Education minister defends tax on private schools; PABSON warns of protest

Education minister Renu Yadav said Tuesday that the government would not bow down to pressure for withdrawal of its decision to impose 5 percent service tax on private schools.

Speaking at the Reporters Club, minister Yadav said the government came up with the tax policy in order to provide free education to children from backward regions, Dalits and Madhesi community.

Saying that private schools must also be prepared to help the government in making education available for all, the minister made it clear that there would not be any rethink on the decision to levy tax on private schools. She maintained that private school operators should refrain from using pressure tactics against the government policy.

In the budget statement on Friday, the government had announced that five percent tax would be levied on all private schools.

Meanwhile, private school operators have opposed the imposition of tax.

Speaking at the Reporters Club, Umesh Shrestha, a former president of Private and Boarding Schools Organisation of Nepal (PABSON), said the tax would "only add burden on the students" and there would be a strong protest if the government refused to take back the decision.

"We will launch strong protest programmes if the tax is not revoked immediately," he said, "Forty percent private schools will come to a closure in no time."

Likewise, organising a press conference in Butwal, PABSON central member Ramesh K.C said the tax on private schools is unjustified and that the organisation would launch a strike if the government failed to revoke the tax. nepalnews.com Sep 23 08