Gaidakot Municipality Faces Scrutiny Over School Fee Structure Discrepancies

Nawalparasi. The Gaidakot Municipality in Nawalparasi (Bardaghat-Susta East) has established a fee structure for institutional schools that conflicts with the guidelines prepared by the federal government.

The Ministry of Education, Science and Technology issued the 'Institutional School Fee Determination Criteria Directive 2072', which sets limits on private school fees. The 14th municipal executive meeting of Gaidakot, held on 2080 Chaitra 29, finalized the fees that institutional schools are permitted to charge.

The municipality categorized schools into three tiers and set specific limits for admission, annual, monthly, and examination fees. Notably, the examination fees set by the municipality are double the amount permitted by the federal government.

The municipality determined fees for 'Class C' schools, with 'Class B' and 'Class A' schools allowed to charge an additional 15 percent respectively on top of that base.

Section 14.1, serial number 3 of the 2072 Directive states that examination fees should not exceed 50 percent of the approved monthly tuition fee, covering all related expenses including transfer certificate printing.

In contrast, the Gaidakot municipal decision allows schools to charge an examination fee equivalent to one month's tuition fee per year.

Despite the clear conflict with the Ministry's directive, the municipality has yet to address the discrepancy.

Dr. Balkrishna Chapagain, the Municipal Education Officer, claimed the decision was based on the federal education regulations, arguing that following the federal rules strictly would have resulted in even higher fees for parents. He noted that while the fee is not currently under review, it is subject to revision every three years.

Gaidakot Mayor Madan Bhakta Adhikari stated that the fees could be amended. "We cannot challenge the federal government; we must follow the rules," he said. "We will study the directive again and revise any conflicting fees through the executive committee."

The municipality also set limits on class sizes and monthly fees across various levels, ranging from pre-primary to grades 11-12, with specific incremental increases for higher grades.

The municipality has authorized schools to collect fees under 15 different headings. Meanwhile, Gaidakot Municipality has directed schools to begin the new academic session on Baisakh 9.