National
Profit determinant of pvt school fees
Private schools can consider profit while charging monthly tuition fees from students. The Private School Directive endorsed by the Education Ministry has specified five costs that may be taken into account while determining the fees.Private schools can consider profit while charging monthly tuition fees from students. The Private School Directive endorsed by the Education Ministry has specified five costs that may be taken into account while determining the fees.
Besides the profit (9.5 percent), other components of the fee are teachers’ salary (60 percent), scholarship cost (9.5 percent), rent and bank interest (14 percent) and educational materials and equipment (7 percent).
The fee set by following the criteria has to be endorsed by a two-thirds majority of guardians and approved by the concerned government office. Permission for charging the stated amount must be received from the respective District Education Office a month before the new academic session begins.
The directive will be applicable from mid-April. It requires all the private schools to pay the teachers on par with their government school counterparts, to ensure that admission fees do not exceed a month’s tuition charge and that the fees are displayed on the Citizens’ Charter.
The rules require the institutionalised schools to have separate laboratories, meeting hall, computer lab and teachers’ room in earthquake-resistant buildings. Schools must have their premises on their own land or have a lease agreement with the owner for at least five years. The schools must meet the set criteria within three years. “Those failing should opt for either merger or closure,” the rule reads.
According to the Department of Education, the standard will check exorbitant fees in private schools while ensuring their profit. School operators, however, said they cannot meet the conditions.
Private and Boarding Schools Organisation Nepal (Pabson) and N-Pabsan are strongly lobbying against the directive. N-Pabsan Chairman Karna Bahadur Shahi said “14 percent is too little for payment of rent and loan interest”.