Protests by various student organizations, teachers' federations, and private school operators have been taking place against various provisions in the Bill, which was passed by the committee and submitted to the House of Representatives news got priority last week. 

Kathmandu - Seventeen student organizations, including the ruling party's student organization Nepal Student Union (NSU) and All Nepal National Free Student Union (ANNFSU), expressed objections to the School Education Bill (SEB) which the Education, Health and Information Technology Committee (EHITC) of the House of Representatives has passed the amendments to the SEB and submitted it to the Parliament. The bill, which was registered in the Parliament along with the Committee report, has provisions that encourage the privatization of school education, weaken the public education system, and push youth to migrate abroad, and they has demanded immediate amendments.

They have emphasized that an Act should be enacted to implement compulsory and free education up to the basic level and completely free education up to the secondary level, as per the constitution, mentioned the news. To improve the quality of public schools, all three tiers of government should increase their budgets, should stop the commercialization of school education, and enroll the children of those who receive salaries and facilities from the state in public schools and should be similar the curriculum and the learning and direction language are their demand, the news quoted. Similarly, they emphasized to be recognize ECED facilitator as school teacher, the scholarship system, should be made transparent through a central portal. The organizations has made Protest Program public including a nationwide protest, shutting down of the Kathmandu Valley, if the demands are not met.

On the other hand, Private school investors protested with school buses on Kathmandu's ring road, demanding the removal of phrased "full scholarship" and " making it (for-profit schools) gradually non-profit" from the SEB, the news published. Private school investors have warned that they will not give vote to the parties in 2027 if their demands are not met in the Bill and they will not vote to the lawmakers who oppose private schools. They said that private schools will stand against any party that opposes for-profit schools, quoted the news. 

Given the in-depth discussions and debates held in the EHITC, it was expected that SEB will now move to a positive direction, however, apart from some general improvements, the Bill does not provide solutions to the core problems facing by the education sector, Prof. Dr. Binay Kusiyat wrote in an article of Kantipur.

Nepal Teachers Federation (NTF) President Laxmi Kishore Subedi has said that the education sector should not be put in problem by leaving the act that is being drafted after 54 years incomplete. Although the committee made some corrections to the bill, which was advanced in the opposite direction by a parliamentary subcommittee, it appears that it will not be able to resolve the current problems, which is why the movement has to start, the news published. 

Amrit Giri defends private schools in Gorkhapatra article titled 'Education is the backbone of the nation'. The article mentions that while the complaint that private schools have achieved excellent results only by selecting capable students, it negates the large investment, created employment, and contribution of the private sector. The article stated that passing the SEB as it stands will not yield the desired results and that the government needs to seek consensus through discussions with all stakeholders, including school administrators, teachers, parents, and students.

Dr. Shriram Neupane, in another article titled "Guthisation (turning into non-profit trusts) of Private School" published in Gorkhapatra, wrote that the capital of the private school can be protected within the Guthi, and the return process can be ensured in the Act by setting a specific period. He wrote that it takes time for ownership of land and structures to be transferred from individuals to Guthi, and that even if the state is not financially strong, all private individuals will join Guthi if a clear policy and long-term plan are formulated. He suggested passing the Bill with as it is and move towards non-profit education mandatory.

At the heart of  the formulation of the Education Act is an ongoing tug-of-war between the principles of implementing education as a right and ending the commercialization of education and the discrimination it creates among children. If the state is to create discrimination for those who have resources and who have not, how would it be possible to implement the fundamental rights of equality and education as provisioned in the Constitution? Is building the discriminatory state the philosophy of the leaders of the main Parties? If the intention of the leaders is to maintain and promote discrimination in the state through education, then they should change all the provisions about equality in the current Constitution that stated that every citizen is equal. The main Parties and leaders should clearly state what they really want. Otherwise, their intention will mean deviation from implementing the fundamental rights of equality and education of every child as enshrined in the Constitution. It is the dishonesty of the parties and their leaders towards public education and citizens. 

It is a sad state of affairs that the very same parliamentarians and leaders in the government who should act in accordance with the Constitution are now actively opposing the provision of gradually making private schools non-profitable as if the state were immediately seizing private property. This provision included in the Bill reflects the realization that even if the commercialization of education does not end today, the state cannot be equitable without improvement in public education and minimize the impact of haphazard commercialization.

Even if the bill cannot be drafted in accordance with the intentions of the Constitution, vowing to go non-profit will send a message that lawmakers are at least aware of the fundamental right to education. The incompetent existing political parties, who have not been able to enact a new Education Act even after a decade of changing the country's structure and system of governance, will be seen as dishonest . They should not block the way for tomorrow even if they cannot do it today just because they are collecting donations from existing private school investors. If the country sinks, it won't just be their profits that will drown. 

It is important for policymakers to be clear that another party that acted unfairly during the making of the Education Act are public school teachers;  they are narrowly focused on their own facilities and services rather than their own responsibilities (students’ learning, quality teaching). Parliamentarians should be aware of what future generations will evaluate when they meet the demands of these two interest groups at the expense of children and the progress of society.

While politicians and parliamentarians have lost their way in attempt of pursuing the interests of vested interest groups, student organizations have shown understanding this time! Most of the demands of these organizations, which have always danced at the behest of the party, seem appropriate, but their activism appears negligible compared to that of teachers and for-profit schools, raising the question of whether this is not a conspiracy to circumvent the parties' own failures. Student organizations have previously remained grossly indifferent on matters of public education, except on those matters directed by their ‘mother’ parties. If these students' demands are legitimate and not party-sponsored, then it is a commendable leadership. This should be considered a youth initiative. 

In fact,, the protests that erupted this week are also the result of ignoring legitimate demands. Private school owners and teachers are influencing legislators and especially government officials for the power of intermediary influence for their votes and money. They have not listened to the people and have not understood their feelings. It is likely that the Gen Z generation of young people who have joined the movement are mostly from private schools, who have neither the vision nor the skills and enthusiasm to work. They will go crazy if they don't have social media. The government's decision to shut down social media was a technical error. Gen Z was engaged in social media. It was sure that if they didn't get it, they would take to the streets. What contribution can we claim to have with such an education?

If this product is not from private schools, it is a product of protesting teachers. Is anyone willing to take moral responsibility? Not wanting to go non-profit or influence to bend the law in their favor even if it doesn't produce results and the issue of party leaders getting a motion passed that no restrictions be imposed on them (to get elected as many times as they want and as old as they get) is basically the same. It is the same thing when people who have become the Presidents and the Vice-presidents seek to return back to power even in pretty junior positions. When this happens, there will be no option but rebellion.

Pro. Dr. Shanta Krishna Adhikari writes that if there is no fault in the curriculum.  However, most make rumors of curriculum reform to improve the education sector to get away blaming the curriculum for their own inaction. The ones who should be vigilant in ending the distortions in education are Nepali Congress, CPN (UML), and CPN (Maoist Center). It is too late for political parties to get the knowledge if it is not appropriate to continue to maintain a situation where young people seeking quality education are always forced to go abroad, he wrote. 

With the aim of ensuring inclusive and equitable quality education and lifelong learning for all, the Ministry of Education Science and Technology has celebrated the 59th Literacy Day with the slogan 'Promoting Literacy in the Digital Age'. Details have been made public by the Center for Education and Human Resource Development: Madhesh Province has the lowest literacy rate (63.5 percent). The highest literacy rate is in Bagmati Province at 82 percent, followed by Koshi at 79.7, Gandaki at 81.7, Lumbini at 78.1, Sudurpaschim at 76.2 and Karnali at 76.1, the news reported. 

Literacy among people aged 15 to 60 is 85 percent. The population over the age of 5 is 26.7 million. The center has stated that the literate population is 20.3 million. The criteria for being considered literate are those who meet 50 percent of the following 12 criteria, the news quoted: 

- Be able to read and write the scripts of the national language or the mother tongue,

- Be able to read price lists and bills written in Nepali or in mother tongues,

- Be able to write and read their own and family members' names and ages,

- Be able to recognize and use numbers and letters on mobile phones and calculators,

- Be able to write the numbers 0 to 9,

-Be able to count from 1 to 100,

- Able to keep track of all transactions,

- Able to read and understand simple pictures, posters, signboards and traffic signs,

- Be able to actively participate in community programs with their own ideas,

-Can tell time by looking at a clock,

- Can tell the da

te by looking at the wall calendar,

- Able to fill out bank vouchers and use checks.

Save the Children Nepal has launched a three-year partnership to promote quality, inclusive and accessible Early Childhood Development (ECD) and basic education in Mahottari and Sarlahi districts of Madhesh Province, there was news. 

Minister for Education, Science and Technology Raghuji Pant has reportedly emphasized the need to prioritize connecting traditional knowledge, skills and arts to life under the National Qualifications Framework.

President Ram Chandra Poudel says education should be linked to knowledge, skills, and entrepreneurship. The news stated that he emphasized the need to focus on developing a self-reliant economy by increasing production and employment in the country.

Tribhuvan University (TU), an academic institution that should be disciplined and accountable, has been found to be opaque in its income and expenditure, according to the Auditor General, Onlinekhabar published the news. The amount of fraud is increasing every year because most of the bodies of TU have not conducted audits for years. The audit of the five fiscal years from 2016 to 2021 of the university and university campuses was finally conducted by the Office of the Auditor General in 2024/025, mentioned the news. Similarly, Amrit Science Campus has not had an audit for the last 5 fiscal years, the news stated. 

Madan Bista wrote in Gorkhapatra that all stakeholders - political parties, administration, teachers, students, and society - should take collective responsibility to reestablish TU as a strong, autonomous, and academic institution. The article stated that since university reform is an integral part of Nepal's democratic journey, neglecting it means weakening the country's intellectual and political foundation.

The news stated that Govinda KC's hunger strike, which he started in protest of the increase in medical college seats, was ended midway after he developed health problems.

Gorkhapatra reported that in recent times, the interest of older people towards studying Sanskrit has been increasing. Including Former Ministers and Ambassadors, they are studying Sanskrit at campuses under Nepal Sanskrit University and TU, and Balmiki Campus. Some of those enrolled have taken up the study of Sanskrit as a means of spending their retirement happily and some said they enrolled because they had always wanted to study the language, but finally had the opportunity to do so after being free from their busy lives, the news stated. Former Minister of Industry and Secretary of the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Socialist) Som Prasad Pandey, former Ambassador to Canada Kali Prasad Pokharel, and others are also studying Sanskrit at TU. (It was heard that some people also consider this as Hindu awakening. Ed)
Even after more than two hundred years since the policy formulation to establish libraries in Nepal, libraries have still not been freed from financial and policy complications. Some of the libraries that have been playing an important role in developing a reading culture at the public level are operating like a dim light, More than half of those that were operated have closed, the news published in Gorakhapatra. 

Civil engineering studies begin for the first time in Mugu district in Mahakali Model Secondary School under the technical stream from grades 9 to 12, the news stated. 

Mechi Primary School, where children from the villages of Gwalbasti, Sisaudagi and Jhadubasti study, is always closed during the rainy season due to the lack of a 16-meter-long bridge over the Leduwa stream in Mechi Municipality, the news published. There are three villages in Mechinagar-15, is home to a majority of indigenous communities including Satar, Rajbanshi, Yadav, Munda and Gwal. According to the news, this year too, the school which offers education up to grade 2, which was supposed to open on 10 August, has not opened yet, and teaching and learning have come to a standstill. 

In an article written in Kantipur titled "The Challenge of Women's Participation in Education," Mina Kumari Lama wrote that although the role of women teachers, administrators, policymakers, and researchers has been gradually increasing in schools, campuses, and universities over the past few decades and has challenges such as gender inequality, family responsibilities, social norms, and inequality in the services and facilities they receive in the government, non-government, and private sectors continue to limit women's full participation.

Purpose of this news review is to classify and synthesize the educational content of the week and provide objective comments from the point of view of social justice and creative pedagogy including the environment. It is aimed to the policy makers and stakeholders to help make informed decisions. In this joint effort of the Center for Educational Policies and Practices (CEPP) and EduKhabar, material from daily newspapers - Kantipur, Gorkhapatra and The Himalayan Times, online news portals - Online Khabar, Setopati and Ratopati and the 8 o'clock news of Nepal Television and 7 o'clock news of Himalaya Television is summarized and presented with commentary on relevant issues. We have covered the contents from 30 Aug-5 September 2025 in this issue and this often is the translated version of Nepali edition - The Editor.

Read this analysis in Nepali : सामुदायिक विद्यालयको पक्षमा युवा विद्यार्थी सङ्गठन !?

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