House panel gives govt five days to build consensus on School Education Bill

KATHMANDU: The Education, Science, and Technology Committee of the House of Representatives has given the government five days to build consensus on the School Education Bill.

Speaking at the meeting of the committee on Sunday, Minister for Education, Science and Technology Raghuj Pant requested more time to finalize the bill, stating that additional discussion was needed before its passage. However, the majority of lawmakers insisted that the bill should be passed immediately.

Committee Chairperson Ammar Bahadur Thapa, however, decided to grant a five-day window to forge consensus. “Come back with an agreement within five days,” he said.

Earlier, the meeting scheduled for June 30 was also postponed at the minister’s request.

In the meeting, several lawmakers warned against holding further sessions without a concrete plan to pass the bill. “Who is interfering with the Bill? Only call the meeting once a decision has been made,” said Devendra Paudel of CPN (Maoist Center).

CPN-UML lawmaker and former education minister Bidya Bhattarai said the Bill does not necessarily have to be shaped exactly as demanded by teachers. “Teachers deserve respect, but that does not mean the Bill must be written exactly as they say,” she added.

Minister Pant said efforts were underway to reach an agreement on the management of relief and temporary teachers. He said the government was trying to forge a consensus on a model to manage 60% of relief and temporary teachers through internal competition, and the remaining through open competition.

However, he admitted that consensus had not yet been reached even among the ruling coalition parties on some points.

“We have drafted this Bill with the interests of stakeholders, students, and the country’s future in mind,” Minister Pant said. “Though we aimed to pass it Sunday, it couldn’t happen. I apologize to everyone concerned.”

Pant added that more consultations at the political level were needed to resolve issues related to relief quota teachers, teacher promotions and Early Childhood Development (ECD).