COVID-Pandemic in Nepal: An Opportunity to Institutionalise Local Governance in School Education

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.