The government is preparing to alter school hours, saying it will reduce traffic jams during office hours.
The Office of the Prime Minister and the Council of Ministers has also prepared an action plan to get the students to school within 9am.
The Prime Minister’s Office has sent an order to the Ministry of Education with instructions to implement the action plan.
Mahesh Prasad Dahal, a secretary of the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, confirmed that the action plan for manipulating school time was received from the Prime Minister’s Office. “We are reviewing the work plan of the Prime Minister’s Office,” said Dahal.
To finalize the action plan, the Ministry of Education has constituted a committee under the coordination of Head of the School Education Department, Krishna Prasad Kaapri.
Dahal said that the new timetable will be implemented across schools in the country, even though the new school time is being prepared for the purpose of reducing the jam in the Kathmandu Valley.
‘The new timetable are targeted especially for private schools as they mostly transport students by buses,’ said Secretary Dahal, adding, ‘This may not be applicable for government schools.’
“If we say vehicles it includes government school vehicles too but government school vehicles are few in numbers.” he said.
On Sunday, the Ministry of Education had a discussion with stakeholders about the implementation of the new schedule of school operating time.
The discussion included PABSON, NPABSON, HISAN, Traffic Police officers, guardian representatives and representatives of Kathmandu, Lalitpur, Bhaktapur and Madhipur Thimi municipalities.