The school education bill has become uncertain due to pressure from interest groups and political interference. Showing the demands of the teachers, Education Minister Raghuji Pant and Congress Whip Shyam Ghimire have been stopping the process of passing the bill since June 15, demanding more time.

Despite the demands of the teachers, the parliamentarians of the Education, Health and Information Technology Committee say that the process of passing the bill, which has reached its final stage, has been blocked due to the maneuvering of political party leaders who are also private school owners and investors.

Due to disagreements on some issues within the ruling coalition and the manipulation of interest groups, the bill has been stopped from being sent to the House of Representatives, even though most of the issues have been resolved after the government repeatedly asked for time. After the education bill became uncertain, the committee started discussing the media council bill from Sunday.

The government had promised to submit the school education bill to the House of Representatives by the 15th of June with the Federation of Teachers. However, when the ruling party is indecisive, the Education Act, which is going to be released after 54 years, has become uncertain . Chairman of the committee Ammar Bahadur Thapa said that the bill could not be concluded as the government has been asking for time since May.

'The government asked for time . The conclusion has not been reached,' he said, 'The bill was stopped because of the education minister, Congress whip and the teachers' federation.' Thapa said that the bill will go ahead only after the government comes to an agreement with the stakeholders including the teachers' federation. "After the Minister of Education did not give time, discussion on another bill has started," he said.

Education Minister Pant and Congress whip Ghimire, who is also a member of the committee, have been demanding more time from the committee to pass the bill. They say that the major stakeholders, the teachers' federation, are dissatisfied and that the bill has yet to be discussed with the top leaders along with the ruling coalition. After blocking the passage of the bill, Pant and Ghimire have been accused of trying to reverse some agreements.

MPs of the committee understand that the bill has been stopped because of differences within the power coalition regarding the operation of private schools, early childhood development classes (ECD), scholarships and foreign board schools .

A member of parliament of UML said that private school owners expressed dissatisfaction through Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli with the agreement of the committee to gradually make private schools non-profit. Private schools included in the bill should give scholarships to 10 to 15 percent of students and they cannot establish foreign board schools, Nepali students cannot be taught foreign courses, the administrators have objected. They are also dissatisfied with the provision of not being able to name the school in English. Congress treasurer Umesh Shrestha and Foreign Minister Arju Rana are alleging that Congress MPs manipulated through Ghimire to reverse the agreement.

Ghimire, a member of the Public Accounts Committee, was suddenly brought to the Education, Health Committee when the quarterly discussion on the School Education Bill was at its final stage. Some MPs have even ridiculed him in the committee meeting saying that he had come to "fix the line". The parliamentarians say that the administrators have pressured through the Education Minister not to make the ECD two-year provision in both public and private schools.

Soon after becoming the minister, Pant proposed to the committee that ECD should be kept silent in the private sector and in the community for one year. However, contrary to the wishes of the Minister of Education, the committee has agreed to make ECD equal to 2 years in both public and private schools as per the recommendation of the sub-committee. Similarly, it has been agreed to make the private sector non-profitable for years.

The school education bill was last discussed on June 22. At the beginning of the discussion, Education Minister Pant and MP Ghimire, who is also a Congress whip, asked for more time. Most of the MPs are in favor of passing the bill and sending it to the House of Representatives as the bill has been passed by the sub-committee and the committee.

President Thapa said that although he postponed the meeting for 5 days on June 22, he did not get time for two weeks. He said, "The government always gives time". At that time, the school education bill will be discussed. Education Minister Pant expressed his displeasure during the 5-day meeting given by the committee. He argued that the bill will be passed when the environment is created rather than the time set by the committee. Pant said that discussions are ongoing with everyone to pass the bill unanimously.

Before that, Education Minister Pant and Congress Whip Ghimire demanded to postpone the meeting of June 16, showing the dissatisfaction of the teachers' federation. In that meeting, teachers' federation expressed dissatisfaction with the agreement of the committee to make temporary relief teachers permanent from 60 internal and 40 open. But in the meeting on June 22, the Minister of Education and the Congress whip said that since the Federation had agreed on the matter, they were angry about the promotion.

The coordinator of the sub-committee formed to discuss the bill and UML MP Chabilal Bishwakarma said that there was some delay because the government had given time to discuss the bill with the stakeholders to make it universally acceptable. "The School Education Bill is the most important and discussed topic. We have reached the stage of killing it to bits . Time is provided to communicate with the teacher . It's been a while . The Minister of Education has said that it is necessary to go ahead and decide,' he said, 'the bill will be passed soon.'

Teachers Federation and other stakeholders should not make the government a prisoner of indecision by making unreasonable demands, he said, showing flexibility and it will be resolved soon. As long as the time is extended. The demand of stakeholders will increase . The government should also move towards a quick decision," he said. After the

bill was stopped, the major stakeholders, the Teachers Federation, have given an 'ultimatum' to pass it within 21st of July . The Federation alleges that the government is deceiving the teachers-employees by delaying the passage of the bill and trying to push them towards agitation.

Federation president Laxmikishore Subedi said that the bill should be passed by including prior consent. MP Ghimire responded that efforts are being made to pass the bill soon by coordinating the interests of the stakeholders including the teachers' federation. According to him, the issue of teacher promotion, naming the school in English language and whether or not to allow Nepali students to teach foreign courses is yet to be decided. "These three things will be passed quickly if combined." Efforts are being made to reach an agreement," he said.

There has been a consensus among parliamentarians that 90 points should be brought in the performance for teacher promotion . The teachers' federation has put pressure on it to be decided by the regulations by mentioning as specified in the law. Schools with English names have agreed on a system to change Nepali names within 5 years. The operators have objected to this. There is dissatisfaction with the system of not allowing Nepali students to study in foreign board schools opened on the recommendation of diplomatic missions.