Opinion | Purge partisan unions

For decades, the shadow of partisan politics has stretched across the hallways of universities and schools in Nepal, manifesting as student unions that operate less as advocates for the youth and more as the muscle of established political machines. The recent directive from the government to dismantle these structures within a 60-day window is a necessary and overdue intervention to salvage the integrity of the educational system. The time has come to recognise that these unions have forfeited their legitimacy. They no longer serve a genuine cause. Rather, they are remnants of an era that the modern student has outgrown. The tale of student organisations in Nepal began with the Jayatu Sanskritam movement in 1947 and the establishment of the All Nepal National Free Students’ Union (ANNFSU) in 1965. These groups once played a pivotal role in the restoration of democracy in 1990. However, the transition from revolutionary catalysts to institutionalised political wings has been disastrous. Today, these unions are the primary vehicles for political interference in education, leading to a decline in academic standards. They have turned campuses into battlegrounds for mother parties, where the welfare of students is routinely sacrificed for partisan loyalty. The existence of these unions is no longer justified. They have lost all relevance to the contemporary academic experience. The traditional pipeline that once saw student leaders rise to national prominence has been broken by