ABSTRACT
The 2015 constitution of Nepal declared Nepal to be a Federal, Democratic, and Republic nation. The constitution has provided local governments the right to manage school education, and the 2017 Local Government Operation Act of Nepal has outlined the roles and responsibilities of local governments in taking guardianship of school education. Since 2017, Nepal has been in the process of institutionalising decentralised governance practices, but this is proceeding at a slow pace. Unprecedently, from early 2020, the COVID-pandemic hit hard the lives of Nepali people, and Nepali education suffered greatly. The pandemic has brought several opportunities for the government to devolve the management system of school education to local levels. This article is based upon the analysis of the six newly introduced plans, regulations, and guidelines in Nepali education, that aim to continue school education amid the COVID-pandemic. These newly introduced polices have significantly acknowledged and mobilised the local strengths in educational management. This research supports a new academic discussion on governance ideas of the Nepalese education system, induced by the COVID- 19 pandemic. © The Author(s) 2023.
ABSTRACT
The global Covid-19 pandemic has severely hit the lives of the people of Nepal. The country witnessed two phases of lockdown over 10 months from March 2020 until August 2021. I completed my PhD data collection in Nepal through February to April 2021, when the pandemic’s risk was naturally lowered. My research explores local value systems of communities involved in school governance in Lalitpur, Nepal. Accordingly, my participants included schools’ stakeholders: parents, teachers, locals, Education Officers and elected representatives. The Covid-19 situation in Nepal requires social distancing and mask wearing while talking with others. In my experience these health protocols disrupted my aims to develop rapport and build close, trusting relationships with my research participants. In this article, I reflect on ways I sought to build relationships of trust with my participants before conducting interviews amid Covid-19 regulations. I narrate my experiences as a Nepalese citizen and researcher in uncertain times. This research might be useful to researchers in establishing a relationship with participants, applying face to face interviews in unfavourable situations such as a pandemic. © 2022, Wilf Malcolm Institute of Educational Research. All rights reserved.
ABSTRACT
Keeping aside the economic consequences, the imposition of strict lockdown in order to break the chain of deadly infection of SARS-CoV-2, has potentially improved the global environmental quality by facilitating a significant reduction in atmospheric pollution. In the present study, the level of atmospheric pollutants in India viz., NO2, AOD, and PM2.5 before and during lockdown 2020 were assessed and compared using standard methods. The study revealed a significant reduction in NO2 i.e., > 10% change in 73.71% parts in India along with a high negative anomaly of AOD (< –1.0 in 32.92% parts in India) primarily in the Indo-Gangetic Plains, western, southern, and eastern parts during the lockdown. The five megacities observed a sharp decline in the daily mean concentration of PM2.5 (ca. 32% (Delhi) to 59.62% (Bengaluru) during the lockdown 2020 as compared to the analogous period of lockdown in 2019. The study exhibited the very less contribution of seasonal and meteorological variables in the abatement of pollution during the lockdown period. The findings may be useful in guiding future strategies to maintain environmental quality by adopting a well-planned lockdown strategy. © The Author(s).