Student Organizations Demand 20% Budget for Education Sector

Kathmandu. Various student organizations have demanded that the government allocate at least 20 percent of the budget for the upcoming fiscal year 2083/84 to solve the problems in the education sector. Various student organizations made such a demand by issuing a joint statement on Monday. They also stated that although the constitution mentions free and compulsory basic education and free secondary education, many public schools are currently charging fees from students under various pretexts. 'One of the main reasons for this is the weak financial condition of the school. Therefore, to implement the fundamental right of every citizen to receive free education as per the constitution and to solve many physical problems in the education sector, we demand the government to allocate at least 20 percent of the budget for the education sector in the upcoming fiscal year 2083/84,' said the joint student organizations. Similarly, student organizations have objected to the Prime Minister's control over the university by snatching the rights of the university's senate, instead of removing the provision of the Prime Minister being the Chancellor to free the university from party politics. They said that while the Senate of the university used to have student representation, the Prime Minister has now centralized the right to select student representatives, reminiscent of the Panchayat era.