Kathmandu. Serious discussion has taken place among parents and school sector stakeholders after the government made a provision of imposing 3 percent ‘Education Equality Fee’ on all fees collected from private educational institutions through the budget for the coming fiscal year 2082/83.
The meeting was attended by Nepal Guardians Association President Keshav Puri, National Guardians Association President Kosh Bahadur GC, National Private and Boarding Schools Association Nepal (PABSON) central president Geeta Chhetri (Rana) among other office-bearers.
General Secretary Pratap Bahadur Thapa, former President Karna Bahadur Shahi, former President Ritu Raj Sapkota, Senior Vice President Surya Bahadur Adhikari, Vice President Kumar Bahadur Bhattarai, Krishna Kumar Upreti and central member Sita Chaudhary (Kailali) were present in the meeting.
As per the provision made in Schedule 7 of the bill, schools, colleges, universities and technical institutions run by the private sector should charge 3 percent education parity fee on all types of fees taken from students. However, the fee does not apply to non-profit organizations operated under public educational trusts.
Clause 3 of the bill states that the educational institutions must collect the fees by issuing an invoice while collecting fees from the students. This is expected to add an additional 3 percent burden directly to school fees from the next fiscal year.
During the discussion, the participants expressed serious concern that this decision will create additional financial pressure on parents and students. It also discussed the possibility that it could affect the operation of the private education sector.
Geeta Chhetri (Rana), president of National PABSON, pointed out the need of adequate consultations with stakeholders while imposing any new tax or fees in education sector.
Similarly, General Secretary Pratap Bahadur Thapa said that such fees would increase the financial burden of the parents and it should be reconsidered keeping in mind the practical aspect. According to him, the additional tax could affect service delivery when private schools are already under pressure from various operating expenses.
Other officials participating in the discussion also stressed on the need to pay attention to quality education by saving the education sector from the additional burden of taxation.
After the discussion, the stakeholders decided to jointly take forward the dialogue with the concerned government bodies keeping in mind the interest of students, parents and school community.
