Kathmandu, April 8:

Nepal Student Union president Pradip Poudel today expressed serious concern over the educational institutions’ nod to pay education service tax (EST) in a different name.

Addressing an interaction on EST here today, Poudel said the owners of educational institutions alone had no right to sign the agreement that compels the guardians to pay the EST. He also said neither the representatives of students nor the guardians were invited for discussion before signing the agreement. “The NSU believes that the private schools should bear social responsibilities while imparting education,” Poudel said.

Education expert Bidhyadhar Koirala said some 20,000 students in the Karnali zone could be educated by the boarding schools in urban areas of the country instead of paying tax to the government. “Or they can educate the students by establishing residential schools at different parts of Karnali,” he added.

While another education expert Tirtha Khaniya asked both the NSU and the Nepali Congress to develop their perspectives on private sector education and establish that politically.

Basanta Marahattha of Association of Engineering Colleges of Nepal said the public schools could be managed by the private schools through which the government can earn a lot besides providing free education to the students.