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Maoists close down Nepal schools indefinitely
May 17, 2007 - 10:58:37 AM
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Civil servants have warned the government they too would start an indefinite stir if the government failed to protect its employees from future Maoist attacks.
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By IANS,
[RxPG] Kathmandu, May 17 - The future of nearly 1.5 million students in Nepal lay in jeopardy as Maoist guerrillas Thursday began enforcing an indefinite closure of all schools in the country to compel the government to ensure pay parity.
More than 35,000 schools, including high schools, were shut down indefinitely from Thursday by the militant student wing of the Maoists and a forum of seven teachers' unions affiliated to them.
Besides the school closure, the protesters have announced they will stage a road block in the capital Saturday and start padlocking education offices across the country.
The strike comes at a time Grade XI examinations are on. Though the protesters have said they will allow the examinations to take place, students and parents fear disruption and violence.
The militant protest is designed to force private schools to pay the same salaries to teachers as government schools do. The strikers are also asking for insurance for teachers and compensation to the families of teachers killed in conflict.
Though government authorities and private schools urged the protesters to resolve the issue through dialogue without closing schools, the strikers have rejected the plea.
Private schools say they are caught between teachers' demand for higher pay and threats by Maoist students to slash tuition fees or face further protests.
Nepal's students have been pawns in an old struggle for power by the political parties.
In the past too, other student unions often imposed closures demanding private schools reduce their fees and education be made free up to a certain level, a demand newly appointed education and sports minister Pradip Nepal has ruled out as impossible.
Frequent strikes targeting the vulnerable education sector has triggered a massive exodus in Nepal with many parents sending their children to schools abroad or India across the border.
The indefinite school strike comes at a time the youth wing of the Maoists has been on a rampage, vandalising government offices and beating up officials.
Civil servants have warned the government they too would start an indefinite stir if the government failed to protect its employees from future Maoist attacks.
Though the Maoist rebels signed a peace pact with the seven-party ruling alliance last year and joined the government in April, they have continued violence, extortion and recruitment.
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