Kathmandu, April 6 – Despite repeated appeals from the government urging for discussions, thousands of educators have kept up their protests on the streets, insisting on the need for a revised School Education Act.
Teachers, who have joined forces through the Teachers’ Federation Nepal, initiated a large-scale demonstration on Wednesday. This action followed President Ramchendra Paudel’s decision, based on a government suggestion, to postpone the federal parliamentary session on Tuesday without approving the long-standing school education bill, which had been with a legislative committee for more than 18 months. On the opening day of their protest, the Ministry of Education extended an invitation to the federation for discussions.
However, the federation declined to participate in discussions, asserting that negotiations were pointless since their sole objective was the implementation of the new Act, along with the associated accords.
On Friday, Acting Prime Minister Prakash Man Singh extended an invitation to the demonstrators for discussions, yet they declined. Accompanied by Home Minister Ramesh Lekhak, Education Minister Bidya Bhattarai, and legislators from the governing party, Singh was ready to meet with the activists for dialogue.
However, the educators failed to appear. “In previous times, we’ve engaged in extensive discussions and come to various accords. Now, let the legislation include these previously accepted terms,” stated Laxmi Kishor Subedi, who leads the federation. “Continuing negotiations serves no purpose.”
The federation signed three accords with consecutive administrations previously. During Devendra Paudel’s tenure as the education minister from the CPN (Maoist Centre), he consented that educators should fall under the jurisdiction of the federal government, despite the constitution suggesting that local authorities could oversee primary schooling. The teaching community aims for this stipulation to be incorporated into the revised legislation.
Immediately following the introduction of the bill in the national legislature in September 2023, the federation organized a demonstration centered around Kathmandu to protest various aspects of the legislation. Numerous educators took part in these demonstrations in Kathmandu, causing significant disruptions throughout the city and compelling the government to engage in discussions with them.
They withdrew the protest after sealing a six-point deal with the government, which promised to address their demands by revising the bill. Along with retaining the teachers under the federal government, including them in the order of precedence and increasing the entry age of a teacher to 40 are their other demands.
Securing timely monthly payment of salaries and ensuring benefits equivalent to those received by government employees are additional requests made by the protesting educators.
Furthermore, they have called for a separate hospital exclusively for teachers, similar to how there exists an army hospital, police hospitals, and a Civil Service Hospital.
Even with repeated assurances from the political leaders, the parliament was unable to approve the bill due to significant disagreements among the legislators.
More than 150 amendments have been submitted for consideration in the legislation currently being reviewed by the House of Representatives’ Committee on Education, Health, and Information Technology. At present, a subcommittee within this house panel is conducting regional discussions on the bill.
The subpanel has encountered conflicting proposals on various matters, such as teacher management. Given that the constitution designates school education as an exclusive responsibility of local authorities, certain legislators advocate for placing teachers under the jurisdiction of these local entities. Nonetheless, alternative propositions suggest maintaining their oversight at the federal level since education falls within the purview of concurrent powers shared among different levels of governance.
Despite claims from educators that they won’t engage in discussions, Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli stated on Saturday that the matter will indeed be settled through dialogue. After arriving back in Nepal from Bangkok where he attended the sixth Bimstec Summit, he mentioned that the teachers traveled to Kathmandu expecting the administration to take their concerns into account.
Oli stated, “They think that if they make themselves heard, the government will pay attention.” He added, “It wasn’t necessary for many people to attend; even a few representatives would’ve sufficed to convey their concerns. The matter at hand will be settled, and they’ll depart shortly.” Oli also mentioned that he would look into ways to address the teachers’ requests.
The federation chairman, Subedi, stated that the government has two options: they can convene a new meeting of the House to approve the bill or they can promulgate an ordinance to tackle these issues.
Implementing the Act is essential for enforcing the Constitution of Nepal, as it would empower local and provincial levels with significant authority over managing the educational sector. Nevertheless, nearly ten years since the Constitution was enacted, the nation still awaits the implementation of this Act.
