"We object to and protest against the deal as it is an injustice to guardians," said Suprabhat Bhandari, president of GAN. "We will launch a peaceful defiance campaign and ask all parents not to pay fee if they are made to bear additional financial burden in the name of Education Development Support Fee."
Among others, the Association for Private Educational Institution of Nepal (APEIN) in the deal with the government on Wednesday agreed to pay bulk amount to the EDSF by collecting money from parents. In return, the government would scrap the legal provision of five-percent Education Service Tax (EST) on private academic institutions.
The APEIN is the umbrella organization of Private and Boarding School Organization, Nepal (PABSON), National-PABSON, Higher Secondary School Association of Nepal (HISSAN) and four other organizations of educational institutions providing technical education.
The government had slapped five percent tax as EST on private academic institutions to find an alternative source of revenue to bridge funding gap in education sector.
While the government has already realized it is a Herculean task to provide education access to students from backward communities and rural areas, some 62,000 teachers´ vacancies are lying vacant in government schools for want of necessary fund.
"We will have no objection as long as the private academic institutions pay for the fund from their income," said Bhandari. "But we will not tolerate if they force parents to bear the burden of Education Support Development Fee."
Bhandari complained that there were no representatives of Ministry of Education, GAN and other concerned stakeholders in the meeting that finalized the deal. "We are currently holding discussions with concerned stakeholders including parents and Consumers´ Forum," he added.
Parents have felt cheated as the 14-point deal provides various incentives such as custom´s waiver in the import of school vans and other educational materials and separate allocation to private academic institutions in new budget. In exchange of this, private educational institutions are burdening parents.
The GAN along with Institutional Schools Association of Nepal, Society of Legal Studies and two guardians had jointly filed a writ at the Supreme Court challenging the provision of the EST soon after Finance Minister Dr Babu Ram Bhattarai unveiled this fiscal year´s budget in September, 2008.
Acting on the writ petition, the apex court has already issued show cause to Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Education and to the Ministry of Law, Justice and Constituent Assembly Affairs. Final hearing on the writ is due on April 8.
koshraj@myrepublica.com
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