Many schools in Kathmandu valley remained shut Tuesday after being unable to ferry students in school buses owing to stark fuel crisis in the country.

The schools have closed down just a day ahead of the nationwide closure of schools as announced by Nepal Educational Republican Forum (NERF)

School operators say they were forced to give the students holiday as most of the buses that ferry them to school are in serpentine queues in front of petrol stations in the valley.

Principal of Little Angel’s School Umesh Shrestha said schools were left with no option but to close down as their repeated plea to the government to provide diesel and petrol to schools have fallen on deaf ears. “If the government doesn’t ensure a regular supply of diesel and petrol [to us] then many more schools would be forced to close down,” Shrestha warned

Meanwhile, the Guardian’s Association Nepal (GAN) has urged Nepal Education Republican Forum (NERF) not to shut down schools to press their rights as it would violate children’s right to education.

In its statement issued Monday, GAN said, “Teachers’ closing down school for their sake carries a very negative message to the students. They will be more disturbed this time as the final exam of the academic session is nearing.”

The statement added that NERF and the government should hold dialogue to settle down the issue instead of closing down schools. “The government should address the just demands of the teachers,” it stressed.

NERF announced Monday that it will enforce a nationwide closure of schools on February 6, 7, and 8 and start a new round of protest program to press the government to implement its past commitments, which includes providing appointment letters to private school teachers; give permanent status to all government teachers after completing certain procedure and so on. NERF has also been calling for scrapping of the current Education Act, which it says has become obsolete.

The problem has resurfaced at a time when little over a month is left for the crucial School Leaving Certificat (SLC) examinations. nepalnews.com ag Feb 05 08