PABSON and N-PABSON announce indefinite closure of schools in protest of Education Bill

Published On: August 9, 2023 07:08 PM NPT By: Republica | @RepublicaNepal

KATHMANDU, Aug 9: Protesting against some of the provisions in the Education Bill, private school administrators have announced protest programs including school closure.

According to the proposed education bill, the schools which are being operated by private companies should be operated under the Guthi trust, which the private school administrators are not ready to accept at any cost.

Holding a press conference in Biratnagar, the Private and Boarding Schools' Association Nepal (PABSAN), National Private and Boarding Schools' Organization Nepal (N-PABSON) and HISSAN, along with representatives of private and residential schools announced that they will call for an indefinite closure of schools and colleges from August 13.

They have started a protest against the provision in the Education Bill that proposes educational institutions operated by the private sector should be run under a cooperative model (Guthi).

In a press conference, N-PABSAN’s Koshi Province President Rajan Paudel, HISSAN’s Koshi Province President Gyan Bahadur Khadka and PABSON’s Koshi Province President Tikaram Dhakal accused the government of trying to nationalize private property through undue interference.

Khadka stated that educational institutions will remain closed until the decision to transform the educational institutions, which have been operating under the company model as per the legal provision enacted in the year 2058, into a trust within five years under the new law, is withdrawn.

The proposed Education Bill is yet to be tabled in the Federal Parliament. If the bill is passed by the federal parliamentarians and becomes a law, individuals will not be allowed to own the educational institutions that are being operated under the company model. Tika Dhakal, president of PABSON Koshi, said that the ownership of the private schools that are being operated through the Guthi trust will come under the government.

Dhakal said that private schools and colleges across the country will be completely closed for an indefinite period starting from August 13. He said that the school vehicles will be parked in public places to oppose the proposed Education Bill.