Government to Coordinate with Local Levels for School Sector Reform

Kathmandu. The government is going to make the coordination between the federal and local levels effective for the reform of the school sector. For this purpose, the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology is going to hold discussions with local governments and stakeholders regarding student enrollment and fee disputes.

The Ministry has stated that discussions are to be held at the Ministry in Singha Durbar on Monday with the mayors of the municipalities of Kathmandu Valley and high officials of the government. The discussion has been organized to formulate the annual academic calendar and future strategy regarding the confusion seen in student enrollment and fees beyond standards as the academic session is about to begin. The representatives have been called together to discuss and chart the future course regarding irregularities in student enrollment fees and recent activities by private schools.

The discussion, which will be held in the presence of the Minister of Education and government spokesperson Sasmita Pokharel, will include the acting mayor of Kathmandu Metropolitan City Sunita Dangol, the mayor of Lalitpur Metropolitan City Chiribabu Maharjan, the president of the Nepal Municipal Association, and the president of the National Federation of Rural Municipalities, along with high officials from the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Ministry of Education. 

Following complaints that some institutional schools are enrolling students and charging fees higher than the approved standards before the start of the academic session 2083, the Ministry had recently directed the return of illegally collected fees.

The federal government had directed schools to start student enrollment from Baishakh 15 and commence classes from Baishakh 21. However, local levels in the Kathmandu Valley had directed to start the new enrollment campaign from Baishakh 11 and conduct regular classes from Baishakh 15.