Compulsory and Free Education Act, 2018

Chapter-1

Preliminary

1. Short Title and Commencement: (1) This Act may be cited as the "Act Relating to Compulsory and Free Education, 2075 (2018)."

(2) This Act shall come into force immediately. 2. Definitions: Unless the subject or context otherwise requires, in this Act,-

(a) "Compulsory Education" means the mandatory arrangement for children of an age group specified by the Government of Nepal to be enrolled in a school or other alternative educational institution, to regularly study, and to complete the basic level of study.

(b) "Guardian" means the father, mother, or any person whose name is registered as a guardian in the school, and said term also includes his or her custodian or caretaker.

(c) "Economically Disadvantaged" means the condition of having an annual income less than the prescribed limit.

(d) "Basic Education" means school education from Grade One to Grade Eight.

(e) "Prescribed" or "As prescribed" means prescribed or as prescribed in the rules framed under this Act.

(f) "Privately Invested School" means a school established or operated with private investment, and said term also includes an institutional school existing at the time of commencement of this Act.

(g) "Free Education" means education provided by a school or educational institution without collecting any fee in any title from the student or guardian.

(h) "Principal" means the chief executive officer of a school who leads the school and performs managerial and administrative responsibilities, and said term also includes the principal or other person exercising executive authority who has the primary responsibility for the management of the school or teaching institution.

(i) "Early Childhood Development and Education" means one-year duration of child development and education focused on the holistic development of children who have completed four years of age, provided before entering Grade One.

(j) "Secondary Education" means education from Grade Nine to Grade Twelve or equivalent.

(k) "Mother Tongue Education" means education provided through the medium of any mother tongue of a Nepali community spoken in Nepal, and said term also includes multilingual education based on the mother tongue.

(l) "School" means a public or privately invested school established and operated pursuant to the prevailing law, and said term also includes a community or institutional school existing pursuant to the prevailing law at the time of commencement of this Act.

(m) "Student" means a person who is enrolled and studying in a school, and said term also includes a person acquiring education through informal, open, alternative, and other programs.

(n) "Special Education" means education provided through a special type and specific medium, keeping children with visual impairment, deafness, autism, intellectual disability, hearing impairment, or severe physical disability or conditions of a similar nature in a separate group.

(o) "Teacher" means a teacher of a school, and said term also includes the Principal.

(p) "Teaching Institution" means a school or higher education providing institution, and said term also includes an institution providing informal, alternative, or open education.

(q) "Public School" means a school operated with the investment or grant of the Government of Nepal, a Provincial Government, or a Local Level, and said term also includes a school operated as a community school pursuant to the prevailing law.

(r) "Public Educational Trust School" means a welfare school established or operated under a public educational trust with the objective of not making profit.