Siraha, December 21

National Private and Boarding School Association Nepal national Chairperson Sudipraj Sapkota said private schools were in no position to participate in the social security programme of the government.

“Don’t take this as a protest against the government policy, but I must say it clearly that private schools are not ready to participate in the social security programme brought by the government as yet,” said Sapkota while inaugurating N-PABSON Siraha’s 8th district conference here today.

The N-PABSON chair accused the government of trying to control private schools. “If the latest rules brought by the government are anything to go by, it doesn’t take much to reckon that the rules have been brought to control private schools rather than to regulate them,” said Sapkota, arguing that schools were service-oriented organisations rather than for doing business. “We are not like those businesspersons who produce different goods and commodities and sell them in the market for profit. Ours is a service, and the government must treat us accordingly,” Sapkota said.

Sapkota asked the government to ensure that the academic session of all classes from Grade I to XII was the same since all these grades were kept under secondary education. “The government has played with students’ future by pushing back the academic session for Grade XI and XII by four months, which doesn’t add up any longer if the government kept Grade I to XII under secondary education,” he said.

Addressing the programme special guest, Province-2 Provincial Assembly member Dilip Sah stressed the need for all to abide by the rules. N-PABSON General Secretary Shubhash Neupane described private and community schools as complementary to each other.

“We’re also ready to help in the upgradation of community schools and other sectors,” Neupane said.