Talking to the Post, Minister Bhattarai said they have agreed to pay after they changed the name Education Service Tax to Education Development Support Fund (EDSF). Bhattarai added that the government is ready to set up of a high level National Education Service Commission (NESC) with private school representation to address the issues .

The agreement among private and boarding school owners to support the government on the tax comes on the eve of the School Leaving Certificate (SLC) exam.

The government had announced five percent EST, in its budget speech for this fiscal year to ensure education for children from backward, marginalized and poor communities of Karnali region.

However, private and boarding school owners had been defying the government citing that the education tax would breach their right to run institutions with the needed stability.

General Secretary of Private and Boarding School Organisation of Nepal (PABSON), T.R. Dhakal said they have agreed to support the government if it creates a basket fund to help children in backward regions instead of calling it 'Education Tax' and sets up NESC with the representation of private schools to address their issues.

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