Although the School Education Bill has been passed by the Education, Health and Information Technology Committee of the House of Representatives, the issue of providing free housing facilities to private schools while providing full scholarships is yet to be finalized. The bill passed by the committee on Thursday mandates that private schools provide 10 to 15 percent of students with full scholarships.

But the parliamentarians are divided on whether or not free residential facilities should be included in the full scholarship. 

Although the committee's secretariat has been assigned the task of writing a report on the bill, the Ministry of Education has been instructed to further study and inform about the full scholarship issue. Committee Secretary Dasharath Dhamala said that Education Minister Raghuji Pant has been asked to study and inform the committee about residential facilities on full scholarship. Parliamentarians want to provide residential facilities to orphans, poor and disadvantaged children. How facilities can be provided, it has been asked to study further and inform the committee," he said.

The sub-committee chaired by UML MP Chabilal Vishwakarma agreed that schools run by private investment should provide scholarships as per the prevailing laws on education in the form of full scholarships. Full scholarship is defined as fees charged and provided by the school, including tuition, examinations, textbooks, learning materials, clothing, transportation and residential facilities (if available at the school).

Private schools cannot provide residential facilities, practical laws should be made, private schools should be regulated, but should not be closed down. - Raghuji Pant, Minister of Education  But the consultation committee formed under the committee to agree on the bill has explained that it should be remembered that full scholarship means excluding residential facilities. After the majority of MPs opposed it saying that the agreement of the sub-committee was overturned, the committee passed the bill and the Ministry of Education was instructed to submit its views on residential facilities. 

Pabson, an association of private school operators, after NPabson expressed displeasure about full scholarships, the advisory committee removed the provision on residential facilities. UML MP Vishwakarma along with Vidya Bhattarai, Sarita Bhusal, Ishwari Gharti, Congress MP Chandra Bhandari, Maoist MP Rekha Sharma, RSVP MP Sumana Shrestha are standing in favor of providing housing facilities. They argue that the private schools that operate hostels should provide free housing facilities to 10 to 15 percent of students who have received scholarships based on the number of students. They pointed out that children from poor and disadvantaged families have to spend up to 20,000 per month for camp rent despite getting a

scholarship. They say that such arrangement should be made at least for the poor and orphans. Maoist MP Sharma said that the children who have received scholarships should be provided with food and accommodation.

Scholarship Act and Compulsory and Free Education Act have scholarship provisions. Following the same Act, even private colleges have been providing scholarships for higher education. There is a complaint that it has not been fully implemented at the school level. In the Act, educational institutions with up to 500 students will be given 10% scholarship, 12% for 500 to 800 students and 15% for more than 800 students. 

Raswap MP Shrestha argues that residential facilities should be provided according to the capacity of the dormitory. "Even if a hostel with 50 beds accommodates 5 people for free, it will be a big relief," she said. Education Minister Pant argued that private schools cannot provide residential facilities. He said that a practical law that can be implemented should be made. Private schools also contribute to education. They should be regulated but should not be closed down,” he said.

It should be written in the bill that the registration of schools that do not give scholarships will be cancelled. - Sumana Shrestha, MP, RASWP Pabson, N. Pabson has been demanding to remove the system of full scholarship and to arrange a fair scholarship. Education Minister Pant said that although private schools are not ready to provide facilities such as clothes, transport, etc., apart from residential facilities, they have been approved. Congress MP Shyam Ghimire is also against residential facilities. 

He said that private schools should be given residential facilities. There was also a discussion on the same issue between MP Ghimire and MP Sumana in the committee meeting. Ghimire argued that if residential facilities were to be provided, the government should subsidize those schools. MP Shrestha said that the state can only give budget to non-profit schools. MP Ghimire gave examples of different foreign countries and claimed that the state can give subsidies to private schools. 

Ghimire got angry when Shrestha questioned that the passage of the bill was not stopped because of pressure from private schools. She argued that after the sub-committee removed the provisions related to housing facilities on scholarships, it was clear that the bill was stalled for private reasons. It should be written in the bill that the registration of schools that do not provide scholarships will be cancelled. Let's find a way to implement the law. But housing is needed for the poor.' 

MP Ghimire then insisted that he is not the owner of a private school. "I am working hard to get the school education bill passed, but the media also said that the bill was stopped because of me. What is my interest? I didn't come to fight, you blamed me. I am here to pass this bill quickly. Everyone should welcome the bill when it passes. The people who are responsible for solving the problem should come forward after the rally takes place in the streets. Ministers have experienced this many times," he said. Although there was an agenda to pass the bill on June 16, it was stopped after Education Minister Pant and MP Ghimire asked for time to negotiate with the teachers' federation.