• Increase in tuition fee is necessary to ensure quality education and good pay to teachers

Kathmandu, April 26 With the beginning of the new academic year, a dispute over the hike in tuition fee has surfaced between private schools, parents and student unions. According to Keshav Puri, president of Guardians Association of Nepal, many academic institutions have hiked tuition fee. “The tuition fee keeps increasing every year. Apart from the fee, students have to purchase reading materials the school has suggested, which also cost a lot,” complained Puri. Earlier, the Supreme Court had ordered private schools to increase tuition fee only once in two years. “Sixty per cent of schools have increased tuition fees in the Valley. We have complained to the Education Ministry, Department of Education and the district education offices, but they have not responded,” Puri went on. Private and Boarding School’s Organisation Nepal and National Private and Boarding School’s Organisation are claiming that the raise in tuition fee is necessary as schools have to provide quality education  and pay the teachers well, apart from upgrading facilities. Karna Bahadur Shahi, president of N-PABSON opined that there are different schools and they take students as per their necessity and provide facilities. “Schools that can provide quality education and facilities need the budget to operate so they raise the fee,” Shahi said. Bijaya Sambahamphe, president of PABSON, claimed that individual schools have their own  structure and they run the school as per their rules and regulations. “Schools schedule meeting with parents at the start of the new academic session, so giving ultimatums and staging strikes on this issue is unnecessary.” Niroj Lawaju, chairman of Nepal Revolutionary Students’ Union, informed that the constitution has provided rights to the municipalities and rural municipalities to oversee all the educational institutions, but the education ministry has been permitting educational institutions to raise the fees despite this. “Private schools had hiked tuition fee last year, so they can’t do the same this year again. But the education ministry has not been responding. It has been seven days but ministry has ignored it. So we have no choice but to launch a strike,” Lawaju explained. READ ALSO:

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