Interview with Prakash Kumar Kejriwal

24 April Kathmandu, 2020

The commitment and dedication of educational institutes in Nepal have been exemplary during the lockdown. Most schools and colleges have started online live classes through several online platforms like Zoom, Google Meet, Google Class, etc.

Amidst the pandemic and the government imposed lockdown, LBEF Campus has made over 3100 online classes available for its students. These classes will not only help to widen the students’ skills but also keep them busy during the lockdown.

Here’s the official notice from LBEF Campus’ website:

Notices - LBEF CAMPUS-The First IT College of NepalNotice on Online Courses from LBEF Campus’ website

LBEF was founded in 1998 as a non-profit, non-government organization. It is the first IT college in Nepal and has made steady progress to become one of the leading colleges in the country. More than 7000 students have graduated from the institute and currently, over 1000 are pursuing their studies at LBEF Campus.

Let’s see what LBEF is planning to provide remote classes and resources to its students.

Interview with Prakash Kumar Kejriwal – Executive Director, LBEF Group of Institutions

Q. Are online classes being conducted at present?

A: Yes, we are conducting live online classes as well as providing online courses to students. Currently, we are conducting live online classes for MBA, BSc. IT, BBM, and MSc. IT.

Q. How are you offering complimentary Online Courses to students?

A: Besides academic courses, we used to offer 54 complimentary online courses to students for the past one year. Since the lockdown, we have done two things. Firstly, we started conducting live online classes. They are going as scheduled on a regular basis. Secondly, we offered access to more than 3600 online courses to our students.

These online courses are references for students in topics like Arts, Computer Science, Big Data, etc. So, there is a wide range of topics and courses from the World’s leading Universities. We have acquired licenses for these courses that we offer to students.

Executive Director at LBEF

Q. How effective are the online classes going?

A: Honestly speaking, we found a very low attendance in morning classes (7:30 AM). Maybe it’s the lockdown effect that students started waking up late (laughs). But the participation of students is perfect in classes scheduled at 10-11 AM. Although I have to say that around 80% of students are attending the live classes.

Q. How are the future scopes of online live classes at the LBEF Campus when normal lives continue after the lockdown?

A: We are definitely going to continue the live classes. We are planning webinars and other ways to facilitate a better learning environment as well.

Two things that this pandemic taught everyone around the world are that we can ‘Work from Home’ and we can ‘Learn from Home’. Some aspects of these were unimaginable in the past but no doubt, people are exploring the possibilities of learning from home as well.

I believe live classes will become an integral part of every academic institution’s learning management system. It will be just like an infrastructure. Every academic institution needs to implement a learning management system that minimizes the need for the physical presence of students and lecturers.

In fact, we are on the verge of launching our own platform called “e-Jaach” by next week. This platform will allow us to conduct 100% proctored tests online. So, applications like these will become a part of academic lives and infrastructures in the future.

Q. Can you tell me more about this application?

A: We have already prepared the application and we have worked really hard on it. In fact, the development is in the final phase and I believe we will be soon announcing the launch of the application. We will be able to conduct 100% proctored tests through the portal.

This examination portal will facilitate online assessment and will be one of a kind. We have our own software team working on it collaborating with a team of Singapore. The main purpose of this application is to facilitate online examinations from home. It might as well be a solution for conduction examinations such as SEE and other board examinations that have been halted due to the lockdown. The capacity is huge as we will be able to conduct around 10,000 tests at a time.

Do you think online learning applications will shape the future?

Let us know in the comments if you have any suggestions regarding online classes in Nepal!

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Mina Aryal is a Nepali tech journalist and media expert. She is currently the chief editor of ICT Frame, a leading online tech media outlet in Nepal that covers topics such as technology, business, and entrepreneurship. Aryal has been involved in the field of tech journalism for over a decade and has covered various topics such as internet governance, cybersecurity, e-commerce, and startup ecosystems. She has also been involved in organizing and promoting tech events in Nepal to bring together tech enthusiasts, entrepreneurs, and investors to discuss and collaborate on various topics related to the tech industry. Aryal is considered one of the most influential tech journalists in Nepal and has been recognized for her contributions to the field.

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