KATHMANDU, April 17 (Xinhua) -- Nepali students are in limbo once again due to the possible outbreak of the second wave of COVID-19 infection.

Last year educational intuitions were completely shut for nine months due to the breakout of the pandemic. As a result, many students faced prolonged academic year.

On Thursday, Ministry of Health and Population categorized 14 districts as high-risk affected districts of the country and requested guardians of these districts not to send their children to the school.

Similarly, noticing the increase in COVID-19 cases and the presence of a new variant of virus, Ministry of Education, Science and Technology has decided to close or only partially open schools in 14 districts affected by the Coronavirus in coordination with the District COVID-19 Crisis Management Center (DCCMC).

Moreover, on Saturday, a Parliamentary Committee instructed the government to immediately stop the physical classes and start operating online in high-risk areas and take strict action against those schools that are ignoring health precautions and safety measures.

However, students are in fear that they might face another hiatus in education.

The first-year student of Tribhuvan University, Rajeena Aryal shared with Xinhua that her exam could be postponed again.

"After a delay of more than a year finally we are close to the exam. But, the second wave of COVID-19 is giving me anxiousness that whether our exams will be held on time or not," she said.

"If exams are not held in time we have to revise again and I can't face another academic break."

Madhukar Pandey, program director of a Kathmandu-based Mega College said that the second wave of COVID-19 could be more horrendous for students as students are already in a gap for more than a year. He believes online classes can not be a substitute for physical classes.

"Amidst the lockdown, we held online classes regularly but since all students didn't have internet access we had to revise the course via physical class," said Pandey.

Around 7,000,000 students from over 3,000 educational institutes of the country are being affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. The government has ordered to extend the academic year by two months and reduce the course and study hours by 30 percent.

Chief Advisor of National Private and Boarding School Organization (N-PABSON), Karna Bahadur Shahi said that completely shutting down the educational institutions is not a solution.

"As there is no compensation for education, we have to make a sustainable plan in collaboration with concerned authorities. The COVID-19 pandemic will continue for certain years but closing schools will affect the overall growth of students and ultimately their career."

When asked to do online class over physical in the present contest, Shahi said, "Online classes are not feasible for Nepal because all students can not afford internet and devices."

According to health experts, new variants of the COVID-19 are also found to be more communicable. They say that the rate of infection among youths and children has increased in recent days.

"Children might not follow the health protocols properly, which ultimately increases the risk of infection. Vulnerable group like senior citizens are also at risk who come in their contact. So, switching physical class would be a perfect solution to curb the virus among the children and their guardians," said Dr. Sher Bahadur Pun, a virologist at the Shukraraaj Tropical & Infectious Disease Hospital.

Furthermore, he said that if the rate of infection among children keeps on increasing it might be challenging to handle in terms of resources and manpower. Enditem

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