With most schools in southern Nepal districts bordering India remaining closed for the past four months due to the violent Madhesi agitation against the new Constitution, authorities have warned that it would be difficult to maintain this year's academic calendar.
Only a few percentage of the required class attendance has been maintained so far by children in the agitation-hit Terai districts against the existing educational provisions that requires 192 days of teaching and learning activities in an academic session and 134 days class attendance of children.
A white paper issued by Finance Minister Bishnu Prasad Poudel states that around 3.76 million students in 20 protest-hit districts have been affected by the closure of schools. The protests have violated the rule declaring schools as zones of peace and the Convention on Child Rights of 1989.
Khagraj Baral, Director-General of the Department of Education, said that the closure of schools in protest-hit Terai districts for long may affect education.
As a result the tendency of children to drop out or quit school may also increase, warn education experts.
According to a study carried out by Children as Zone of Peace and Education Journalists Group, although classes in the protest-affected districts are being conducted in the morning, the practice has failed to yield expected results as children are finding it hard to make it to schools due to various reasons like intensifying cold weather among others.
The agitating Madhesi Front has said that they would continue their protests as they were not satisfied with the government's three-point roadmap to address their demands.
Meanwhile, Madhesi Front cadres yesterday set ablaze a jeep with Indian number plates carrying fuel from market across the border in Rautahat district.
