What is the Educational Calendar of Nepal

There might be a curiosity in the mind of people of the world about the educational calendar of Nepal. When the educational calendar of Nepal starts and ends. 

Well, this article is all about making people know about the educational calendar of Nepal. You will have a clear idea and knowledge about the educational calendar of Nepal after reading this full article. 

The General Educational Calendar of Nepal

In general, the educational calendar of Nepal starts from the first month of Nepalese Calendar Baisak. The first Nepalese calendar month Baishakh lies in April - May of the AD calendar. From mid-April to mid-May is the period of Nepalese month Baisakh.

The educational calendar of Nepal ends in the Nepalese month Chaitra which lies in March - April. The Nepalese month Chaitra lies in the period from mid-March to mid-April.

In the educational cycle year in Nepal, school enrollment starts from the first week of Baisakh. Nowadays, the government of Nepal announces and operate the school enrollment campaign for about 2 weeks.

During the period of School Enrollment Campaign, the government requests all parents to enroll their children in school. 

However, there is no such restriction that the children can be enrolled in school after the enrollment campaign.

One important thing is that the children and the students should be enrolled in the schools within the first two months of every educational calendar year of Nepal.

After the completion of the school enrollment campaign and the first two months of every educational year of Nepal, each school should submit the details of students enrolled in their school.

Schools must submit the details of information related to the school management, teachers and students each year to the government. This information is included in IEMIS.

The full form of IEMIS is Integrated Educational Management Information System in Nepal. It is an internet-based educational information management system that is developed and managed by the government of Nepal, Ministry of Education, Science and Technology. 

The IEMIS is also called EMIS in practice. Although the EMIS is managed by the Nepal government, ministry of Education, Science and Technology, the necessary information is filled up by each school.

The Examination Schedule or The Evaluation Process of Student's Learning

There are, in general, 3 examinations taken by schools to evaluate the student's learning achievement. However, it is sometimes a bit different in the case of some particular schools. 

We know that the evaluation process of a student's learning is a kind of continuous process but there is a system of periodic evaluation that is taken as the formal evaluation. 

Generally, the periodic evaluation (examination) takes place over a gap of 4 months. It means, there will be the first examination scheduled in the 4th month of the school year starting. 

There is 2 level of schools in Nepal - Basic Level and Secondary Level. The basic level means upto the grade 8 and the secondary level is from grade 9 to 12.

These 2 levels of schools are in execution after the federal constitution came into execution in 2072 BS (2015AD). Before that schools were divided into 3 levels - Primary, Lower Secondary, and Secondary and up to grade 10 were included in school education. 

Changes in the Educational Calendar of Nepal

The educational calendar of Nepal in 2021 had been changed by the decision of the government of Nepal due to the Covid-19 pandemic. 

The educational calendar of Nepal in 2021 had been extended three months beyond the general period ends.

That educational year in Nepal is abnormal than the previous educational calendar which was worse affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Educational Calendar of Nepal in 2021

The educational year of Nepal in 2021 would have started in the Nepalese first month Baisakh and it would have ended in the Nepalese month Chaitra. But, it was different than usual in that educational year in Nepal.

Nepal had also been suffering from the Covid-19 pandemic for more than a year since the previous Chaitra month. Because of the Covid-19 pandemic, Nepal government had completely locked the country down for about 4 months and partially for about 8 months.

Covid-19 pandemic had affected all the sectors of Nepal including education. Schools, colleges and other educational institutions were also been closed for more than eight months.

Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, schools and educational institutions started to open from mid of Nepalese month Mansir that year which lies in the December of 2020.

Therefore, the government of Nepal, ministry of Education had set the educational calendar of Nepal in 2021 up to the end in the Nepalese month Jestha and the Nepalese year 2078 which is 14th of June 2021.

According to the government of Nepal's decision, the educational calendar of Nepal that year was be up to the 14th of June 2021.

Schools would have to complete the didactic activities before the 14th of June 2021. Also, the schools would have to do the final examination before the end of that year's educational calendar.

In that abnormal educational year, both the government-supported school which are known as community schools in Nepal and the privately run schools had a kind of pressure to complete the curriculum within the indicated period of about 7 months. 

Instead of 12 months' normal educational calendar year in the past, schools were compelled to do all didactic activities within about 7 months of that educational year.

Schools had been running classes regularly as usual by maintaining safety measures considering the Covid-19 effects. 

However, safety measures in schools were not seen so much effective as like was there outside schools.

Schools had been trying to cover all the sessions within the educational year 2021 and trying to complete the necessary evaluation steps. 

This might affect the quality of education for the children in the long period of their educational life.

In the current context of Nepal, grade 12 is the ending grade of school. It means, students have to study up to grade 12 to complete their school education. After completing the grade 12 study, college study starts.

Although the federal government has given all the managerial responsibilities of school education to the local level government, the examination of grade 10 has been managed and taken by the federal government education board itself.