Local Levels Yet to Fix Private School Fees
Kathmandu, Baisakh 13, 2083: Although classes for the new academic session of school students are about to begin, most local levels have still not fixed the fees that private and institutional schools may collect from students.
The Ministry of Education, Science and Technology and its subordinate bodies have been issuing different instructions to local levels and schools, saying that good governance should be maintained in school-level education. However, the problems faced by parents and students remain the same.
To hear problems and complaints related to school-level education and fees, the Center for Education and Human Resource Development made a mobile number public from Chaitra 25, 2082, and assigned Director Nim Prakash Singh Rathour to handle the matter.
The center has been receiving daily complaints that private schools are charging arbitrary fees and forcing students to buy textbooks at high prices.
According to Director Rathour, more than 300 telephone complaints and over 50 email complaints are received daily from students and parents.
The complaints received are mainly related to student admission, fees, and textbooks.
“Many complaints are received regarding the annual, monthly, and admission fees charged by schools,” he said.
Such complaints have been coming mainly from districts and cities where many private and institutional schools are operating, including Kathmandu, Pokhara, Lalitpur, Parsa, Rupandehi, Dhangadhi, Dang, and Nepalgunj.
To address the complaints it receives, the center sends them to the concerned local levels, Education Development and Coordination Units of the districts, and other relevant bodies.
Although the center has appointed an official to hear complaints and is conducting daily hearings, even in the capital city, the fees that schools are allowed to collect have not been fixed.
With the authority over secondary-level education transferred to local levels, the legal responsibility for fee determination and monitoring also lies with the local levels.
However, because local levels have not fixed the fees, schools have been treating the class-wise fee details they proposed as final and sending them to parents while requesting admission. This has further burdened parents and students.
Lalitpur Metropolitan City Education Officer Devi Prasad Upadhyay said that although schools have submitted proposals for fee determination, the final decision is still pending.
“Proposals have been received from schools within the metropolitan city. Final approval from the metropolitan city is still pending,” he said.
Similarly, Tokha Municipality in Kathmandu has also not fixed the fees so far.
Municipality Education Department Chief Sitaram Koirala said that the fee details fixed by other local levels are being studied.
“We are also making internal preparations. A decision may be made soon,” he said.
However, Budhanilkantha Municipality of Kathmandu has already fixed fees for students from playgroup to Grade 10.
The municipality has decided that a monthly fee of Rs. 2,860 may be collected from playgroup students.
Similarly, for Grade 10 students, category “A” schools may collect a fee of Rs. 7,755.
The municipality has made arrangements allowing category “B” schools to charge 20 percent less than category “A” schools, while category “C” schools may charge fees reduced by a further 20 percent.
An Prasad Neupane, Director General of the Center for Education and Human Resource Development, said that since the responsibility for fee determination has been transferred to local levels since 2072 BS, the center cannot directly intervene in this matter.
However, he said that the complaints received at the center are being forwarded to the concerned bodies.
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