KATHMANDU, April 30: A writ petition was filed at the Supreme Court (SC) on Sunday, seeking free education up to Grade 8 (basic education) as provisioned in the Constitution of Nepal 2015.
Free education by law
Kundan Raj Kafle, acting general secretary of Nepal Students' Union, filed the petition at the apex court against Nepal Government, Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers, Federal Parliament Secretariat, Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs, Ministry of Federal Affairs and General Administration, Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, and Kathmandu Metropolitan City Office.The petitioner has sought the implementation of Article 31 (1) of the Constitution that provisions the fundamental right of the citizens to get free and compulsory education up to the basic level and free education up to the secondary level.The case was filed in line with the recent decision of Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC) allowing private schools to increase their fees by 27 per cent. However, the KMC decision was recently scrapped following strong protests. On the other hand, the schools also charge fees under different heads though free education has been ensured in the constitution.The local units have allowed the private schools to increase fees by up to 40 percent in the new academic session which began on April 14.
