Addressing the inaugural session of the Seventh National General Assembly of PABSON in the capital, PABSON president Bhoj Bahadur Shah alleged that the government and the political parties had failed to acknowledge the contribution of private schools to the nation.
"We have been putting in all out effort for social transformation," said Shah. "But it is alleged that we are doing everything just to make money."
Shah said that their contribution has been undermined as they never took to the streets, but continued to tolerate the protests of other parties. "Many have taken this as our weakness," he added.
He said the government is forcing them to take to the streets as the issues that concern them have not been taken into consideration even after a series of parleys with the prime minister, the finance minister and leaders of various other political parties.
"We want the peace not to be disturbed by us," said Shah. "But a cat is forced to pounce upon its attackers if it is forced into a corner. Everyone needs to understand that."
Speaking on the occasion, president of the National Private and Boarding Schools´ Organization Nepal (N-PABSON), Geeta Rana, said the government itself was in confusion over the tax it has slapped on private schools. Nowhere in the world has a government slapped an education service tax without providing any facilities to the schools in return, she said. Stating that they have been paying income tax to the government for a long time, Rana said that they have no reservations about the government slapping reasonable education and service taxes.
Dipesh Shrestha
There are about 9,000 private schools across the country. Some 1.5 million students are studying in these schools and some 150,000 others have found employment in them, according to PABSON.
Also speaking on the occasion, Dr Upendra Koirala, vice chairman of the Higher Secondary Education Board (HSEB), said that the government´s decision to slap the tax contradicts its own plan of providing children free-of-cost education.
"While the government is bearing the expenses of those studying in government-funded schools, including for textbooks, it is forcing students studying at private schools to pay an additional education service tax," he said.
