of why and for what reason the government pushed the academic session back. Tikaram Puri, former central chairperson of the umbrella organization of private schools, PABSON, considers the government’s decision completely impractical. “A school’s academic calendar is prepared nearly a year in advance. This is not something to be changed casually,” said Puri. “The calendar for 2082 states that results should be published by the end of Chaitra and the new session should begin in Baisakh, but the government’s decision has left all of us confused.”
The Education Regulations require schools to remain open for 220 days in one academic session, with compulsory teaching for 190 days. However, Puri has raised the question of how teaching for the prescribed number of days would be possible when the government has decided to give two days of weekly holiday, including Sunday, because of the rise in fuel prices, and when the academic session is starting late. Despite the ministry’s restriction, many schools have already completed admission and entrance examination work either secretly or openly.
The government’s decision has also placed local-level education branches and coordination offices in serious difficulty. Ramprasad Dhungel, head of the Education Coordination Section of Biratnagar Metropolitan City, said the ministry’s notice destroyed their prior preparations. He said, “We had already held a meeting of principals on Chaitra 18 and 19 and prepared the outline of the annual calendar. But the new notice issued by the ministry on Baisakh 22 threw all our preparations into disorder.”
According to Dhungel, in the past there used to be 190 to 192 teaching days, but now, because of the Sunday holiday and the delayed start of the academic session, the number of teaching days appears set to be limited to around 141. He complained that with 52 days automatically reduced, the silence of the Ministry of Education and the Curriculum Development Centre on how to adjust the school curriculum within a shortened period has created additional problems. Dhungel said it can only be guessed that the government’s decision may be related to the SEE results or other technical reasons, but no official reason has been given.
At present, some schools are taking admissions internally, while others, in line with the metropolitan city’s directive, have held back publication of results until Baisakh 15.
The delayed start of the academic session and the reduction in teaching days have added a major challenge to completing the curriculum. Because of the government’s unclear decision and delays, a lack of coordination is visible between local governments and schools. In a context where the academic calendar itself is unclear and there appears to be no possibility of changes to the curriculum, experts have expressed serious concern that the direct negative impact of this situation will fall on student learning outcomes.
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