Teachers have been protesting in Kathmandu for the past 27 days, demanding the introduction of a School Education Act incorporating past agreements reached with the government.
Most of the teachers from approximately 29,000 community schools across the country are participating in the Kathmandu-centered agitation led by the Nepal Teachers’ Federation.
The teachers launched the agitation on February 2 and have been holding protests in Kathmandu since April 2.
During this period, teachers’ representatives have met and held discussions with Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli, Education Minister Raghuji Panta, Nepali Congress General Secretaries Gagan Thapa and Bishwa Prakash Sharma, among others. But the discussions have failed to yield any result.
The School Education Bill is currently under consideration in the Education, Health, and Technology Committee of Parliament. The committee has been discussing contentious issues in a subcommittee, which has reportedly finalized most of them.
Meanwhile, a clash broke out between teachers and police during the protest on Sunday when the teachers tried to breach a prohibited zone at New Baneshwar in Kathmandu. Sixty-two teachers and one journalist were injured in the incident.
Laxmi Kishor Subedi, chairman of the NTF, has said that teachers will return to schools only after the School Education Act is issued. The agitation has affected student enrollment campaigns, SEE answer sheet evaluation, and Class 12 examinations.
In the House of Representatives meeting on Monday, lawmakers emphasized that the state should not use force on teachers.
