Leave Schools Alone

ONCE Again, educational institutions are bearing the wrath of the Maoists. It seems that time and again educational institutions become the easy target for closure when Maoists have to press for fulfilment of this or that demand. The latest call by Maoist-alleged students’ organisation on educational institutions to close down for five days starting Wednesday comes with a demand that the government release its cadres arrested the other day in pre-emptive raids in the run-up to the planned mass meeting today which was however called off. While any kind of coercion exerted on any public institution to close down for whatever reasons is unacceptable, it is even more so when it comes to educational institutions. What have the schools and colleges done to deserve this repeated harassment from the Maoists? It has become almost routine with the Maoists to target educational institutions whenever they run into any dispute with the government or they feel the need to put an extra pressure on the government to agree to their demands. It is as clear as daylight that the schools respond with closure entirely out of fear of reprisals. Opinions of parents and students make it patently clear that they want the schools and colleges to remain open. As it is, this year the educational institutions have suffered a lot of closures on account of different reasons. Their frustrations were highlighted by one group of college students, Free Students’ Union of Amrit Science College, who on Wednesday chose to protest at the Maoist-dictated closure by blocking the road at Lainchour for one hour.

Many schools that opened in the morning had to close in the middle of the school hours Wednesday as threats of violence were communicated to them. As a result, parents of thousands of school children across the Kathmandu Valley had to rush to school to pick up their kids, causing much inconvenience. The Home Ministry Wednesday urged all educational institutions not to shut down under any pressure and threat and that it would deploy security personnel if it is notified about threats or any possibility of untoward incident in such institutions. While some strengthened security measures are welcome, the educational institutions will be able to operate without fear only if Maoists withdraw their strike call. An organisation of guardians has appealed to Maoist-affiliated students to allow regular operation of educational institutions. It is time Maoists stopped using educational institutions as a bargaining chip in their dealing with the government. Targetting the educational institutions by upsetting its academic calendar and putting parents and guardians and students through a situation of uncertainty and fear, is like playing with the future of the country. They should leave schools alone.

Significant Assistance

JAPAN that has made a significant contribution to the development efforts of Nepal has extended yet another helping hand for the promotion of Nepalese education system and for debt relief measures. Finance Secretary Bimal Prasad Koirala on behalf of His Majesty’s government and Japanese Ambassador to Nepal Mitsuaki Kojima on behalf of the Japanese government exchanged two separate notes to this accord the other day in the capital. According to the agreement, Nepal is to receive a grant amount of 585.5 million rupees of which a substantial sum of 510.5 million rupees will be spent on the construction of primary schools in some Tarai districts. Similarly, the rest 75 million rupees that has been provided for the debt relief measures will be used for the procurement of construction materials, fertilizer, petroleum products, medicine and transportation related equipment.

Nepal has enjoyed friendly ties with Japan for a long time both at the official as well as the people’s level. Nepal has been receiving Japanese assistance in almost all development-oriented sectors, including hydropower production, road construction, agriculture, health, education and civil aviation. The Kulekhani hydropower projects that were constructed with Japanese aid have significantly contributed to electricity supply in the country. Similarly, the Bardibas-Sindhuli-Dhulikhel road, which is still under construction with Japanese assistance, is expected to change the face of the surrounding areas by promoting economic activities there. The installation of radar system at the Tribhuvan International Airport, the only international airport in the country, has enhanced the air safety. Besides, Japan, the world’s largest donor to Nepal, has also promoted Nepal’s agriculture sector by opening various research centres, health through rural health projects and education with such grants for school construction. The Japanese assistance, including this one, extended to Nepal shows that the Japanese government is very much anxious about Nepal’s development. But, given the preparation of Nepal which is one of the world’s least developed nations to join World Trade Organisation, this is high time the co-operation was converted into trade relations with more Japanese investment in Nepal. This will certainly pave way for Nepal’s being economically independent. Therefore, initiatives towards this end need to be taken, the sooner the better.