International Journal of Disaster Risk Management • Vol. 7, No. 1 • https://doi.org/10.18485/ijdrm.2025.7.1.27
International Journal of Disaster
Risk Management
Publisher: Scientific-Professional Society for Disaster Risk Management
Article
Teachers’ Perception Towards Responses of COVID-19 Pandemic
Management in Gandaki Province of Nepal:
A Cross-Sectional Survey
Jyoti Chandra Ojha
1*
, Prakash Chandra Bhaarai
2
, Bhimsen Devkota
3
1
Kathmandu University, School of Education, Kathmandu, Nepal; jyoti_phds21@kusoed.edu.np
2
Faculty of School of Education, Kathmandu University, Kathmandu, Nepal; prakash@kusoed.edu.np
3
Faculty of Education, Tribhuvan University, Kathmandu, Nepal; devkatabhim@gmail.com
*
Correspondence: jyoti_phds21@kusoed.edu.np.
Received: 28 April 2025; Revised: 5 June 2025; Accepted: 10 June 2025; Published: 30 June 2025.
abstract
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has impacted numerous organisations, includ-
ing those in the health, education, livelihood, and development sectors. The outbreak of COVID-19
resulted in the prolonged closure of many educational institutions. Health and education authorities
made concerted efforts to maintain teaching and learning activities in schools. Teachers’ perceptions
are crucial for the effectiveness of future pandemic response initiatives. Therefore, this study aims
to assess teachers’ perceptions of the responses to the COVID-19 pandemic. An institution-based
cross-sectional study was conducted among teachers in community schools from June 29 to August
28, 2023, in the Gandaki Province of Nepal. The sample size consisted of 732 individuals, select-
ed using a multi-stage cluster sampling method. A pretested questionnaire was self-administered.
Data were analysed using the chi-square test and logistic regression at a 5% significance level. This
study reveals that 69.7% of teachers held inadequate perceptions regarding efforts to manage the
COVID-19 pandemic and reopen schools. Teachers with more experience (B = 0.11; p = 0.57) and
those from urban municipalities (B = 0.02; p = 0.26) had a more positive perception of the responses.
However, gender, monthly family income, work experience, number of family members, and mu-
nicipal type were insignificantly associated with teachers’ perceptions of the responses to manage
the COVID-19 pandemic. This study demonstrates that teachers had an inadequate level of percep-
tion regarding responses to COVID-19 pandemic management and the reopening of schools. These
results suggest that policymakers and managers in the health and education sectors must develop
comprehensive responses to prevent the entry and spread of COVID-19 among teachers, as well as
to enhance the resilience of schools and society for future epidemics.
keywords
Disaster; COVID-19; cross-sectional; perception; responses; teachers.
Copyright: © 2024 by the authors.
Ojha, J. C., Bhattarai, P. C., & Devkota, B. (2025). Teach-
ers’ Perception Towards Responses of COVID-19 Pandemic
Management in Gandaki Province of Nepal: A Cross-Sec-
tional Survey. International Journal of Disaster Risk Manage-
ment, 7(1), 485–494.