Revolutionary Students Shut Down 8,000 Private Schools
by Jed Brandt
KATHMANDU—Revolutionary students allied with the Maoists today shut down 8,000 private school across Nepal demanding fee hikes be immediately withdrawn.
Business offices were padlocked at major schools last week. When negotiations between the student union and school owners broke down, several buses were torched. As of today, an indefinite closure was ordered as Nepal approaches the Maoist decisive May First mobilization.
"They don't have the right to raise feel unilaterally," a spokesperson for the All Nepal National Independent Students Union – Revolutionary told the Himalayan News Service. "All the schools across the country will remain closed until the decision to hike fees is withdrawn." Student union reps also explained that buses were burned only at those schools which tried to collect fees and tore up pamphlets explaining the students' case.
Re-structuring Nepal's two-tier educational system has been a key demand of the Maoists since they launched the People's War in 1996. With public school lacking books, salaries for teachers and even buildings throughout much of the countryside, much of Nepal's education is pay-as-you-go. Tuition for Kathmandu Valley is about the same amount most wage-earners bring home, excluding the working classes from serious education.
Bandhs continue in Pokhara following the arrest of All-Nepal National Independent Students Union (Revolutionary) leaders on trumped-up charges following fights with Nepal Congress-allied student groups. Clashes continue at Kathmandu's Trichandra campus between Congress students and the UML's group.
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April 25th, 2010 - 08:25
When people ask, how should we define bandhs.
April 25th, 2010 - 09:57
Bandh is a general strike that called for and enforced by a political party. Bandhs close schools, shops, government offices and bring all motorized traffic to a halt, though in Nepal allowances have been made for well-marked tourist buses and press cars. Both radical and reactionary parties hold bandhs, though they are most closely associated with Maoists in India and Nepal. The word ‘bandh’ co-exists in Hindi and Nepali.
April 27th, 2010 - 07:20
Yes, the Maoists shut down the schools (great job! education is already a mess, which is why these private schools flourish…of course, it would be great if the public schools worked, but they don’t!). But nowhere in your article do you give the real reason for the closures? If you want to know that answer, you should visit some of the schools starting this weekend…you’ll find that many of them will be filled with Maoists in Kathmandu for Prachandra’s “indefinite strike” to topple the government. A friend who works at a private school here has already was told by a Maoist to empty the school, and leave the keys. Or else.
April 29th, 2010 - 00:52
JH,
People have got to stay somewhere, no? In any event there will be many more opportunities for students to learn history in the streets than in their classrooms this week, no?
April 29th, 2010 - 18:46
Revolution is the best education — literally, seriously.