Talks between teachers and the government have concluded with a nine-point agreement.
Prithvi Subba Gurung, the government's spokesperson, said that a Cabinet meeting held on Wednesday evening decided to approve and implement the agreement reached between the Nepal Teachers' Federation (NTF) and the Ministry of Education.
The agreement was made public during a press conference attended by Education Minister Raghuji Panta, Home Minister Ramesh Lekhak, NTF Chairman Laxmi Kishor Subedi and others.
Speaking at the press conference, Education Minister Panta said that implementing the agreement would impose a financial burden of an additional Rs 8 billion on the state.
Earlier, NTF Co-chairperson Nanumaya Parajuli said that a nine-point agreement was reached with the government during Wednesday’s talks. "Those points will be made public after the Cabinet makes a decision. A date has been set for issuing the Education Act," she added.
Meanwhile, issuing a statement after the agreement, the NTF has called off the educational strike and all protest programs with effect from Wednesday.
The government and ruling parties have also expressed commitment to teachers that the School Education Bill would be passed by June 29.
Mahesh Bartaula, chief whip of the CPN-UML), said that the commitment was made during talks with protesting teachers at the Ministry of Education on Wednesday.
Education Minister Panta, Home Minister Lekhak, chief whips of the ruling parties, and others took part in the meeting.
Bartaula said that the two ruling parties are also preparing to issue a joint statement to reassure the teachers of their commitment.
"We have told the teachers that the two ruling parties will pass the bill by June 29. A joint statement is also being issued by the two parties to reassure them," he said.
Teachers from community schools across the country have been protesting in Kathmandu since April 2 with various demands.
The School Education Bill is currently under discussion in the Education, Health, and Technology Committee of the House of Representatives. The committee has formed a sub-committee to resolve contentious issues, with most of them settled.
The ongoing teachers' protests have disrupted classes in nearly 29,000 community schools nationwide, and also affected student enrollment campaigns, SEE answer sheet evaluations, and Class 12 examinations.
During the talks with the government, the NTF had especially raised nine issues that could be resolved immediately by the Ministry of Education and the Cabinet. They included salaries of school staff and ECD teachers, remote area allowances, ranking, Social Security Fund, grade adjustment, discounts on medical treatments, relief education, parity in salaries, and provisions for accumulating leave and providing a lump-sum payment for it upon retirement.
