The Education, Health and Information Technology Committee of the House of Representatives has agreed on the operation of private schools and early childhood development classes (ECD).

In the discussion on the school education bill, it was agreed that private schools will be made service-oriented, public-welfare and non-profit gradually. 

It has been unanimously passed to strictly regulate private schools in matters such as fees, scholarships, service facilities provided to teachers and staff, and operational standards. It has also been agreed to conduct ECD as a two-year program before admission to class 1 in public and private schools.

Currently ECD has been running for 1 year in community and 4 years in private schools. Chairman of the committee Amber Bahadur Thapa proposed that the initial child development education can be conducted as a two-year program in public schools by ensuring resources and starting from the date specified by the government. He submitted a proposal in the committee meeting that no school will be allowed to operate ECD for a period of more than two years. Thapa said that the proposal was passed by consensus.

The sub-committee could not agree on private and ECD issues. There was a difference of opinion among the MPs that private schools should be transferred to non-profit organizations after a certain year and should be allowed to operate in the current company model. After discussion in the committee, the parliamentarians agreed to make it service-oriented, public-welfare and gradually non-profit according to the spirit of the constitution. 

Privately invested schools are allowed to charge fees only within the title and limits set by the local level under the national standards regarding level and fee determination. It has also been agreed that the 10 to 15 percent scholarships provided by private schools will be transparent and managed. The provision of setting up and operating private schools in company and non-profit (guthi) model has been kept open.

 After the promulgation of the new constitution, the Eighth Amendment of the Education Act in 2073 prohibited the establishment of private schools in the company model. It was believed that the ban would increase the monopoly. Arrangements have also been made by the state to encourage the purchase of land, purchase of vehicles, educational materials and laboratory materials that have gone to private schools in the public sector.

It has also been agreed to keep ECD within the structure of community schools. Chairman Thapa concluded that basic education means school education from early childhood education to class 8. It has also been agreed that in order to be appointed as a child facilitator, at least 12th or 16th grade must be passed, service entry training must be mandatory and their wages should not be less than the minimum prescribed by the Labor Act. 

There is no age limit for the currently employed Facilitators to appear for the first time in the Teacher Service Examination through open competition. Although some parliamentarians were of the opinion that teachers should be recognized as child teachers instead of facilitators, they could not reach a consensus. The Ministry of Education had been refusing to keep child development in the school structure and to make ECD for two years even in private schools. The Ministry of Education backed down after the parliamentarians opined that children would be discriminated against due to the lack of equal arrangements in the public and private sectors.

Education Minister Raghuji Pant's argument was that making ECD for two years would increase the expenditure. The parliamentarians said that child development is the earliest stage of human life and emphasized that it should not be kept outside of school education. The committee has decided that despite the agreement from the sub-committee, the office of Education Development and Coordination Unit in the district will remain the same and conduct the SEE examination of class 10 from the state. 

The decision of the sub-committee has been overturned after Education Minister Pant moved a motion requiring office and SEE. It has been agreed that there will be an office in each district to handle education-related work of the provincial government. Education Minister Pant said that the unit office had to be set up as per the demand of teachers federation. Since the right of school education has gone to the local level, the agreement was reached in the end against the opinion of the parliamentarians that keeping the unit is against the constitution and federalism. The parliamentarians were of the view that the local level has arbitrarily transferred and punished the teachers and that the office is necessary to stop it. 

The work and duties of the office have been set to improve the educational quality of the school, map the school, collect educational data, keep records of public school property, and coordinate with the central, state and local levels. It is arranged that the office should coordinate with the Ministry of Education of the provincial government.  According to the agreement reached in the

committee, the Secondary Education Examination (SEE) will be conducted from the state from next year. Although the sub-committee removed this issue, in the discussion on the proposal made by the Ministry of Education, now the province has agreed to conduct the SEE in coordination with the National Examination Board. It is said that other arrangements related to the examination will be as per the provisions of the state law.

The committee has also agreed on the periodical promotion of teachers and the calculation of temporary service period as per the demand of teachers federation. Provision has been made to fill up the posts through periodical promotion of teachers after completion of 10 years of service for third category posts and 12 years for second category posts. Likewise, it has been agreed that the bill will calculate the incomplete service period from the temporary service period for the purpose of pension and gratuity of teachers appointed permanently till the end of March 2075. 

With these demands, the teachers protested last March/May on the issue of service facilities. Education Minister Pant discussed with the teachers and brought a proposal to include the agreement between the government and the federation since 2075 in the bill. The committee continues to discuss the subcommittee's report.