Restructuring and Reallocating funding for Alternative Mode of Learning in Response Covid-19

University Grants Commission, working in close collaboration with the World Bank, the development partner for Higher Education reform Project (HERP), 2015-2020, restructured its funding mechanism of HERP which was due to end on June 2020. This restructuring has been designed for conducting online classes and carrying out research projects on corona virus in the universities and campuses. The UGC Board meeting held on 6th May 2020 made a decision to incorporate an additional disbursement link indicator, DLI 8, in the Higher Education Reform Projects (HERP) Implementation Guidelines, 2071, with grants amounting to Rs. 470000000. The grants were managed from HERP and funded by the World Bank. The support will be provided to the all central departments, schools and constituents campuses of all the universities of Nepal. The community campuses will receive on a priority basis, with QAA accredited campuses and other campuses that have been participating in the QAA process. Eleven thousand four hundred poor students will be supported for e-learning under this scheme. UGC will provide financial assistance to amounting approximately 3 crore to 3 collaborative projects to carry out research on various aspects of Covid-19. The research projects will be selected from an open competition among the universities and its organizations. The projects are in the process of selection after an open call in newspapers. Eleven universities, 39 central departments, 19 schools, 115 constituent campuses and 127 community campuses will be benefited from this program. The support is provided to facilitate learning management systems, teacher training activities, live classes, video recording for online classes and logistics supports. The COVID-19 pandemic has forced universities to bring their courses online. The pandemic has affected educational systems nationwide, leading to the total closure of universities and colleges. Nepalese universities and colleges have initiated the use of video-conferencing apps for teaching learning.