Kathmandu, December 14:

Private and boarding schools throughout the country remained closed today to mourn the death of 23 students and staffers who lost their lives in a fatal road mishap in Mukundapur-6 of Nawalparasi on Thursday .

The schools were shut at the call of Private and Boarding Schools’ Organisation Nepal (PABSON) and National Private and Boarding Association of Nepal. Both the organisations expressed their deep sorrow over the untimely demise of students and staffers of Hill Bird Residential School at Bharatpur-12.

Meanwhile, PABSON has formed a seven-member probe committee, under the coordination of its advisor Keshav Kumar Shrestha, to find out reasons behind the accident and recommend measures to avert such accidents in future.

According to a press release issued here today, PABSON also postponed its scheduled protest programme of submitting a memorandum to Prime Minister, demanding the rollback of the five per cent Education Service Tax

in private schools and the formulation of a separate law to regulate private sector and guarantee private sector’s investment, ownership and partnership in education sector.

NHRC’s plea to govt:

Kathmandu: The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) called upon the government authorities on Sunday to implement strict rules in school vehicles in order to protect the lives of schoolchildren.

The constitutional rights body has stated that government authorities had not been sensitive enough to protect the lives of children.

“Smoking and drinking by the drivers of school vehicles should be strictly prohibited,” the press release issued by the acting secretary of the NHRC, Yagya Prasad Adhikary, stated.

It added that the government authorities were not serious in formulating necessary policies despite the fact that many students had been losing their lives in road accidents in recent years.

The NHRC also directed the government to fix standards for school vehicles. It also told the authorities concerned to investigate into such incidents and come up with measures to avert such incidents in future. — HNS