Schools in both India and Nepal are slowly resuming operations. After months of homeschooling, school children at several sites in India have been able to attend classes again since the beginning of September. The schools at Usthi’s project site in Nepal will also open next week.
After India and Nepal were hit hard by a second wave of corona in April, the number of cases has been steadily declining since mid-July. This development now allows activities to restart at the Usthi school and education project sites.
In the state of Telangana in India, classroom teaching has been allowed again in all schools since the 1st of September. The Back-to-School project, which enables children to return to school, has been resumed. Likewise, the tutoring centres in Hyderabad have reopened and offer support to school children to restart classes.
The situation in Nepal is also improving steadily. Thanks to falling case numbers, the government plans to open the schools already next week. At the project site in Dhading, classes can start again. Usthi’s local partner used the time during which the schools were closed to refurbish the classrooms. The renovation work in the schools is going well and is in its final stages. Ceilings and walls are being freshly painted and letters and numbers are being painted for the lessons. The equipment for the classes and the materials for the students are then being prepared to be ready for the opening of the school on Monday.