NATIONAL 2 (Spotlight Weekly)]

Vigilante Injustice

The pro-Maoist student organization takes an arbitrary course by vandalizing private schools and closing them down for a week

By SANJAYA DHAKAL

Eight thousand private and boarding schools across the country remained closed for the second day in a row on Tuesday, May 15. They will remain closed until May 18, if the situation does not improve.

More than one million school-goers are being deprived the basic right of education thanks to the heavy-handed tactics employed by the pro-Maoist student organization in pressing for the implementation of their 15-point demands.

Students in class : No disturbance, please

The majority of the demands raised by the All Nepal National Free Students Union (Revolutionary) -- the student wing of underground Maoists -- have been welcomed as justified by most people.

Nobody can disagree with some of their demands, such as the one aimed at stopping the exploitation of parents by the private schools that charge exorbitant fees. Even a member of the ruling Nepali Congress and former education minister Arjun Narsing KC had recently said 80 percent of their the union's demands are justified.

The other demands include free school education, nationalization of private schools, making Sanskrit education optional and ending the practice of singing the national anthem in schools. The same organization had closed down schools for a whole week in mid-December last year, too, despite all-round protests.

However, the method which the organization has used in pressing their demands cannot be justified. "It is simply terrible. This is no way to press for demands. It is madness," said one school principal on condition of anonymity.

Village students : Require better attention

The ruthless manner in which the student organization is putting across its demands has shocked the entire country. "There seems to be a method in their madness," said another principal.

First, they vandalized two private schools in the capital on May 8. This was targeted at sending a strong message to school operators of what laid in store for them if their demands were not met.

Rupy's International School in Bafal, Kathmandu, and Elite's Co-Ed in Lamatar, Lalitpur, were ravaged and their principals, both of whom were of Indian origin, were manhandled by the marauding students.

The wave of terror that was triggered by these attacks has engulfed the entire country and the Private and Boarding Schools Association of Nepal (PABSON) -- the umbrella body of private schools -- has already announced that they themselves will close down schools for three days with the hope that talks would solve the problem soon.

The meeting between the government and the representatives of the student organization, held at different stages, remained inconclusive. The government added to the confusion by arresting the union participants from the meeting venue itself on Saturday. Now, the student organization has said there will be no dialogue until their representatives are freed.

"We wanted this problem to end through dialogue. But the government acted very irresponsibly. No dialogue can be held unless our colleagues are freed," said Devendra Parajuli, the chairman of the ANNFSU (Revolutionary).

In this whole episode, the role of the education minister is also being seen as controversial. Even though the education sector is gripped by such a crisis, the minister does not appear serious to solve it. He was not involved in the dialogue -- leaving the job to his subordinates. As some of the demands could have policy implications, the dialogue ought to have taken place at the highest level.

Caught between the political game are the one million-plus students and 75,000 teachers who are left wondering about their future.

Many say the current movement by the ultra-leftist students could spell disaster for the private and boarding schools in the country. "There is no teaching-learning environment. No school can function in such an atmosphere," said a principal. Some fear that the recent attacks by the "revolutionary students" could force Nepalese parents to send their children to India and abroad for education.

"Shutting down schools for even a single day inflicts great damage to the whole nation. In financial terms, losses worth millions of rupees occur when schools are forced to close for a week," said Umesh Shrestha, vice-president of PABSON and principal of Little Angel's School.

Despite their shortcomings, the private schools have been lauded for imparting quality education. As the service of public schools have been deteriorating day by day, the existence of private schools have helped maintain the standard of education in the country.

History stands testimony to the fact that the nationalization of schools is not the solution. The Nepalese government had introduced a new education plan and centralized the sector in 1972. But less than a decade later in 1980, the government opened this sector to private participants.

The student organization is supported by the underground Maoists launching a "people's war" demanding that Nepal be made a republic. Their views on the private sector is anybody's guess.

Meanwhile, Parajuli, in an interview with a vernacular weekly Jana Bhawana has said that his organization "as of yet" does not want to close down the private and boarding schools for good. "We only want to cleanse them of the present anomalies," he said.

"We believe that it is the duty of the government to provide quality education to its citizens. But the government is not investing in education. Rather, it is purchasing arms and increasing investment in military. As a result, the public schools are in a mess and the parents are forced to send their wards to the private schools, which in turn are financially and mentally exploiting them. Our movement is aimed at ending these exploitations," he said.

But the outright vandalism employed by the student organization in the name of their movement can only send terrifying signals to the students and the community.

The May 8 violence was denounced by all. As the owners of the two schools that were ravaged turned out to be from the Indian origin, there was an added angle to the whole episode. The Indian embassy came out with a strong statement raising objection to the terror tactics.

"The Embassy is concerned at the renewed attempts at attacking Indian nationals and their property. It has requested His Majesty's Government of Nepal to provide security and protection to Indian nationals in Nepal and their property. It has seen mischievous reports giving reasons rationalizing the unjustifiable attacks on educational institutions which have been patronized by the people of Nepal for the high quality of education they impart to their students. While every well-meaning person would strive to improve the teaching standards in the schools in Nepal, it would be a serious mistake to believe that this can be achieved by vandalizing the schools which impart good education. The embassy hopes that in the interest of the students studying in the educational institutions, violence against the educational institutions will not be encouraged," reads the statement by the Embassy.

The statement's coming at a time when the Indian media is portraying Nepal as a hotbed of ISI-driven activity and, hence, a potential security threat to India, can have serious ramifications if left unattended by the concerned authorities.

Besides, the closure of the schools coincides with the visit by the Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji to Nepal.

Civil society, intellectuals, parents, teachers, students and media, in general, have all denounced the violent method used by the ANNFSU (Revolutionary). Even the Communist Party of Nepal (Masal) -- another ultra leftist group -- has denounced the violent methods used by them.

The Kantipur daily in its special editorial on May 15 titled "ANNFSU (Revolutionary) On Taliban Path" writes -- "Along with the nationwide shutting down of schools, Maoists have obstructed the GARDEP-run development project in Gulmi. They have prepared dress code for girls in Dharan, Chitwan and other parts. In short, in the name of Maoist movement, they are exhibiting their anti-education, anti-development and anti-women attitudes. The question arises --whether they are moving in the Taliban path?"

As there is a tremendous public pressure on both the government as well as the student organization to solve the problem peacefully and without disturbing the academic environment in the country, one has to remain hopeful that the sense will finally prevail and the current chaotic situation will end soon.