Nine student unions that have been protesting for the last two weeks encircled District Education Offices across the country on Wednesday, putting forth an eight-point charter of demands.

The agitating student bodies including the Nepal Student Union (NSU), All Nepal National Free Student Union, All Nepal National Independent Student Union-Revolutionary and National Student Forum Nepal, among others, have been protesting against ‘malpractice’ in the academic sector.

“Our protests are also targeted against the unconstitutional government led by Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai,” said NSU Central Committee member Kshitiz Bhandari. The students are demanding that higher secondary schools and colleges stop glamourising the academic sector, change their ‘foreign’ names and revise fee structures.

They are also demanding that the government implement all previous agreements reached with student unions, which include the establishment of at least one Plus Two college with Science faculty in each of the 240 electoral constituencies across the country.

Other demands include the implementation of the Council for Technical Education and Vocational Training fee structure for nursing and general medicine as determined by the high-level committee and cancellation of the entrance exams for scholarships in various subjects in the intermediate and bachelor’s levels held on July 19.

Bhandari said they would announce further protest programmes if the government failed to address their demands. The protests led by Youth Association Nepal was backed by several student unions.

source: The Kathmandu Post,9 August 2012