National 1 (Spotlight Weekly)

PRIVATE SCHOOLS
Under Pressure

Private schools face irate student organizations pressing for fee cuts and the government that is surprisingly silent to their concerns

By SANJAYA DHAKAL

As if the agitation announced by the Maoists' student wing to lock out the principals' office and accounts section of many private schools in the capital was not enough, seven student organizations affiliated to different political parties have said that they will resume their agitation once again this time focusing their attention "on the private schools".

Add to that the government, which seems ìhand-in-glovesî with the student organizations at worst and indifferent to their plight at best, with the silence it has maintained over the recent developments.

School Students : Unwarranted distrubance

ìAs much as the student organizations' agitation, we are concerned by the lack of seriousness on the part of the government to resolve this imbroglio,î said a principal of a leading private school.

The Maoists' student wing locked out principals' office of 20 private schools for indefinite period. At a hastily organized meeting of school organizations on May 19, the schools have decided that unless the present lock-out is not ended soon, they will close down all the schools on their own.

Student organizations have charged that till now their demands have been taken lightly by the concerned authorities. Their agitation programs include organizing sit-in protests in Kathmandu district education office, Private and Boarding School Organizations of Nepal (PABSON) and Higher Secondary Education Board (HSEB) on May 19, followed by a student rally on May 20 for peace and democracy and to pressure the authorities to fulfill their educational demands.

Central to their demand include slashing down of fees charged by private schools. Even guardians' association has come out in support of this demand.

"We are concerned that there have been an uninformed and misguided pressures from various quarters. There is no rationale in demanding blanket slashing down of fees. This is an issue that has to be closely scrutinized case by case, school by school," said the principal on condition of anonymity.

"A fee that is considered to be high in one school could be low in others. It has to be seen in respect with the facilities provided," he added.

However, the student organizations, particularly the Maoist students, have constantly demanded that the private schools stick to the 11-point code of conduct announced by PABSON in December last year.

In December last year, the revolutionary student wing announced the indefinite strike that forced more than 500,000 students out of their regular academic exercise for a week.

Subsequently, PABSON decided to slash down tuition fees being charged by its member schools ranging from 10 to 25 percent. The new decision that came into force beginning January 15, 2003 included breaking up of the slashing of tuition fees in a manner that the students paying more than Rs.2,000 a month were offered a 25-percent discount. Likewise, those paying in the range of Rs.1,500 and Rs.2,000 were waived 20 percent and those paying in the range of Rs.500 and Rs.1500 were waived 15 percent. The students paying Rs.300 to Rs.500, enjoyed a 10-percent discount. The revolutionary students had demanded that the private schools bring down their tuition fees by 50 percent.

The student organizations have charged that the PABSON is not imposing its own decision claiming that many private schools have raised their fees instead of slashing them.

Currently there are 10,000 private schools in the country - 8,500 among them are already registered. Likewise, 1.5 million students study in private schools. This consists of 20-25 percent of total school-going kids in the country. They employ 75,000 teachers. "The quality we have provided is proven by the fact that 83 percent of students passing in first division in SLC come from private schools. Private schools have taken roots not only in cities and urban areas but also in villages," said Baburam Pokharel, principal of V.S. Niketan Higher Secondary School and V.S. Niketan College. Pokharel is the senior vice president of PABSON.

The Ministry of Education has formed an 11-member committee headed by former Education Secretary Jaya Ram Giri to recommend the fixing of ceiling about the fees charged by private schools. The committee includes representatives of school and parents organizations.

As there is a tug-of-war between the private school operators and the student organizers, the losers clearly are the students and education.