From Shirish B Pradhan Kathmandu, Aug 6 (PTI) Nepal's Maoist government has banned secondary schools from using foreign names like "Delhi Public School", "Oxford" and "White House" over fears that the education system is losing its Nepali identity. The announcement follows a series of protests by student and youth groups mainly belonging to the ruling UCPN-Maoist across the country against the educational institutions which have chosen foreign names. "The Education Ministry has already written letters to schools to change the names," a senior government official said. "This was clearly mentioned in the regulations but several schools were found violating them," Education Ministry spokesman Janardan Nepal said. "However, the government will give sufficient time for the schools to change the names," he added. More than 200 educational institutions in Kathmandu valley are named after foreign schools and colleges. NASA Institute, Einstein Academy, Delhi Public School are some of them. Last week two school buses belonging to Delhi Public School of Dharan Municipality were burnt by student wing affiliated to CPN-Maoist, the break away faction of ruling UCP-Maoist for using foreign names. The United Nations expressed serious concern over the incident. The UN has urged the political parties in Nepal to respect the children's right to pursue studies in peaceful environment.
