The pandemic required NCEF to adjust its normal processes so it could maintain a base lifeline of support for the students in Nepal.

The pandemic made it unsafe to go door-to-door and collect applications and detailed biographical and financial information from the students. NCEF decided that it would renew the financial assistance to all the current students this year and adjust its decision as more information becomes available safely later in the year. The students had been rigorously vetted for their financial needs in the past year and significant improvement in financial status is unlikely as more families have seen their incomes fall significantly.

NCEF is preparing to disburse a lower level of funding per student this year compared to other years. Typically NCEF provides USD 100 per student per year to cover supplies, uniforms, extra tutoring (when needed), and miscellaneous school fees. This year, the total schooling costs are likely to be lower than in other years because the students are spending most of their time at home. However, there are still expenses such as books and supplies. If the schools resume in alternate or reduced schedule for the remainder of the academic year, the cost may still approach regular year costs. We will keep our readers updated as the situation evolves.

Looking ahead into the next academic year, we expect there to be an increase in the needs of the students we currently support and there will be many more students we may want to support because more families will no longer be able to afford expenses related to education due to COVID19 related disruption. Thus, we encourage our readers to please continue sending their gift to NCEF to support the children of Nepal.

We would like to share some updates from students and volunteers in Nepal from late October with our readers, friends, and supporters. We spoke with area coordinators in Nepal who volunteer their time to run our programs to assist the students in Nepal. The conversation centered around understanding how the schools are running and what the students and volunteers are up to during the pandemic. Our conclusion is remote and online learning is extremely challenging in rural areas due to lack of experience and resources. What has had some success is occasional visits by the teachers to the homes and neighborhoods to mentor and guide the students. Overall, it has been a major setback for all the students. The area coordinators hope that the schools will resume with reduced schedule and social distancing in the near future. We will share more detailed updates from the areas in next month’s newsletter.