While All Nepal National Independent Student Union-Revolutionary (ANNISU-R) continued their protest on Monday by padlocking accounts sections of around 200 valley-based private schools, the union made public a list of 39 schools that, they said, are charging high fees unlawfully.

Showing the list to the press, the Newa state In-Charge of the CPN-Maoist aligned ANNISU-R Kedar Khatiwada claimed that the government’s failure to regulate the private institutions compelled them to take action on their own.

“As the government officials seem helpless to act against the private schools, we could not keep quiet,” said Khatiwada.

The union has said that the padlocking would continue unless the schools rollback the hike in fees set for this academic year. The list made available by the District Education Offices reveal that one school has increased the fee 809 percent. Bhaktapur-based Rajeshwori Gurukul has imposed the steep hike in monthly fee in the new session.

The union has said that it would launch indefinite strike from May 23 if the private schools do not rollback the hike.

Meanwhile, the Private and Boarding School Association, Nepal (PABSON) Chairperson Lakshya Bahadur KC slammed the ANNISU-R move of padlocking the schools’ accounts section and criticized the government for being reluctant to intervene on the issue.

KC added that the private schools would rather be ready to face the action if the government finds them guilty but the protest of the student union was humiliating for them.

“The union’s action against school is quite humiliating. The District Education Offices’ (DEO) action against schools would be the right way to correct the schools that have highly increased fees,” KC said.

The fees can be revised after a discussion with DEOs if the authority finds the hike unreasonable, he added.

The private schools, which are divided under five categories from A to E, can charge different fees set by the DEOs based on their rank.

source: republica,12 may 2014