In the course of a campaign that initally targeted private schools, the Maoist rebels have locked up 10 government schools in Baglung on the charge of commercialising education and imparting substandard knowledge.
The rebels have also locked more than two dozen private schools in the district. Some of them tried to defy the Maoists, continuing classes for a few days, but they stopped after one high school was bombed and a principal kidnapped from another. The rebels confirmed that Bhumi Raj Acharya, headmaster of Prabha High School at Bohara, was with them.

The Maoists' student wing, All Nepal National Free Students Union (Revolutionary), issued a statement saying that the schools would be allowed to reopen only if they agreed to slash tuition fees and gradually replace the current curriculum with a 'people's educational system'. Sharad Oli, district chairman of the Maoists' student wing, said the schools were locked because the agreement between the Education Ministry and his organisation on education policy was not implemented. He issued a statement banning all private schools from running in Baglung, also demanding a people's education system in all government schools.

The academic year has just started and parents are worried as their children are forced to stay home. "The government must do something about it," said a parent in Burtibang village. "Either the government resumes classes or the Maoists should begin their system."