Madhyapur Thimi, August 20:

The Community School Policy Formulation and Inspection Committee is to monitor 40 private schools in the Valley for nine days beginning tomorrow.

The panel is entitled to take action on the spot if schools are found violating the agreement reached between schools and other stakeholders some months ago. President of the Guardians’ Association of Nepal (GAN) Suprabhat Bhandari said three monitoring teams have been formed to monitor 40 schools in the Valley to check fees charged by them and to find out whether they (the schools) have implemented the agreement.

As per the agreement, the schools are not entitled to exceed the amount of fees fixed by the District Education Office, and they must pay basic salary to the teachers and other staff members.

Janardan Nepal, director general of the Department of Education (DoE), said: “The committee will monitor positive and negative aspects of the private schools so as to encourage them to abide by rules.” The DoE has already directed the private schools across the nation to submit their proposed fee structure to the DEOs by September 1.

The government can cancel the licence of those schools that violate rules. There are 1,700 private schools under the Private and Boarding School Organisation of Nepal and 500 schools under the National Private and Boarding School Association of Nepal in the Valley. The DoE formed five monitoring teams in April for the inspection of private schools in Kathmandu, Bhaktapur and Lalitpur. The teams completed a mini-survey of 63 schools and found out that 44 of the inspected schools were charging exorbitant fees.

The DoE has written to the District Education Officers to form such committees in all the 75 districts to implement the agreement signed between the schools and their stakeholders. The committee comprises the DEO, representative from ISTU, PSTU, PABSON, NPABSAN, GAN, National GAN, Education Republic Forum, Nepal Teachers’ Union, Small and Medium Private and Boarding Schools’ Coordination Committee and a section officer from the DEO.