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The last few generations have grown up believing that schools are places of learning while prisons are popularly perceived as stations of punishment eventually intended for improvisation or reformation. Despite having clear and unassailable distinctions, if we look closely, the line between the two sometimes feels blurred these days; and, sadly, the first is inheriting qualities of the latter. Globally, prisons are now being proactively reimagined as reform centers, but our schools, ironically, are increasingly resembling as sites of sentencing or tantamount to quasi-prisons.

Government and community schoolteachers in the nation are often and repeatedly protesting, inter alia, on demand of professional growth and security while nearly 7.5m students are grappling for the commendable academic characters and conducts. Some semi-possessed reporting from the government agencies confirm that—among schoolable children—around 60 percent flow to government schools and the rest in private ones, which are mushrooming from major thoroughfares to every nook and corners of cities plus suburbs. 

In cities, however, nearly 80 percent of children are boarded in private institutions. For parents willing to enroll their wards in privately-owned schools, choosing it becomes one of the stressful decisions, often driven by convenience, family relocation, standard complex or peer pressure. Schools, meanwhile, compete with one another through flashy banners, glossy advertisements and promises of modern facilities, quality education, holistic development and myriads of other magnificent commitments. An ingrained obsession of presenting self as bigger and better schools has been an indefensibly burdensome luxury that many are professedly proclaiming. Nonetheless, most of the claims are mere meaningless myths.  

Meaningless myth

A dangerous misconception has taken root and often been tough to be chopped out: the idea that schools with skyrocketing buildings, multiplexes, exorbitant fees, techno-driven show-ups, lifts and swimming pools and larger enrollments are automatically the best. In truth, the smaller the class size, the greater the attention a child receives, and the more effective the learning goes. Schools should be foundations, carefully laying down habits and curiosity. 

Universities, by contrast, are where specialized and collective mass learning happens. At the very crude stage of experiencing academic milieu and joy, many schools are pompously heading to burden the fresh cum immature minds with unreasonable overloads that ultimately rankles them remarkably in regular course of their later academic entourage. Learning in the first phase of schooling in home-spawn context and language may be pretty easy and evidently doable as well.

Contrary to the utmost sense, many schools are distorting pre-supposed fine-tuned balance by utterly overburdening children with an obsession for English from the very earliest grades. Language is important, but it is only a medium—not the destination. What truly matters is the ability to think, to reason, to feel, to conceptualize and to cognate. Instead of nurturing these qualities, some schools prioritize rote memorization of English words, producing students who may sound fluent but lack critical and creative thoughts. The eventual outcome is mere English-murmuring machines, not independent thinkers.

Another problem lies in the weight of expectations—sometimes literally. In many cases, the schoolbag of almost all children is almost as heavy as the children themselves. Exacerbating the situation, countless textbooks and impractically time-consuming overload of homework have turned learning into drudgery and have even disturbingly occupied the parents in most cases.

Students who are deprived of adequate rest, who are frightened of not completing assignments or who equate school with fear are unlikely to develop a lifelong love of learning. Surveys show that parents often end up helping their children late into the night, feeding them as they scribble homework. Schools that pile on such busy work are not raising resilient learners but anxious children who see school as a place of punishment rather than discovery. The balance between envisioning, expectation and experience is quite brittle.

Brittle balance 

What is forgotten is that true education extends beyond classrooms and assignments. Expected academic growth and shrewd sense also stems from simple conversations with parents, sharing what one has learnt, playing with friends, helping at home, joining in community life and creatively engaging into disseminating their learning among pals and parents. These activities not only strengthen academic foundations but also foster mental health and social maturity. Unfortunately, many private schools have remained deliberately indifferent and malignant to accept the fact and adopt the appropriate mechanism in this front. 

Adding to the burden, the culture of multitasking mania has been a perishing pleasure. After long school hours, children are often pushed into music, dance, drawing, karate, swimming, horse riding—even archery—without any thought for their actual interests or capacities. Parents, eager to provide everything, risk overwhelming their children in the process. For some, the exhaustion begins with the time commute: hours on a bus to and from school. Fatigue alone can kill curiosity to a great extent. 

Many such things posed and impulsively prescribed to children are proscribing the natural growth, usual mastery and expected smartness. In fact, deposited anticipations are stymied and unknowingly preempted.  

Ironically, earlier generations who began as average students often grew stronger over time. Through gradual self-learning and hard work, they matured by the time higher education determined their career avenues. They knew the value of effort and were motivated to succeed evidently at the level which would capaciously contribute to the projected processional path.

Today, many students are excessively overloaded at the school level but they grow disillusioned when reaching university. In fact, many are found to have fully lost the energy, interest, aura and passion for learning given the pressure and stress in schools. The crucial stage of education meant to shape their professions receives them burnt-out, lax and indifferent. Statistics show students excelling at school but increasingly faltering in higher education, eventually leveling out as average in professional life.

The world’s best education systems share a common trait: school learning is easy, natural and enjoyable. Rigorous hard work comes later, but the school years prioritize growth in line with a child’s natural rhythm. A stone house may appear plain but is sturdy, hygienic and lasting; a glass palace may dazzle but is fragile and fleeting. Flashy, expensive, “hi-fi” schooling is the glass palace—grand in appearance, obviously unsustainable in reality.

Time to reflect

As parents, everyone must pause. Each ought to question: are we sending children to schools that nurture curiosity, resilience and social maturity? Or are we, perhaps unintentionally, placing them in educational prisons—burdened by books, trapped by homework and locked in a cycle of anxiety?

The answer depends not on how tall the building is or how expensive the fees are, but on how well the school balances academic rigor with natural growth, creativity and humanity. Are we schooling our wards on fashion or mission? The reality is that learners are grounded rather than growing, by and large.

Simara has remained tense for a couple of days, giving an indication of turmoil in Madhesh province as Nepal takes not-so-certain steps toward national elections slated for March 5 next year. The CPN-UML had plans to organize an ‘awakening campaign’ in the city located in Bara district but it did not go well with GenZers. On Wednesday, those wanting to organize the campaign clashed with those opposed to it, leaving a couple of GenZers injured.

On Thursday, as a group identifying themselves as GenZers hit the streets of Simara against the police’s ‘failure’ to arrest UML cadres involved in Wednesday’s clash on the basis of their complaint, police used force to disperse them and imposed a curfew. There’s no denying that everyone has the right to protest—and to counter-protest—but the ‘show of strength’ has to be peaceful. What’s more, a protest should not cause inconveniences to others in a democracy worth its name. As the good ole GB Shaw says: Your freedom ends where my nose begins.    

But protesters in our country take these things f0r granted and choose to bring life to a halt, which goes against the letter and spirit of our Constitution and makes a mockery of the rule of law.   According to Article 17(2)(b) of the 2015 Constitution of Nepal, every citizen has the freedom to assemble peaceably and without arms. 

While every outfit has the right to organize its programs peacefully, the host community also has the right to express its disinterest toward such programs and even bar them. In this day and age of information technology, knowledge and information are just a click away and people are generally ‘awake’. This means politicians do not need to take long flights or rough and tumble rides across Nepal all too often to sermon them on several things under the sun and beyond in a typical Panchayati fashion.

What’s more, a significant chunk of the national population appears tired of the old political parties and even their new leaders, thanks to thriving corruption, bad governance, nepotism, the lack of rule of law and chronic political instability over the decades. The loss of mass appeal for the big parties is no good tiding in a democracy, especially in view of the fact that new political forces have not become strong enough to replace the old ones.

Against this backdrop, time has perhaps come for Nepal’s political parties, especially those with the prefix ‘major’ attached to them, to come up with new ways of communicating with the masses that are in sync with changing times and a fast-changing technological landscape.

Having said this, forces across the political spectrum should develop a habit of hearing each other out and desist from suppressing dissent with a brute force to avert the kind of colossal losses that we as a nation suffered on Sept 8 and 9. Moreover, barring parties from organizing their programs will not create a conducive environment for the national elections. The sooner the political forces—and the government—realise this, the better.

Nepali Congress is yet to resolve the general convention issue that has gripped the party for more than two months. While General Secretary Gagan Kumar Thapa remains determined to hold the convention before the elections, fears of a possible party split continue to grow. If a special general convention is held as demanded by 54 convention representatives, the likelihood of a split cannot be ruled out.

Initially, party president Sher Bahadur Deuba appeared positive about holding the convention before the elections. However, after returning from Singapore where he underwent treatment, his stance has noticeably hardened. Meanwhile, around half a dozen senior leaders have begun openly criticizing Thapa and Bishwa Prakash Sharma for creating troubles within the party. Amid these tensions, the NC is failing to articulate a clear position on the elections.

In an effort to find a way out, Thapa and senior leader Shekhar Koirala held consultations this week. Still, due to ongoing disagreements over the convention, the Central Working Committee meeting has once again been postponed until Saturday. Despite several rounds of talks between Deuba and Thapa, no breakthrough has emerged.

As intra-party uncertainty persists, the broader election atmosphere remains unsettled. Yet Prime Minister Sushila Karki has sounded increasingly confident about holding elections on schedule. Responding to CPN-UML’s demand for parliament restoration, she warned that attempts to revive Parliament could complicate the situation further. In a pointed message to UML, she said: “Even after the election has been announced, the confusion seen on the sidelines of politics within some parties, the demand for the reinstatement of Parliament, and the act of questioning the legitimacy of the government could once again push the nation into a cycle of instability… If one now chooses to take a stance in favor of reinstating Parliament, it only confirms an attempt to repeat the political mishap of the past.”

On Nov 19, Karki held discussions with representatives of the 125 political parties registered with the Election Commission, attempting to reassure them that elections will take place on time. Nevertheless, UML has officially decided to file cases at the Supreme Court demanding Parliament’s restoration.

Amid the legislative vacuum, the government is preparing to issue ordinances to ease appointments to constitutional bodies without parliamentary hearings. However, if the President endorses these ordinances, they are likely to draw widespread criticism, and may face legal challenges.

Adding to the volatility, the clash between GenZ protesters and UML cadres in Bara district marks a serious development. It comes at a time when political parties are already expressing concerns over the security environment for the elections. Many fear that similar incidents could escalate during the campaign period. In this context, a group led by Sudan Gurung is demanding the resignation of Home Minister Om Prakash Aryal and calling for the arrest of former prime minister KP Sharma Oli. Meanwhile, UML is preparing to stage large-scale protests in Kathmandu.

Parallel to this, efforts are underway to formalize a document between the government and various GenZ groups to institutionalize the Sept 8-9 protests. Around 40 GenZ groups have submitted demands to the government. While the current government, which rose to power on the wave of those protests, supports legitimizing the movement, major political parties continue to resist the idea.

Within UML, internal tensions are also intensifying. Chairman Oli has dismissed the possibility of handing over leadership to new leaders, even blocking former president Bidya Devi Bhandari’s potential return by scrapping her membership. Yet Bhandari’s influence remains significant. Senior leader Ishwar Pokharel, who enjoys her backing, is preparing to challenge Oli in the upcoming general convention. Bhandari has been actively meeting UML leaders who favor a leadership change.

Similarly, UML leader Yogesh Bhattarai has grown increasingly vocal about the need for new leadership. Several senior leaders fear the party will face major losses if it contests elections under Oli’s stewardship.

In the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP), instability is also deepening. High-profile leaders Sumana Shrestha and Santosh Pariyar have already left, and reports suggest others may follow. The party’s push to secure the release of its chairman Rabi Lamichhane has been unsuccessful, and in his absence, leadership disputes have intensified. Although the GenZ movement was expected to strengthen the party, internal conflict has instead weakened it further.

On the law-and-order front, the government has arrested controversial businessman Durga Prasai on charges of disrupting public order. Prasai, now a vocal proponent of monarchy and a Hindu state, had been preparing to launch street protests. Several leaders have called for his release, citing freedom of speech. A video he released, claiming Prime Minister Karki was behind the GenZ movement, has since gone viral.

Meanwhile, Netra Bikram Chand has formally registered his political party, CPN (Maoist), at the Election Commission. Unlike Pushpa Kamal Dahal of CPN (Maoist Center),  Chand has retained his Maoist ideological line. He had previously split from Dahal in 2012 alongside Mohan Baidya.

Despite the political turbulence, the Election Commission has begun preparations for the March 5 elections. It has called on parties to register themselves in order to participate.

Internationally, Nepal maintained a low-profile presence at this year’s UN climate change conference (COP), represented only at the ministerial level and with minimal civil society participation. As usual, Nepal emphasized issues related to climate justice.

Hundreds of GenZ youths filled the busiest streets of Nepal’s capital city—Maitighar and New Baneshwor on Sept 8. It was the burst of frustration with the government’s malpractice—corruption, lack of accountability and transparency, ban on social media resulting in encroachment of the freedom of speech and the rising “nepo-baby” trend on social media that showcased contrasting images of the lavish lifestyles of political leaders’ children comparing to the daily struggles of ordinary Nepalis who shed their skin and bones in foreign lands just to sustain their families. 

What began as a peaceful protest quickly turned violent after the police forces opened fire claiming 76 innocent lives. The aftermath of the massacre left the nation in shock. 

The following day, government and private properties were destroyed, set ablaze and ultimately forced the then Prime Minister KP Oli to step down. For a country already mired from political instability, it felt like watching a tower of Jenga collapse. 

Just a year before Nepal’s September revolution, a similar GenZ youths uprising, called the July Revolution took place in Bangladesh. Thousands of students and youth activists took to the streets, demanding an end to decades of “political corruption” and “authoritarian regime”. The movement grew rapidly throughout the country after violent clashes between protesters and security forces, leading to a nationwide wave of demonstrations that eventually forced Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to flee the country, marking a major turning point in Bangladesh’s political history. 

As a matter of fact, these two movements, led primarily by GenZ youths, marked a historic turning point for both nations shaping their modern political landscapes. Nepal saw the rise of its first woman Prime Minister, while Bangladesh’s long-serving female leader was forced into exile. The July Revolution in Bangladesh is now more than a year-old story, while Nepal’s September Revolution is still only two- or three-months in. Bangladesh is still struggling to rebuild its governance and restore public trust, and Nepal now stands at a similar crossroads. 

So, what kind of future lies for Nepal?

Constitutional crisis in Bangladesh 

In Bangladesh, following the resignation of Sheikh Hasina, Chief of Army Staff General Waker- uz-Zaman and President Mohammed Shahabuddin announced the formation of an interim government to stabilize the political situation. 

Invoking the emergency provision under Article 72(1) of the Constitution of Bangladesh, Nobel Laureate in Economics, Professor Muhammad Yunus, sworn in as the chief advisor to the Interim Government. However, the formation of the Interim Government led to a constitutional crisis. However, this triggered a constitutional crisis. 

Many critics argued that the appointment of a non-elected prime minister violated Article 56(1), which states that the prime minister must be a Member of Parliament. Several writs were filed, but the Supreme Court of Bangladesh quashed the writs, citing an Interim Government could be formed in accordance with Article 106 of the Constitution.  

Despite this, opposition groups have continued to resist the government adding on to the nation’s political instability. While Professor Yunus has promised national elections by July 2026, the fragile political environment and widespread distrust make that path challenging. 

Along with the political instability, Bangladesh has been facing challenges with a deteriorating law and order situation with increasing mob violence, violence against women and girls, and even religion-based clashes. Religious minorities, including Hindus and Ahmadiyyas, remain vulnerable as opportunistic groups exploit the power vacuum to spread hatred and violence. The new government’s struggle to control sectarianism shows how revolutions can awaken deep-rooted tensions that are hard to contain.

Politico-constitutional crisis in Nepal

In Nepal, following the resignation of KP Oli, led to a similar sequence of events like in Bangladesh. With the formation of a power vacuum, Army Chief Ashok Raj Sigdel and President Ram Chandra Paudel stepped in. 

After talks with the leading GenZ protest groups, former Chief Justice Sushila Karki was appointed as Nepal’s first woman Prime Minister under Article 61, which confers power on the President to protect the constitution. However, her appointment immediately became controversial as a section of lawyers and learned class argued that “none of the constitutional provision explicitly recognizes” Karki’s elevation to PM office.   

As of Sept 29, sixteen writs have been registered at the Supreme Court’s constitutional bench challenging the legality of her government.

State facilities burned and vandalized 

Adding to the crisis, Nepal’s law and order situation has deteriorated. Key government buildings, including the Supreme Court, Revenue offices in Kathmandu, Biratnagar and others, Morang District Court, Biratnagar High Court, Rajbiraj High Court, Saptari District Court, Kathmandu District Court and other courts, the Prime Minister’s Office, and the Federal Parliament were burned down during the protests. Resultantly, the offices so damaged are yet to stand functional in full-fledged mode.  

The Supreme Court continued operating its benches from temporary tents.

Drop in security personnel morale 

The morale of security forces has also plummeted. Nearly 1,000 personnel from the Nepal Police and Armed Police Force have resigned following the protests. With the interim government planning elections on 5 March 2026 the weakened security apparatus poses a major threat. 

The criminal gangs, political opportunists, and even external actors could exploit the instability. For ordinary citizens, this means growing insecurity, political uncertainty, and potential lawlessness on the streets. 

Economic dimension 

In the aspect of economy, both Nepal and Bangladesh are facing economic challenges following their revolutions. In Bangladesh many industries have been shut down leading to massive job losses, with many industries still not in operation, banks have been reluctant to issue letters of credit, dealing a severe blow to international trade and business confidence. 

On a more positive note, the interim government has introduced several economic reforms aimed at recovering laundered money and attracting fresh investments. 

Nepal can take inspiration from these efforts and adopt similar strategies to stabilize its own struggling economy. Nepal, too, is suffering economically in the aftermath of the September Revolution. The repercussions have been evident in the sharp decline of the tourism industry, which is one of the country’s main sources of revenue. 

Furthermore, Nepal Rastra Bank Governor, has acknowledged that investor confidence has significantly weakened since the GenZ movement, creating additional pressure on the already fragile economic environment. The World Bank has also lowered Nepal’s economic growth forecast to 2.1 percent for 2025/26 from 5.2 percent which is an alarming rate.

If political instability continues Nepal could face severe consequences like a slowdown in foreign investment, rising unemployment, and many more.

Way forward

Given the political instability and the challenges, the future remains uncertain, but it will be interesting to see how it unfolds, hopefully in an optimistic light for both Nepal and Bangladesh. 

History offers examples of nations like Germany and Japan, which managed to rebuild themselves into major economic powers after experiencing total devastation and political overhauls. With perseverance, accountability, and reform, there is hope that both countries can follow a similar path toward recovery and progress.