Nishant Sharma : Australia has long been a melting pot of cultures, welcoming people from all corners of the globe to call it home. One such community that has seen significant growth in recent years is the Nepali diaspora. There are now over 130,000 (anecdotal) Nepali people residing in Australia, with an  additional 60,000 Nepali international students pursuing their education in the country. This influx of Nepali residents and students has led to the establishment of vibrant communities in various Australian suburbs. However, this rapid growth also presents unique challenges that need to be addressed by both the government and the community itself.

The Top Suburbs for Nepali-born:

Nepali communities in Australia have formed strong bonds, primarily in the following suburbs:

1. Auburn, NSW
2. Hurstville, NSW
3. Strathfield, NSW
4. Rockdale, NSW
5. Campsie, NSW
6. Granville, NSW
7. Kogarah, NSW
8. Glenroy, VIC
9. Parramatta, NSW
10. Ashfield, NSW 

These suburbs have become hubs for Nepali culture, offering a sense of familiarity and community for those who have made the journey from Nepal to Australia. From restaurants serving traditional Nepali cuisine to cultural events and festivals, these neighborhoods have embraced and celebrated their new residents.

While the growth of the Nepali population in Australia is undoubtedly a positive development, it also brings forth various challenges that need to be addressed:  

1. Legal issues: Australia’s diverse cultural landscape extends far beyond the surface, encompassing the triumphs and challenges faced by each Among these communities, the Nepali population in Australia is no exception and, like any other, grapples with legal issues that demand attention and action. In particular, issues related to domestic violence, unconsented sex, and sexual offenses, employment exploitation, underpayment, and workplace sexual harassment require proactive measures to ensure justice and support for those affected. Initiatives must focus on raising awareness, offering legal education, and providing accessible resources tailored to the unique needs of Nepali immigrants. By addressing these legal concerns and fostering a culture of awareness and empowerment, the community can strengthen its resilience and create safer and more equitable environments for all its members within the multicultural society of Australia.

2. Mental Health Issues: The process of migration and adjusting to a new culture can be emotionally Many Nepali immigrants may struggle with mental health issues such as depression and anxiety. Cultural nuances and language barriers can further complicate access to mental health services. Thus, the availability of culturally sensitive mental health support becomes paramount. Providing resources for counseling, therapy, and mental health education in Nepali languages can significantly enhance the community’s well-being.

The Nepali community is facing a growing concern regarding suicide rates. The pressures of migration, adapting to a new culture, and the challenges of integration can take a toll on mental well-being. The rising number of suicides within the Nepali population underscores the urgent need for mental health support and intervention tailored to the community’s specific needs.

3. Child Health Issues and Autism: The Nepali community in Australia has grown significantly over the years, and with it comes a unique set of challenges faced by parents, especially when their children are born with developmental issues like While Australia has made strides in providing support for children with developmental disorders through the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS), temporary visa holders often find themselves in a difficult situation, as they are not eligible for NDIS funding. This issue not only places financial strain on families but can also impact their chances of obtaining permanent residency due to health criteria concerns. There is a pressing need for increased awareness and advocacy on this topic within the Nepali community.

Child health issues and challenges faced by Nepali parents in Australia, particularly in cases of autism and developmental disorders, requires a collaborative effort from the community, government, and advocacy groups. Increased awareness and advocacy can lead to policy changes that better support temporary visa holders in accessing the necessary services and ensure that no child’s developmental needs go unmet due to visa status.

4. Visa related Issues: One of the critical challenges faced by the Nepali community in Australia, particularly those pursuing visas and immigration status, is the prevalence of fraud and misconduct within the migration advice This issue has resulted in unfortunate consequences, including individuals unknowingly becoming unlawful immigrants due to misinformation or lack of knowledge. To address this pressing concern, it is essential for both the Australian government and the Nepali community to take proactive steps. The government should invest in educational campaigns targeted at immigrant communities, including the Nepali population, to inform them about the risks associated with unlawful migration advice and the importance of using registered and reputable migration agents/lawyers.

5. Passport Issues: The Nepal Embassy in Australia plays a pivotal role in passport issuance and renewal for Nepali nationals residing in the country. However, the demand for passport services has surged in recent years due to the increase in population, outstripping the embassy’s capacity to efficiently process Insufficient staff, lengthy waiting times, and administrative delays have become recurring challenges, leaving many Nepali individuals in a precarious legal situation.

It’s worth noting that the current Ambassador, H.E Mr. Kailash Raj Pokharel, has made commendable efforts to alleviate the passport renewal hardships faced by the Nepali people in recent transactions. His dedication to addressing the issue has provided some relief to the community. However, the problem of limited resources at the embassy persists and requires sustained attention.

6. Employment Issues: Many Nepali immigrants in Australia encounter challenges in securing employment within their nominated or preferred occupations, often finding themselves compelled to take on basic frontline employment. Despite their qualifications, skills, and aspirations, the realities of the job market may force them into roles that do not align with their professional This situation can be frustrating and may not fully utilize their potential, highlighting the need for support and initiatives that help match their qualifications with suitable employment opportunities.

In terms of occupations, many Nepali immigrants in Australia are engaged in various sectors. The healthcare sector sees a significant presence of Nepali individuals, with many working as nurses, healthcare assistants, and aged care workers. In the field of education, some Nepali immigrants hold positions as teachers, childcare workers, or in educational support roles. Additionally, the hospitality and retail industries also include Nepali workers, with roles spanning from restaurant staff and chefs to retail sales associates. In the construction sector, some Nepali immigrants are involved as tradespeople, laborers, or in related roles. Moreover, jobs in the transportation sector, such as driving taxis or providing rideshare services, are pursued by some members of the Nepali community in Australia.

The Nepali community in Australia can assist its members in finding employment through networking, mentorship programs, and skill development workshops. They can offer resume and interview preparation support, advocate for foreign qualification recognition, and collaborate with local organizations. Promoting entrepreneurship and advocating for inclusive hiring practices also play essential roles in helping community members secure employment, fostering their integration into the Australian job market and enhancing their overall well- being.

In conclusion, addressing these challenges requires a collaborative effort, proactive measures, increased awareness, and policy changes to ensure that the Nepali community in Australia can thrive and contribute to the multicultural fabric of the nation while enjoying a safe and prosperous life in their adopted homeland. Furthermore, in addressing the challenges faced by the Nepali community in Australia, it is crucial to highlight the role of the Nepal government in providing additional support and resources through its embassy and diplomatic channels.

(Writer Sharma is NSW Supreme Court Lawyer, Australia)

The young and acute personality, Rechard Banjara is the man with dedication and hard work. Grew up in the lap of the Himalayas and the district of the hill, he always wonder exploring the scenarios and pristine snow of Himalayas throughout the world and international guest. He was so passionate regarding travelling and exploring the destination through his childhood and he finally decides to turn his passion into profession. With continuous research and burning aspiration, he stepped his foot on the tourism industry. His remarkable number of successful treks in various regions of Nepal makes him more encouraged and passionate about his profession. Finally due to his ambition, after his continuous 8 years trekking guide experience and dedication towards it. He successfully becomes the CEO of his own trekking agency ‘Himalaya Land Treks & Expedition’.

According to him, “we were planning for rapid development of tourism industry and officially came up with the opening of visit Nepal 2020, the pandemic COVID- 19 put a stop to our travel plan”. We are running lockdown throughout the country and its fourth months of lockdown but slowly and gradually, the number of Nobel cases of COVID 19 is decreasing and people are getting well recovered. Due to this positive vibes, most of the travelling agencies are well started and back to their profession. With a lot of new policy and safety precautions, Nepal is inviting international guests too. Banjara also said that “beneath of all these, Nepal is a small yet beautiful country filled with the countless amazing travel destination. Travelling and exploring destination is everyone’s dream and hobby. Lots of people enjoy travelling”. Banjara put light on Nepal being next travelling destination for all of us post-COVID 19. The satisfaction of thrilling adventure like Paragliding, Hot air balloon, Bungee jumping, White water rafting, Mountain biking, Zip flying, Rock climbing etc can only entertain a lot throughout one’s journey with safety measures and well manage equipment here in Nepal.

“The decreasing number of COVID 19 cases and an increasing number of well recovered has inspired all of us to be back in our profession,” he said. Banjara also said that “Nepal government should follow the protocols regarding international and national health issues and information given by WHO.” He opined that the government should now go to the developed countries of the world for the promotion of Nepalese tourism and also provide health care to tourist in order to attract foreign tourist to Nepal. In his view “To make tourism more effective, the government has to allocate more and more budget for the tourism sector. We need to mobilize transport for tourist as well as provide safe hotels for accommodation and food.” He also said, “Government of Nepal should take initiative to address the declining economic growth rate as soon as possible as Nepal’s economy is completely dependent on tourism business.”

Depression all over the globe is an upper class phenomenon, not because only upper class people are the ones who can get affected by it, but, on the contrary, it is so because only they have the means and awareness to get the diagnosis and treatment done. While for the middle and the lower classes, there is no such thing as mental illness, depression and social anxiety; or more aptly, they cannot afford the luxury to dwell on such thoughts.

Inability to blend in with the populace or the thought of being different from the crowd puts the blame on a person as it is seen as their individual defect rather than there being an acceptance of who they are. The thought of being associated with it is unacceptable to these people on an internal level which has remained seeded there since age old times. Consequently, their natural reflex becomes that of brushing off these serious issues. There is a certain stigma associated with the word ‘mental illness’ in our society that no one wants to accept it as a natural occurrence or a part of human psyche.

“Sooner or later, different scares people”. This statement from the movie ‘The Accountant’ has been used in a similar context. The insecure society deceives individuals by cornering and cutting them off from the mainstream by portraying their ‘uniqueness’ as an ‘aberration’, which they consciously or subconsciously flag as a threat to their normality. They have collectively come up with their version of being ‘normal’ that is to be adhered to and inculcated by each individual without failure despite what they think, believe or constitute mentally or even to say physically fit for that matter. Often, these individuals get scared by the draconian world or even of their own self that they are forced to take desperate measures to find an escape. They either succumb to substance abuse, be it drugs, alcohol or smoking, lose their sense of self-worth and identity, or they try to find a physical recourse out of it in the form of hurting themselves/others or even by suicide. Those who are a bit strong willed, than the above, continue their lives overshadowed and chained by depression, living among us as ‘the walking deads’ or as fragile pieces of a ‘glass menagerie’ waiting for a sound or tremor to shatter them off.

Something needs to be done and starting from a very foundational level to give the coming generations a fair chance against these odds. But more often than not, these resolutions and tasks fall through the cracks, as we have ‘bigger’ momentary issues and sensations, all too popular
garbage being served to us. So, it will be far too optimistic to hope for a change in near future, but a distant goal and planned effort seems more pragmatic.

Pratiksha Jha
3rd year BDS
BPKIHS , Dharan

By Birendra Dash

With spread of covid-19 pandemic worldwide, the education sector has been badly affected. The UNESCO and the World Bank estimates 1.3 billion students worldwide are deprived of right to education due to the pandemic. This comprises 70 percent of the world’s student population. The government of Nepal immediately closed education institutions including examination of SEE, 10+2 and higher education for uncertainty issuing a press release on 18 March 2020. This has severely affected schooling of over 16 million children of 35,000 schools.

During lockdown, most of the private schools in urban areas have started virtual classes through Zoom, Google Hangouts, Microsoft Teams, Google Meet and Google Classroom. My son who studies in grade 4 in one of the reputed private school has been participating in 8 to 10 lessons per week. The school had informed parents on 19 March stating that virtual class will begins from April 20. My spouse, who is a teacher of a private school, is also teaching online through Zoom software. The online class and internet facility have enabled the students to engage productively in teaching-learning activities.

But, the scenario is different in rural and semi-urban areas. My cousins from Sarlahi district are unable to access formal education. The private schools in the district have not been able to run online classes as every household does not have internet access. They stay at home watching television programs, playing mobile phones and engaging in agricultural activities. This is just an example of how children are deprived of formal education during the lockdown. Moreover, the educational activities of public schools are more likely to be closed for a longer period of time.

The effects of non-involvement of children in learning at school is likely to have serious effect on children.

First, the learning achievement of the children of a public school seems to be more affected. The closer of schools for a longer period of time will challenge school to cover school curriculum. Covering curriculum has been always challenging to public schools even in normal education calendar. With the spread of the virus (now in 72 districts), the curriculum is still not available in rural areas. Delivering textbook on time has been always challenging in past. The none delivery of books and less education activities are likely to result poor learning achievement.

Second, the closure of school for longer period will result higher drop-out with increases in child marriage and child labors. The evidences show that child marriage has increased after devastating April 2015 earthquake. Due to the COVID-19, wage-based laborers have lost their job and are struggling to get enough food. This is likely to push children of marginalized population into child labor, child trafficking and child marriage to secure livelihood of families

Third, the closer of school and negative impact on food security of vulnerable families have increased vulnerability of malnutrition of marginalized children. WEP estimates 320 million primary school students in 120 countries worldwide are deprived of school meals because of the corona pandemic. In Nepal, children were used to get day meal at public school which was supplementary to maintain nutrition. Death of Melar Sada in Saptari due to lack of food shows that families of most marginalized population is not able to get enough food. They are dreaming to have two normal meals a day. In this context, children from ultra-poor families deprived of access to food. This is likely to increase malnutrition and health issues in school children.

Fourth, I have seen my relative children getting afraid of being infected, worrying about food supply and even death. My 9-years-old son tracks the COVID-19 data on his tablet and interprets the continuous surge in the number of infected people as risk for us as well. He expressed his fear saying “what if everybody dies, what if food supply stopped…we will die virus or starvation…”. By nature, children of this age like to play with children outside which is important for physical, mental and social development. The COVID-19 limited these developments.

POLICY INTERVENTION

The government of Nepal has recently endorsed a guideline ‘School Student Alternative Teaching Learning Guideline 2020’ to start distance and alternative education from 14 June 2020. The government has planned to provide online classes for children with devices and internet. Likewise, the children with access to radio and television will receive education through radio and television programs. The children with no access to devices and internet will be reached though volunteer teachers and will be guided by parents. The plan includes delivery of text books to all children by June 14.

The distance education through radio and television started recently for the SEE appearing students in the Kathmandu Valley. However, the children in rural areas have been deprived of such facilities. Schools lack human and technological assets to run the class. On the other hand, children lack internet facilities and devices. The state governments and local government in semi-urban and rural areas have not yet taken appropriate initiatives to tackle with this problem. Parents of marginalized population such as Madhesi Dalits lacks skills and knowledge to guide their children. Most of them are either illiterate or have less knowledge to help learning of their kids. Similarly, non-recruitment of volunteer teachers yet is challenging to start the education from 14 June 2020. Thus, it can be claimed that government has not formulated pro-poor policies.

WAY FORWARD

Marginalized population’s no access to current education system, inferior learning achievement, high drop-out, malnutrition, increased child marriage, child trafficking and child labor are likely to have serious effect on school children. This will further increase inequalities between privileged and under-privileged children. Being a socialist country, it is a right time to develop free education system like in Finland and Sri Lanka in order to make equal and equitable access to quality education for all. The schools in rural areas need internet facilities and devices to cope up with current situation. Distribution of learning tablets to school children can help in modernization of education which will not only reduce dependency on printed books, but also provide children better opportunity to access online learning resources. Furthermore, duty-bearers needs to adopt integrated approach for socio-economic recovery of most vulnerable children in order to reduce severe negative effect on school children.

The author is a student of M. Phil in Development Studies at Kathmandu University School of Education. He can also be contacted at [email protected]

By Adarsha Acharya

I am one of the Secondary Education Examination (SEE) appearing students of Nepal. From the dawn of the session, I was told it’s mandatory as it decides a career. I and my friends were very thrilled from the very first day of grade ten and we were very perturbed about our studies and how are we going to draw up ourselves to give the examination.

I wasn’t used to taking tuitions or joining hostel to acquire additional assistance for my studies before but since this year was the SEE, I decided to join one of those institutes for tuition class where I was accompanied by my friends. We studied day and night with the aim of securing good grades in the board exam. As the exam dates closed, we started hearing the COVID-19, also commonly known as noble coronavirus, have started in China and deaths rolls were escalating. Progressively, it had spread globally generating prodigious depletion of human lives. Nepal being one of its neighboring countries was exceedingly in the chance of being an upcoming host country but this wasn’t the case till that date. This new pandemic was emerging and was a huge concern for all of us. I vividly remember talking to my friends during the spare time about this virus that not even a single case was found in Nepal although WHO had listed Nepal as a risk zone and could be dreadfully affected. Furthermore, we were distressed as both of our neighboring countries China and India were affected and our country may also be listed on strained countries.

We were firmly intended in attending the SEE, and just a week before the examinations, we went to our academy with electrifying faces to accept our entry cards. As the final exams of all the classes (till grade 9) were pronounced to be held before the scheduled time, I thought our exams might also be held at an earlier date but news arrived that the SEE will be conducted as per the routine.

A day before the SEE, my dad, to my surprise, came to the institute in the evening where I was preparing the examination of English subject—examination of English is normally held on the first day. Quietly, my dad called me outside and said, “Your SEE examination has been postponed”. I was utterly astounded. Then I conveyed the message to my class where my friends were also wholly shocked. For a time being, they could not believe me. I came home and chattered with my friends. They all were psychologically sickled.

A week later, the Government of Nepal tended to lockdown (which is in effect since March 24) the entire nation hours after the second coronavirus case was detected in the country. Firstly, the government proclaimed to enforce the lockdown for a week. Then unhurriedly and moderately in the upcoming days, the containment locking was increased. And it is continued till today. Due to the lockdown, all the educational institutes have been shut down. And in this censorious time, the government has not taken any exact decision towards the SEE till now. In regard to this paramount issue, many exhortations have been out. There were even times that we heard the SEE could be dropped, and the SEE appearing students would be provided a certificate without the exam. Even PABSON says, “That the government can print the result according to the previous PABSON exam as it would be the finest solution at this time”.

Because of the pandemic, the world situation seems to be dread and so are the students. The news agencies have the prime concern for the coronavirus. The daily news which is published is intimidation for mankind. It mostly affected us. Child psychology is haphazardly contrived. The anxiety of the virus fears is cooking in our brain. Our whole attentiveness is now on how to shield from the virus. There is no suitable environment for continuing our study. We are not evolved to handle the future and life together so early. Talking about the education faculty, the most popular finals is the SEE. No matter how prominent, the thesis is no consequences. At the moment students are disquieted about their studies as we don’t want to let go of our one year. There are worries if we are not able to give the SEE exam, what will happen to our further education. No wonder giving exams is essential for students but maintaining social distancing and other precautions to keep away the virus is not helping the students at all. To not affect the student psychology any more now, the SEE examination procedure should be commenced. The government should change the traditional way of taking the SEE examination and implement the contemporary course of feasible.

In this crucial period, the deadly virus has spread across the world, and the cases are surging in Nepal every day with already over 1200 confirmed cases and six deaths as of May 30. As we try not to catch the virus, we are also worried about our future. And it is the major concern of every student today. What will happen if we are not fortunate to appear in the SEE? What about our future? What back up plans the government has made to the SEE giving students? The concerns of the students should be immediately addressed by the government and also should assure the students regarding the SEE modality.

By Prasanna Vaidya

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, bringing the economy and life back on track remains the biggest challenge. With the increasing number of infections—Nepal’s total cases are now 603 with three deaths as of May 24, 2020–the country is plunging into deep health crisis. Because of ill-equipped health-care systems and lack of equipment to combat the virus, the effects of the pandemic in Nepal will be even more damaging. There are concerns whether urgent action is needed. The Government of Nepal should involve UN agencies, NGOs, Cooperative societies, Private sectors, and Civil Society Institutions in implementing activities in the grassroots to tackle the COVID-19 impacts. UN agencies, INGOs can monitor and provide technical assistance to the national and local levels.

During the pandemic, livelihoods and institutions are experiencing devastating collapses, some are even facing existential crisis- particularly those with smaller operating margins and household income. According to the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) in Nepal, the micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) have been adversely affected. Until now, three in every five employees of both formal and informal sectors have lost their jobs. In Nepal, SMEs contribute around 22% of the GDP and generates around 17 lakh employment. Formal and semi-formal sectors have financed half of the SMEs and the other half is financed by the informal sector. The Institute for Integrated Development Studies (IIDS) has revealed that the MSMEs have witnessed a fall of 95 percent in average monthly revenue across Nepal. While some researchers point that the COVID-19 is more of an “urban phenomenon” and since microfinance largely deals with services in rural and semi-urban areas, it is not likely to get affected adversely for a longer period if few appropriate measures are adopted. Over these years, microfinance institutions (MFIs) have played a critical role in poverty alleviation by supporting the income-generating activities, women empowerment, improvement in education, and health status for the poorer. Its objective is to achieve Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) which in overall form an essential basis for social and economic development.

MFIs are suffering from a lack of repayments, access to capital, liquidity for both investors and creditors, and fund for on-going operations. It has also become difficult to raise funds for venture capital firms. As a result of the poor financial performance, additional credit will be difficult to generate. Although Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) has already announced a number of relief measures including rescheduling of loan repayment and will also prioritize refinance facilities for small and medium scale enterprises, these are short-term measures and may not yield the desired results. The Government of Nepal and NRB (Regulators) should ensure prioritizing and points out the guideline which may manage the workforce, sustain the crisis and beyond. In several neighboring countries, their government has granted small businesses a 1-year moratorium on all principal repayments. They have introduced emergency loans to support MSMEs and flexibility for repayments of existing loans. Additionally, banks and microfinance institutions are also promoting digital channels like debit-card usage, and so on.

Regulators can take several measures like a financial support package which includes a loan support system and a comprehensive response plan to cope with the outbreak.

• Suspensions of loan repayment up to 9 months for financial institutions.
• Reducing the repo rate and cash reserve ratio to increase the liquidity in the market.
• Increase the Debt to Equity ratio and relaxing the Liquidity Ratio to increase on-going lending.
• Waiver on unsecured interest and interest rate.
• Reducing interest rates in debt financing.
• Increasing the provision of credit portfolio to a minimum of 7% for deprived sector lending.
• Enabling MFIs to access and facilitate in injections of capital.
• Direct lending support to MFIs from the Central Bank or intermediated through domestic banks.
• MFIs should offer new loan products and disaster recovery loans as a supportive loan.
• A concessional loan scheme for farmers and extending credit to mostly small and marginal groups.
• MFIs should restructure loans on assets.
• Encouraging (waived) MFIs to use digital channels, like mobile money, for loan collections and disbursements at scale immediately.
• Allowing MFIs with secure payments network to allow digital products, including self-account opening, digital savings, digital transfers to bank clients, and even retail payment schemes.
• Declaring MFIs an essential service and allow MFIs to resume operations from June with public health guidance.
• Establish a credit assessment institution as a private-public partnership.

The majority of borrowers who are connected to MFIs are poor people or low-income individuals. Because of less techno-friendly the MFIs should virtually educate and inform the borrowers about disbursements and contingency plans promptly which when implemented by the regulators. Information on export and domestic agricultural demands should be coordinated to provide farmers the confidence to produce a remunerative output and to reduce price volatility in agricultural markets. Direct relief schemes to low-income people and facilitating social protection should also be executed by the regulators.

Thus, MFIs have always been a valuable option for the provision of social protection and social assistance and will play also their vital role in recovery once the COVID-19 crisis recedes.

(The author is an M. Phil at Delhi School of Economics, Delhi University.)

By Mijash Vaidya

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected the entire political, social, economic, religious, and financial structures around the globe, and of course, Nepal is among one of them.

According to the World Bank, Nepal’s economic growth is expected to fall in the neighborhood of 1.5 and 2.8 percent in the fiscal year 2020, reflecting lower remittances, trade and tourism, and broader disruptions. A prolonged outbreak of COVID-19 would impact growth significantly with a further deceleration in services and industrial production. One of the major sectors that is highly affected by COVID-19 is construction, which provides a significant contribution to Nepal’s economy. The construction sector alone is said to contribute about 10-11 % to Nepal’s GDP and uses about 35% of the government budget. It provides employment to more than 1 million people.

The target of Nepal to graduate from the least developed country to middle-income or developed country by increasing its economy has been heavily impacted because of COVID-19. The construction of 5,000 projects worth Rs. 800 billion in the country will be postponed after eight months due to a nationwide lockdown for controlling the pandemic. Construction work has almost stopped in all projects, and around 3 million people working in the construction sector have become jobless. This obviously will shake the entire economy of Nepal.

Nepal has reported over 500 cases so far with three deaths, and with the increasing number of cases, the situation has become even worse. Nevertheless, the government of Nepal has also made several arrangements and adopted effective measures to prevent the pandemic situation. The World Bank and Ministry of Finance have signed an agreement of a fast-track $29 million COVID-19 Emergency Response and Health Systems Preparedness Project to help Nepal prevent, detect, and respond to the COVID-19 pandemic and strengthen its public health preparedness.

In the context of the construction sector, some essential and national pride projects are still under construction. However, to catch-up on the falling economy, the Government of Nepal needs to focus on continuing small and medium scale projects at the local level using local labor and should organize construction rationally in accordance with the requirements of epidemic prevention and control simultaneously. In addition, for projects under construction and resumption projects, the construction unit, and relevant participating units should develop the epidemic prevention and control management system and emergency plan in harmony with the local government and the health department.

Moreover, strict construction site management, environmental disinfection, and cleanliness of the living place of workers, temporary canteens, and other construction sites should be ensured along with the project quality and safety. The closed management system can be implemented on conditional construction sites. Implementation of the real-name system requirements, on-site staff account at the construction site, registration system for personnel entering and leaving the construction site performing temperature detection, reporting, and necessary isolation observations at the site should be done. The construction sites should be equipped with the necessary protection and disinfection supplies like soap, face mask, sanitizer, gloves, etc. and should put up health advisory posters and infographics. The construction industry should conduct a self-awareness program and strengthen publicity as well as should provide training to workers on self-prevention and protection ability. Also, all the construction workers must be tested before they can return to work and should provide a health certificate. In addition, the government should provide an additional amount for project management to cover the increased overhead cost incurred during this period, and should announce a financial package or incentives to help and encourage workers.

To revive the economy of Nepal in the current situation, the Government of Nepal must concentrate on stimulating the construction sector as the other sectors like remittances and tourism depend on the global economy. Global remittances are projected to decline sharply by about 20 percent in 2020 due to the economic crisis as predicted by the World Bank. As far as tourism is concerned, it is not possible until international flights and borders are opened, and unless the vaccine becomes available across the world. On the contrary, the construction sector does not depend on the global economy like other sectors for small and medium scale projects. Nepal has enough size and capacity to produce raw materials such as cement, aggregate, and steel components. Improvement in the construction sector leads to the arousal of the manufacturing sector as well. Consequently, creating employment in the construction and manufacturing sector, which can help to mitigate the hunger crisis and improve the health of the workers as well as their families during this pandemic. Thus, the government should ramp-up the construction sector and should propose a significant fiscal stimulus in this sector as soon as feasible in order to cope with emerging catastrophe and to prevent further shocks to the economy.

(The author is a Master’s scholar in Highway and Railway Engineering at South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, Guangdong province, China.)

By Dr. Chandan Raman

As the world fights with coronavirus crisis, battling rumors and misinformation is a challenge for the human race to cope with this critical situation.

COVID-19 is an infectious disease caused by the severe acute respiratory system (SARS-Cov-2). The virus is primarily spread through contaminated people by means of close contact via small droplets produced by coughing, sneezing and talking. The virus is most contagious during the first three days after the onset of symptoms although the transmission is possible before the symptoms appear. Therefore social distancing, use of face masks, handwashing with soap on a regular basis and obtaining the method of self-quarantine (especially those with symptoms like cough, fever and respiratory disease) are few essential methods to be aware about the COVID-19.

On April 11, major scientific database and clinical trial repositories were done for COVID-19, SARS-Cov-2 and role of BCG vaccine to find/rule out its association on the immune system of an infected patient. The experimental evidence from both animal and human studies showed that the BCG-vaccine has non-specific effects on the immune system of a COVID-19 patient. Even the use of NSAIDS (paracetamol, aspirin etc.) has no direct evidence of positive outcomes on these virus-infected patients. The limitation of NSAIDS use on acute health care utilization, explicit quality of life measures or long-term survival only reduced fever and associated minor sing and symptoms. Few western countries like Germany and the United States reported that the use of ventilators in an early stage of the COVID-19 patients who developed signs and symptoms of respiratory distress reduced the mortality rate.

Rapid diagnostic test (RDT) detects the presence of viral proteins (antigens) expressed by the COVID-19 virus in a sample from the respiratory tract of a person. These proteins detected are expressed only when the virus is actively replicating. Therefore such tests are best used to identify COVID-19 cases only during the acute stage or early infection.

The chances of “false positive” results are also associated with factors like quality of the specimen, time from onset of illness and concentration of virus etc. WHO does not recommend it for patient care but encourages the continuation in disease surveillance and epidemiological research whereas PRC-testing of respiratory tract samples in the recommended method for laboratory confirmation of COVID-19 cases globally.

No pharmaceutical products have yet been shown to be safe and effective for the treatment of COVID-19. A number of medicines are still on clinical trials and research purposes though.

Further, “off label” use of medicine prescribed by doctors may subject to national laws and regulations governing their practice and should be prescribed on a case-by-case basis. Until the standard management protocol of COVID-19 has not been approved by the WHO, it is possible and feasible for treating a patient as a part of a clinical trial but this should only be done unless the patient declines to participate in the trial.

If it is not possible to give the treatment as a part of a clinical trial, the consent of a patient must be taken and appropriate records of the use of medicines must be kept safely in a respective hospital as well as in a government record.

(The author is the founder and president at United National Medical Society of Nepal.)

www.unmsn.com.np

By Er. Manish Thapa

As of 10 April, starting from Wuhan, China in December of 2019, the population of all countries (except three namely Ecuador from Africa and Tajikistan and Turkmenistan from Asia) have been affected by COVID-19. Based on Johns Hopkins, a total of 1,612,646 confirmed cases, 96,787 (6%) deaths and 361,377 (22%) recovered cases have been reported. In the case of Nepal, 9 confirmed cases, 1 recovered and 8 active cases have been reported (as of 10 April 2020).

In the last century alone, there were multiple situations of the pandemic such as 1918 influenza pandemic, 1968 flu pandemic, 2006 H5N1, and 2014 Ebola outbreak taking millions of human lives across the globe. After the outbreak on December 31, 2019 from Wuhan, China, COVID-19 has travelled across the globe already affecting millions of populations with no sign of stopping soon. Not only human casualties, but also every single sector has been hardly affected by COVID-19.

Impact of COVID-19 on Education Sector

Normally, in epidemic or pandemic cases, the education sector has been the one to be affected first and most. As the COVID-19 transfers from person-person, almost all educational institutions across the globe have temporarily closed its classes with no confirmation regarding re-opening dates in an attempt to contain the spread of the COVID-19 virus. As per the UNESCO report, COVID-19 has affected 1,576,021,818 young learners constituting 91.3% of the total enrolled learners (pre-primary to tertiary education levels). In Nepal alone, 8,796,624 students have been affected.

Response from Government of Nepal

Since the outbreak of COVID-19 in China, the Government of Nepal has taken precautionary measures by requesting the academic institutions to re-schedule their examination and complete regular school exams before or by the first week of Chaitra. When COVID-19 was declared a pandemic, the government took some strong measures such as the complete lockdown of the country which is currently in the third week. Examinations such as SEE and HSEB examination (+2 level) and graduate level (TU) examination have been postponed. Since, the schools were scheduled to be closed after completion of SEE, COVID-19 outbreak has not affected the regular curricula like that in other countries. However, the students to appear on SEE (total 482219 students, MoE, March 25) and +2 examinations and academic curriculum of bachelor and higher degrees across the country are among the group to be mostly affected. To increase awareness about COVID-19, the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology has developed and broadcasted Public Service Announcement (PSA) materials focusing on COVID-19 in Nepali and Maithali language. Furthermore, Guideline and Minimum Standard to follow for the use of the schools as a location for quarantine has been developed and circulated among other Government bodies and schools across the country.

Inclusion of Information, Communication and Technology in Education Sector

For a country like Nepal, though the use of technology is not at an advanced stage like that in countries such as USA, UK, Australia or other Asian/European Countries. However, seeds have already been rowed through the inclusion of Information Communication and Technology (ICT) in the education sector in Government implemented programs such as Education for All program (2000-2015), School Safety Reform Programme (2009-2016) and School Safety Development Plan (2016/17-2022/23). Academic Institutions such as Kathmandu University, Ace Institute of Management, King’s College has already adopted distance classes. The government has been producing and broadcasting the teaching class for the students of Grade IX and X through NTV. Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (MOEST) and university authorities also have started discussions and consultations with concerned stakeholders for initiation of e-learning in coming days. As shared by Mr. Baikuntha Aryal, Joint Secretary, MOEST, “Government of Nepal has already formed the committee under the leadership of VC, NOU which will look after the research and recommend on the possibility of management of online material and other virtual medium as an alternative to respond the COVID-19 impact on education.”

Initiation of Distance Learning by Academic Institutions

For countries from developed as well as developing countries, continuation of teaching-learning has been the challenging yet prioritized task during COVID-19 pandemic. As per the GEM Report (25 March), distance learning approach has been adopted as an alternative to classroom-based teaching-learning approach. Looking at the current scenario, teachers and school administrators were encouraged to use applications to deliver education session viz application of tools such as zoom, moodle, google meet, skype, slack, canvas, etc. Based on his experience, Ayush Rai, an M. Phil student at the Kathmandu University, says, “The virtual classes that KU has been organizing are very helpful. As we can support the regular classes and keep up with the semester schedule, the interactions with the professors are also regular.”

Prakriti Gautam, an MBA student at the Ace Institute of Management said “Despite the fact that COVID-19 has brought disturbance in our day to day life, it certainly has brought some great relief in the life of people who are working and also pursuing academic courses at the same time. Virtual classes have made my life very easy; the hassle of commuting, getting ready just for getting to college somehow has reduced.”

Challenges and Opportunities

According to Docebo (2016), “Nepal ranked 6^th out of the 122 countries tracked by Ambient Insight Research for self-paced E-learning”. Though distance learning for academic degree could be the new venture to look at, it has its own demerit in cases of countries like Nepal, that is the lack of availability and accessibility of smooth internet facilities with good bandwidth across the country. According to the Nepal Telecom (2019), 63% of Nepal’s population has internet connection, of which 79% of them are reliant on mobile phones, mostly limited to urban areas. Most of the rural areas still lack high speed 3G, 4G and other broadband services. On top of that, academic institutions especially public institutions have found difficulty in adopting updated technologies to implement technology-based teaching-learning system even with huge investment and promotion from the government of Nepal.

Agreeing with the complexity of distance learning at academic degree, Prachanda Man Pradhan, Ph. D., Associate Professor, Kathmandu University shared, “Looking at the current prospect of Nepal from availability of infrastructure (availability of digital devices, internet facility, strength of bandwidth) at home or school/universities and existing teaching-learning approaches (requiring interaction between student-teacher, mandatory attendance, mixed approach in terms of theory and practice) adoption of distance or online learning could be the challenging task.”

At the same time, he shared the possibility of application of distance learning depending on the nature of the degree. If the courses are more of the theoretical in nature, distance learning can be applied. Whereas for the course that requires practical exercises and rigorous discussion among teacher-student, distance learning can only be a supplementary act.

Next Step

Looking at the national circumstances, emerging needs and technological progress, distance learning could be a challenging yet possible task. The reflection and learning from the experience of distance learning during COVID-19 and any prior experiences can be used to replicate at wider level upon adequate reflection, discussion, consultation, and policy-level interventions. Though fair access is the major concern to dealt with, the underlying opportunities and ongoing experiences should not be neglected in the global context of rapidly increasing adoption of technology in teaching-learning practice and initiation of distance classes in foreseeable future.

(Writer is the student of M. Phil at Department of Development Education, Kathmandu University, School of Education)

Photo: New Business Age