The Higher Secondary Education Board (HSEB) has failed to hold the Education Assembly, a committee to endorse its yearly budget and policies, for last two years.

The Assembly was last conducted by the Board on June 30, 2012 to endorse the programme for the fiscal year 2012/2013.

The HSEB Act 1989 makes it mandatory for holding the meeting at least once a year since the Assembly is the only authorised body for academic institutions like HSEB, Academy and University to plan and reform exisiting policies of a particular fiscal year.

However, without the annual meeting, the Board has been obligated to continue with the budget and policies that were endorsed two years ago. “We are working as per the rolling budget and policies that were endorsed by the Assembly in 2012,” said HSEB Spokesperson Narayan Koirala. He claimed that the Board could not hold the Assembly before the Constituent Assembly election since the Election Commission imposed a code of conduct in June last year and, moreover, the education minister who heads the Assembly refused to attend the meet after the election.

Koirala claimed that the Board can still pass on the rolling budget even if the Assembly is not held every year. Lawyers, on the other hand, say the there is no room for rolling budget and that it is illegal. “No academic institution has the authority to use budget without endorsing it from the Assembly,” said advocate Narayan Khanal.

The 22nd Assembly of the Board held two years ago had passed a budget of Rs 989.94 million for the fiscal year 2012-13.

 Cases filed for selling school stationeries illegally

Parents and guardians have filed cases against around a dozen of schools in the Valley at the Department of Commerce and Supplies (DoCS) for unlawfully selling textbooks and stationeries from their premises.

Complaints have been filed against VS Niketan School in Minbhawan, Pathsala Nepal in Baneshwor, Career Building Academy and Gateway School in Pepsicola among others for defying the existing legal provision compelling students to purchase textbooks and stationeries from within their premises or through specifically allocated places.

Private and Institutional Schools’ Operation Directives, formulated by the Department of Education (DoE) and with the consent from the private school operators, has strictly barred schools from selling textbooks, stationeries and uniform from their premises or a fixed place.

According to Hari Narayan Belbase, director at DoCS, some of the schools have also been found running textbook stores in Beauty parlours and Tea shops in an attempt to dodge the authorities. He said the students get around 15 percent discount in textbooks and stationeries in the open market but are forced to pay more when bought from specified locations.

“As the DoE is equally responsible to control such practices, we have requested them for further action,” he added. However, though the DoCS wrote to DoE on Thursday, the latter claims not to have received any complaint. “We have not received any complaints,” said Bal Bahadur Karki, deputy director at DoE and chief of Institutional School Management Unit. Karki, nonetheless, said that the DoE has strictly directed respective District Education Offices to take necessary actions against schools found violating the directives.

Even when several private schools have been found flouting the rules, the DoE has reportedly failed to book any of them.

source: the kathmandu post,23 april 2014