Himal Press 
Teachers' Protest (File Photo)
KATHMANDU: Teachers from across the country have gathered in Kathmandu by closing their schools. They are determined to continue their protest until their concerns on the Bill to amend and consolidate school education laws, presented recently in the parliament, are addressed. Various unions of school teachers have strongly objected to the Bill, accusing the government of disregarding the suggestions provided at various times.
Who is involved in the protest?
A total of 14 teacher associations are participating in the protest under the leadership Confederation of Nepalese Teachers. These associations include teacher unions affiliated with all major political parties, as well as associations of school staff. The protest mostly concerns teachers in temporary positions, those deprived of pensions, those working in the now-defunct higher secondary postings, and those working under the relief quota.
Major Demands of Teachers
After the government registered the Bill in parliament, the Confederation publicly articulated its stance on the matter. Their key demands include opportunities for the permanent appointment of teachers engaged in diverse temporary roles, such as temporary postings and relief quotas, through internal competitions. They have also advocated for the permanent appointment of school staff and the recognition of early childhood development (ECD) teachers as primary-level teachers. Additionally, they have called on the government to calculate the service period of temporary teachers and provide them with pension benefits, ensuring equitable promotions for teachers, addressing discrimination in both grade and salary structures, and retracting the provision to hand over teaching positions to local units from the federal government.
Likewise, the Confederation has called on the government to form a Teaching Council, provide remote allowances for teachers assigned to remote areas, ensure maximum participation of guardians in school management committees, ensure pay for teachers in institutional schools on par with teachers of community schools, provide trade union rights to teachers, and retract provision to allow local units to appoint headmasters.
Over 7 million students affected
The ongoing strike will affect the education of more than 7 million students across the country.
According to data from the Center for Education and Human Resource Development Center, there were 7.26 million students from the basic level to class 12 in the 2022/23 academic session.
A total of 36,032 teachers are affiliated with different community, institutional, and religious schools across the country.
Why is the confederation not sitting for talks?
Although the government has invited agitating teachers for discussions, the Confederation has rejected the government’s offer. Bhagwan Aryal, joint secretary of the Ministry of Education and Science and Technology, issued a statement on Monday evening, urging the Confederation to engage in talks.
The ministry has claimed that there have been sufficient discussions with Confederation officials at various stages of drafting the bill, and their suggestions were incorporated as much as possible. The ministry has also stated that some of the demands raised by the Confederation will be addressed in regulations to be formulated after the passage of the Bill.
However, the confederation is not inclined to participate in talks. Laxmi Kishor Subedi, General Secretary of the Confederation, said that the ministry does not have the authority to invite them for talks on a Bill that has already been registered in Parliament. “How can ministry officials deal with matters outside their jurisdiction?” he questioned. “The ministry cannot take any decision on the Bill now.”
