Govt pledges gradual free school education, signals reform in private schooling

KATHMANDU: The Balendra Shah-led government has once again raised questions over long-debated commercialization in school-level education, as it moves to expand free and compulsory education in Nepal.

In the national commitment under the 100-point governance reform agenda made public on Tuesday, the government announced that school education will be gradually made free and compulsory.

The commitment states that access to education for all children, including pre-primary education, will be ensured on an equal basis while making school education progressively free and mandatory.

It further states that the quality gap between public and private schools will be reduced by improving public school standards, while policy reforms will be introduced to make private schools more service-oriented and accountable.

According to the document, “A comprehensive review and policy reforms will be carried out to make education provided by the private sector more service-oriented, accountable, and quality-focused.”

The issue of private schooling has long been controversial in Nepal’s education sector. The School Education Bill, which was tabled in the previous Parliament, saw prolonged debates over private schools and teacher-related provisions, but failed to reach a conclusion.

Lawmakers from the Nepali Congress and CPN-UML had opposed proposals to convert private schools into service-oriented or free institutions, while lawmakers from the Nepali Communist Party and Rastriya Swatantra Party supported the idea.

Former Rastriya Swatantra Party lawmaker Sumana Shrestha had even suggested setting a clear timeline for either transforming private schools into trusts or making them free.

The unresolved bill now places a potentially decisive role on Rastriya Swatantra Party lawmakers in determining its future course.

The inclusion of school education reform in the government’s national commitment has also signaled a firm policy stance on regulating private education, which has long operated as a business sector.

Prime Minister Balendra Shah, during his tenure as Mayor of Kathmandu, had consistently emphasized the need to strengthen public schools.

With the latest commitment prioritizing public education reform, stakeholders in the private education sector may once again be concerned over possible policy tightening.