Nepal, April 24 -- 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 t...