A strike called by Nepal's pro-Maoist teachers, affiliated to Institutional School Teachers Union (ISTU)--opposing 'commercialization' of education, and demanding the closure of privately-run schools--forced the closure of all private and boarding schools across the country Friday, media reports say.
Private and Boarding School Association of Nepal (PABSON) has opposed the 5% education tax the government recently imposed upon all schools. It called on the 9,000 private and boarding schools in the country not to pay the tax, which, it says, has been imposed by the Maoist government unjustly. They say that parents and schools do not have the capacity to pay it.
Friday, a delegation from PABSON, led by its president Bhoj Bahadur Shah, met with Nepali Congress president Girija Prasad Koirala and appraised him of their problem.
Meanwhile, Finance Minister Baburam Bhattarai has warned he would initiate stringent action against schools not paying the tax. He also warned that the students of those schools would be barred from appearing for examinations of the School Leaving Certificate, due in a fortnight.
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June 12, 2026 17:14 ET Major central bank action was the focus this week in economic news. The European Central Bank became the first major central bank to move in response to the rising inflationary pressures in the backdrop of the conflict in the Middle East. In North America, the U.S. inflation and trade data as well as Canada’s central bank decision gained attention. The Chinese trade data was the main news in Asia.