Nepal Jesuit school expands to meet demand

(December 6, 2010) Sixty years after establishing their first school in Nepal, the nation’s Jesuit community is expanding its educational programme across the country. Bishop Anthony Sharma, apostolic vicar of Nepal, blessed the new four-floor wing of St. Xavier’s School in central Kathmandu on Friday, the feast of the great missionary Jesuit Saint Francis Xavier. The $US2 million building is one of the largest of its size in the nation. After Catholic prayers by the Jesuit bishop, students of various faiths recited prayers separately invoking Allah, Ram and Buddha. Bishop Sharma paid tribute to parents, teachers, students and Jesuits whose sacrifices helped in realizing the initiative. Previously a boys-only school, St Xavier’s started accepting female students ten years ago. The Jesuit community opened two new schools targeting poorer students in Nepal’s east in 1999. The schools in Deoniya and Maheshpur are located fewer than 10 kilometers from the Nepal-India border. The Nepal Jesuits have also acquired several acres of land on the outskirts of Pokhara town 210 kilometers west of Kathmandu where they also plan to open new programmes.