Jhapa, September 30:

All academic programmes in 19 schools across southern Jhapa have been suspended after their management were handed over to local communities. Educational activities in these schools have been halted since August 17, due to repeated threats from All Nepal National Independent Students’ Union-Revolutionary (ANNISU-R), the Maoist affiliated student body. ANNISU-R had asked the government to take responsibility of the schools and not hand over their management to the local communities.

Some schools have re-opened after they transferred their management over to the government. According to school management committees in Jhapa, as ANNISU-R had threatened the school authorities with physical punishments, they had no option but to close down the schools. Meanwhile, the closed schools, through a joint statement yesterday, requested rights activists and journalists to create proper environment for re-opening the schools. Following the request, Jhapa-based human rights activists and members of the civil society urged the concerned authorities to re-open the schools at the earliest.