By Chirendra Satyal, Kathmandu

Sixty years after establishing their first school in Nepal,

Students at the Dec. 3 celebrations at St. Xavier’s High School in Kathmandu

 the nation’s Jesuit community is expanding its educational program 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 Dec. 3, 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.

“The red color of my stole signifies the sacrifices of many well-wishers, parents, teachers, students and Jesuits that made it possible to see this day so more will carry on this school’s motto `Live for God, Lead for Nepal’,” Bishop Sharma said.

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.

“Among 580 students we have 95 Catholics and over a dozen other non-Catholic Christians – making this Nepal’s foremost school in terms of the Catholic students ratio,” Jesuit Fr. Roy Sebastian, principal of St. Xavier’s school in Maheshpur told ucanews.com.

Located amidst green fields of tea, the school draws most of its students from the families of tea garden workers, who earn around $US2 per day.

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 programs.