Kathmandu, August 31

Nepal Student Union, a sister wing of the Nepali Congress, has said that membership of the union would not be given to students below 16 years of age.

In addition, it decided that schools would not be forced to close for any political reason.

During the first press conference organised after election of its new central committee, NSU announced that educational institutes would not be affected by the country’s ongoing political situation at any given time.

Speaking at the conference, Nain Singh Mahar, president, NSU, said, “We have decided not to give membership to children below 16 years of age as it is against the Convention on the Rights of the Child.”

Stating that NSU was committed to transforming schools into a zones of peace, Mahar said, “We will also draw the attention of other student unions and political parties to respect schools as zones of peace.”

Stating that political appointments had ruined the education system, he said they would urge parties not to interfere in the activities of universities. “We demand that the government appoint university officials through open competition on the basis of their academic qualification and competence,” he added.

He also vowed to hold the Free Students’ Union poll on February 25 as scheduled.

NSU has also decided to take action against cadres who collect donation in the name of the student union, said Mahar. “The time has come for the government to take action against schools that have not been following its directives and fleecing students,” he said.

Saroj Kumar Thapa, general secretary, NSU, said they would also pile pressure on schools to implement the provision of scholarship for 10 per cent of students.

“We will also take initiatives to form a high-level education commission with representation from all concerned to end various problems in the education sector such as inequality in access to quality education, commercialisation of education and political power sharing in universities.

“Five committees have been formed to look into fee structure of schools, FSU poll and policy and programme of the organisation, among other things,” he said.