Education Bill: Amendments, delays, and what lies ahead

KATHMANDU: As the summer session of the House of Representatives comes to a close, concerns are mounting regarding the fate of the Bill to Amend and Consolidate Laws Related to School Education.

The new education law, a landmark update after five decades, has naturally piqued the interest of not only school teachers, staff, and educational promoters but also anyone invested in the education sector. The government has faced criticism for not introducing a federal education law to replace the Education Act, 1971, even eight years after the country adopted the federal setup. The absence of this crucial law has led to confusion regarding the service and facilities, transfers, promotions, and remuneration of school teachers, among other critical issues.

The House of Representatives on October 12 passed a proposal to send the draft of the bill to the Education, Health, and Information Technology Committee for a clause-wise discussion. However, the House session concluded before the committee could initiate the discussion, causing the bill to be put on hold.

The committee is yet to receive the draft of the bill which is currently with the Legislation Division of the Federal Parliament Secretariat. The division will incorporate the proposed amendments into the draft.

A total of 157 amendment proposals have been registered for the bill. An official at the Secretariat informed Himal Press that it would take at least a week to integrate these amendments in the draft bill. Once the amendments are incorporated, the draft will be sent to the Education, Health, and Information Technology Committee.

Committee members will begin by consulting officials from the Ministry of Education, Science, and Technology about the provisions in the draft. Subsequently, they will start a clause-by-clause discussion and engage with education experts and representatives from various organizations. Additionally, the committee plans to conduct a nationwide discussion on the bill.

“Given the widespread concerns about the education bill, we plan to hold discussions in all seven provinces to collect suggestions. The committee will then engage with lawmakers who have proposed amendments,” committee Chairperson Bhanu Bhakta Joshi said.

According to Joshi, this Bill is expected to take more time than other bills due to the extensive amendments proposed by lawmakers.

The lawmakers have proposed a wide range of amendments, from changing the name in the preamble to 100% recruitment of temporary, relief quota, and early childhood development (ECD) teachers through internal competition. The government made this commitment after the Confederation of Nepalese Teachers brought teachers from across the country to Kathmandu to protest against the Bill.

Amendments have been filed to incorporate the agreements the government has reached with school teachers, as well as those concerning trade union rights, appointment of principals, job responsibilities, and rights. There is also an amendment proposal to place school teachers under the jurisdiction of the provinces.

Laxmi Kishor Subedi, general secretary of the federation, said the confederation will continue its efforts to incorporate its demands into the Bill. “Our lobbying will continue to make the bill more teacher-friendly and adapt school education for the 21st century. We will continue our efforts until the bill takes the shape of law,” he added.

The confederation compiled a 61-point amendment proposal and distributed it among lawmakers of different political parties. Many lawmakers signed the amendment proposals prepared by us and registered them with the parliament secretariat, Subedi added.