Kathmandu, October 28 The Ministry of Education is taking initiatives to reopen schools in various Tarai districts where they remain closed for the past two months due to the ongoing Madhes agitation. The Madhes-based parties have been enforcing shutdown in over a dozen Tarai districts, including Dhanusha, Siraha, Saptari, Mahottari, Rautahat and Sarlahi, expressing dissatisfaction with the demarcation the provincial boundaries in the new constitution. Spokesperson for the education ministry Dr Hari Lamsal today said they have asked the district education offices to take steps to reopen the schools. “Schools in villages are still running classes. It is only the schools in the urban areas that have been closed.” He stated that the ministry has also asked the DEOs to ask schools to run morning classes, if possible. “Schools have run morning classes in the past. So keeping in view the current unrest, schools should take initiatives to run morning classes,” he added. He also said that the demands of the agitating parties should be addressed at the political level. “The government and the agitating parties should reach an understanding at the earliest. Political problems should not affect the operation of academic institutions,” he said. Earlier, before the Dashain festival, Private and Boarding Schools Organisation Nepal, National Private and Boarding Schools Association Nepal, Higher Secondary Schools Association Nepal and Guardians Association Nepal had urged the National Human Rights Commission to take initiatives to reopen schools in Tarai districts. A few years ago, the government had declared schools as zones of peace.