Kathmandu, May 9

A high-level monitoring team led by joint-secretaries of the Ministry of Education today found the schools visited charging exorbitant fees and that the scholarship distribution and salary and facilities given to the teachers were not satisfactory.

This is the first time in years that joint-secretaries have led teams to institutional schools to monitor school fees.

Three teams led by Hari Lamsal, spokesperson, MoE; Khagraj Baral, Director General, Department of Education; and Dinesh Shrestha, director, Central Regional Education Directorate visited Naxal-based Brihaspati Vidya Sadan, Lokanthali-based Matribhumi School and Balaju-based Siddartha Vanasthali School respectively.

Suprabhat Bhandari, president, Guardians Association Nepal and a member of the monitoring team who visited BVS said that the school was charging exorbitant fees while scholarships were not distributed to the needy ones.

“The team directed the school to make public the school fee on the notice board,” adding, “When we asked the school whether it was ready to return the school fee that was more than the government ceiling, the school authorities refused.”

Lekhnath Pokharel, leader of Nepal Students’ Union who visited Matribhumi School said that the school was unaware of scholarship and the directives related to fee ceiling.

He said, “The school’s infrastructure was excellent but the teachers were not satisfied with the salary and facilities.”He stated that the team asked the school to provide appropriate salary to teachers and also to arrange Provident Fund for teachers.

He also informed that the DG of DoE has expressed his commitment to take action against District Education Office officials for not categorising the school and approving the fee structure.

The monitoring will continue for a few more days and they will prepare a report with recommendation for action against the guilty ones.