A school fee determination and monitoring committee under the coordination of Chief District Officer Ganesh Bahadur Singh on Monday decided not to implement the fee hike decision after student unions in the district launched protest demanding immediate withdrawal of the decision.
"Representatives of student unions submitted a memorandum protesting the school fee hike. Likewise, guardians have also been requesting withdrawal of the decision. So, we have decided not to hike the school fee until April 25," said Singh.A meeting of the committee, which comprises representatives of PABSAN, NPABSAN, District Education Office and Civil Society, on March 28, had decided to hike fees of private schools by 30 percent for new academic sessions. The meeting of the school fee determination committee held at Kathmandu District Education Office on Sunday decided to hike private school fees by 25 percent from the new academic session.
Singh said the decision to withhold the fee hike decision for the time being was taken in consultation with PABSAN and NPABSAN. "After student unions also asked the DEO to explain the reasons for the fee hike, we have decided to withdraw the fee hike till April 25," added he.
He said that the committee will decide whether to continue with the fee hike or roll back the decision only after discussion with all stakeholders including student unions and guardians.
"We have directed PABSAN and NPABSAN to submit us a report about income, expenditures, infrastructural conditions and services provided by private schools in the district. We will decide how much the school fee should be increased for the new academic session after making a detail study of the report," said Singh.
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