KATHMANDU, May 5: Millions of students were affected by the transport strike imposed on Friday by various committees of transport entrepreneurs supporting the transport syndicates in the country. The students of Grade 12 who have been taking their final exams were hit the hardest.
Although most of the schools remained open on Friday students faced trouble reaching their schools due to the lack of public transport. Grade 12 students could not reach their exam centers on time on Friday due to the transport strike. The schools which have their own buses provided smooth services but those schools which hire private vehicles to pick up and drop off students were affected.
8 million students hit by Friday's strike
"About 10 to 15 percent school children were affected today," said Keshav Puri, president of the Guardians' Association Nepal (GAN). "Several students reached the exam centers 30 minutes after the exam started," he added.
There are about 7.5 million school children across the country, according to the GAN. A total of 415,252 students including 208,276 boys and 206,975 girls from 3,912 schools throughout the country are sitting for Grade 12 exams being held from April 27 at 1,051 exam centers, according to the National Examinations Board.
