Surkhet/rautahat, April 19 -- The federal government's attempt to enforce a uniform academic calendar nationwide is likely to face resistance from local governments, as different climatic, social and infrastructural realities in the mountainous and Tarai regions disrupt schooling and threaten course completion.

Chhundup Tamang of ward 6 in Mugum Karmarong Rural Municipality of Mugu travels to alpine meadows, locally known as patan, every year with his wife, Sangmu, and their three sons to collect Yarsagumba, a high-value medicinal fungus. During this period, his children miss at least a month and a half of schooling, a disturbance that has become routine for families in the highlands.

Keeping in view the biting cold that grips the regio...