Young students begin their education at Martyr Basu Memorial Model School in eastern Rukum with ´A´ for arms, ´B´ for bomb, ´C´ for combatants despite the fact that the school has been receiving government grants from the last academic session. [break]
The school--with photos of Marx, Engels, Mao, Pushpa Kamal Dahal adorning the walls of its offices--still follows the People´s Curriculum set by the Maoists during the armed insurgency. Students are not only taught Marxist and Maoist philosophies, and biographies of global and Nepali communist leaders but also given training on warfare. The students still sing the international communist party anthem in the morning assembly.
The Maoists had established the school on February 12, 2005 to provide education to the children of martyrs and whole-timers.
Apart from the communist philosophies and biographies the students are also taught history of armed rebellions in Nepal and the art of using arms and conducting guerrilla warfare.
The teachers at the school argued that the Maoist curriculum is followed to give proper education to the children and not just make them a bookworm.
“Maoist education doesn´t merely produce combatants. It also raises the awareness level of students,” teacher Jivan Roka said. He claimed that his students have better logical reasoning and are better in debates than those at other schools.
Three teachers under government´s relief quota and five hired through private resources are currently teaching at the school that runs classes up to the eighth grade. The school has 231 students out of which 53 have been given residential facility.
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