Kathmandu, Nepal, April 26, 2010: More than 8000 private Schools in Nepal remained closed for the second day against the indefinite strike declared by the All Nepal National Independent Students´ Union-Revolutionary (ANNISU-R) affiliated to the Maoist Party.
The student union declared the indefinite strike from Sunday opposing the recent school tuition fee rise recommended in all private schools by the Fees Determining and Monitoring Committees (FDMCs). Currently there are more than 1.5 Million students who have been directly affected by the strike and are bound to sit home lacking their basic rights of education and knowledge.
On April 23, ANNISU-R had publically threatened to shutdown the schools or to face the consequences.
The fee rise was recommended by the district-level FDMCs by an average of 25 percent which was completely opposed by the ANNISU-R and has threatened to make the scenario worst if the committee doesn’t take the decision back.
During the tension, Dharma Dev Bhatta, The Principle of the Aishwary Vidya Niketan was man handled and the school’s property was vandalized. Similarly RC Yadav, the principle of the Modern Aira High School, Biratnagar was also manhandle for defying the strike.
More or less, large number of transportation buses and properties were vandalized in different places where the numbers are still in rise.
Education or politics both have their standards and ethics but at the cost of what is the question which haunts the parent and the families of the children’s, who have to face the consequences from both the sides.