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| Kathmandu, Saturday February 01, 2003 Magh 18, 2059. |
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All campus
chiefs to be forced to resign
ANNISU-R rules out strike withdrawal
By Yuvraj Acharya /
Nitya Nanda Timsina
KATHMANDU, Jan 31 :
Ignoring the cease-fire declaration by the CPN-Maoist to facilitate the peace process, its
student wing All Nepal National Independent Students’ Union (Revolutionary), ANNISU-
R, today reiterated that its indefinite strike on educational institutions will come into
effect as scheduled from February 13.
Talking to The
Kathmandu Post today, Gyanendra Tripathi, chief of the education department of ANNISU-R
said since their demands were purely educational and devoid of political colour, the
cease-fire agreement made by the government and the CPN-Maoist could not affect the
strikes.
The reiteration comes
at in the time when everybody is feeling that all types of agitation by the Maoists and
their sister organisations should end as the rebelling group has agreed to sit on the
peace talks.
"Until the
government shows its readiness to fulfil our demands, we cannot withdraw our
strikes," Tripathi said today. The indefinite strike was announced on Wednesday, at a
press conference held at a confidential place in downtown Kathmandu.
In the press
conference, informing the decisions of the latest central committee meeting, leaders of
the union declared that the upcoming strike would be a "decisive" one. The union
would also launch a campaign to compel all the campus chiefs across the country to resign
as a part of its protest programme.
ANNISU-R also lambasted
the six-week old 29-point reforms programme announced by the government as "patchy
and hollow". They have flayed the code of conduct announced by the private schools’
organisations terming it "incomplete and unimplementable".
Leading organisations
of private and boarding schools admitted that several schools have not cut down their fee
structure, one of the major aspects of the code of conduct issued with a view to end the
ANNISU-R’s indefinite strike two months earlier.
PABSON vice president
Umesh Shrestha told The Kathmandu Post that nearly 25 per cent of the schools have not yet
reduced their fees. "Most of them, though, are not affiliated with PABSON."
Those schools, which are notorious for charging exorbitant fee from guardians, have openly
sent letters to the guardians, expressing unwillingness to reduce fees.
In an open letter
addressed to the parents, BRL Memorial School stated, "We cannot go along with the
decision (of PABSON) simply because we do not possess the means to do so."
Siddhartha Vanasthali
Institute has refused to reduce a single penny while Rato Bangla has enacted fees
reduction upto 20 percent, in place of 25 percent stated in the code of conduct.
The final examination
of the students is coming near but the guardians have become victims of the conflict
between the rebel students’ strikes and schools’ refusal to reduce fees.
Suprabhat Bhandari,
president of Guardians’ Association of Nepal said, "We had only 160 working days
this academic year, which is far less than the desired minimum academic days which is
220."
Despite pleas of the
parents, the rebel students’ group seems unwilling to budge from their 13-point
demands, that were spelt out before they commenced strikes in education institutions in
the Valley, about two months ago.
The November strike had
ended with the government announcing a 29-point reforms programme and private schools’
organisation announcing a code of conduct.
Central committee
leaders Krishna KC, Himal Sharma and Gyanendra Tripathi and half- a-dozen more, who
attended the press meet on Wednesday said they would not compromise on their demands that
include uniform education system in the country, slashing of the current tuition fee and
concession to students in most sectors of public usage.
They have also warned
that they would convert all the educational institutions into anti-government revolt
centres, if the government refused to hold immediate talks with them.
Vice chairman KC said
removal of terrorist tags alone could not facilitate talks with the government, unless
compulsory free-ship up to 10 grade was made, along with doubling of the university grant.
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