Kathmandu, Oct 8 (IANS): The Nepal has allowed universities and colleges across the Himalayan country to conduct exams by ensuring social distancing and other safety measures enforced in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, a media report said on Thursday.

Addressing the media here earlier in the day, Foreign Affairs Minister Pradeep Kumar Gyawali said that the government also gave permission to vocational institutions to conduct training, but the number of participants should not exceed 25, The Himalayan Times reported.

Registrar of the Tribhuvan University Peshal Dahal told The Himalayan Times that it has already conducted engineering and MPhil exams and was preparing to hold other stalled examinations from mid-November.

He also said that the University would make an exception for those who cannot appear due to COVID-19.

In a statement, Deepak Sharma, spokesman for the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, said: "If universities think physical appearance of students is viable, they can conduct exams requiring students to appear in exam centres, but if they think that they can conduct online examination, project based examination or open book examination, they can do that."