Amid criticisms that students unions have politicised the academic sector, Nepali Congress (NC) sister wing Nepal Students' Union has announced that it will never enforce shutdown of academic institutions as a protest tool.

The student wing of the largest party of the country has said that it will fully adhere to government's declaration of academic sector as a zone of peace.

At a press meet organised to make public the decisions made by the first Central Working Committee meeting of the newly elected leadership in the Capital on Wednesday, the NSU has also announced that it would not give membership to the students below 16 years of age.

Currently, the student unions including NSU have their organisation in a number of schools across the country. Though the government with written commitment from over a dozen of political parties announced schools as a zone of peace in 2011, the student unions continue to target the schools to put pressure on the authority to get their demands addressed.

Two weeks ago, All Nepal National Independent Student Union-Revolutionary affiliated to Netra Bikram Chand led CPN Maoist enforced shutdown of all the academic institutions of the country, barring around eight millions students from their study.

Announcing the union decisions, newly elected NSU President Nain Singh Mahar said that his union will completely abide by the UN Declaration of the Rights of the Child 1959 that bans from engaging children below 16 years of age in the political activities.