The Prime Minister and the Minister of Education once again asked the teachers to come to the talks, but the teachers are in the position that the School Education Act should be issued by convening the Parliament or by Ordinance.
While the government and the Nepal Teachers' Federation remain in their positions, the teachers' street protest centered on Kathmandu is getting longer. The government has been appealing to solve the demands and problems of the teachers through negotiations, while the teachers have been replying that the agitation will stop only if the Education Act is promulgated.
The teachers, who have organized an educational strike since Monday, demonstrated in Maitighar-Baneshwar area wearing black masks. Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli and Education Minister Vidya Bhattarai asked the protesting teachers to come to the dialogue since March 20. Prime Minister Oli discussed the protest and demands of the teachers with Finance Minister Bishnu Paudel, Home Minister Ramesh Akhtar, Education Minister Bhattarai, Chief Secretary and Education Secretary on Monday evening. After the discussion, the Prime Minister wrote on social media and said that a quick solution to the problem will be found through dialogue with the representatives of the teachers' federation.
Before that, he said in a public event in Kathmandu that the government will address the legitimate demands of the protesting teachers for 5 days. "Now the teachers' movement is going on, I don't know why they are doing it. I am the Prime Minister. I have said, there is no need to protest when someone comes with a legitimate demand, we will provide a solution for it. We are ready to address it. There is no need to suffer, there is no need to go to the streets and sleep," said the Prime Minister, "Come, let's talk and solve it. Why are they suffering? They come for a chat. We will address the demand in a reasonable manner.
Education Minister Bhattarai has also written on social media and said that the problem is expected to be resolved through discussion with the teacher representative. He said that the demands of the teachers were discussed with the Prime Minister, Finance Minister, Home Minister and Secretaries. Although the teachers have been invited to the talks, the government has not formed a negotiation committee.
Teachers have been refusing talks. Teachers Federation President Laxmikishore Subedi said on Friday that although the Ministry of Education called for talks, there has been no dialogue since then. "We have asked the government to bring the education act through an ordinance by calling a regular session of the parliament or calling a special session," he said. The Education Act is needed according to the agreement reached with the teachers in the past.
The teachers have started a movement demanding the issuance of the Education Act according to the agreement made by the government in 2075, 2078 and 2080. The government has repeatedly requested the teachers to come to the talks as the school education bill is being discussed regularly in the sub-committee of the education and health committee. The Ministry of Education has said that the bill will be submitted and passed in the parliament during the session.
As the teachers' movement continues, the educational activities of schools across the country have been affected. Political leaders, parliamentarians and people's representatives have expressed their solidarity with the movement. Some MPs from the ruling Congress, UML and the opposition UML have started showing solidarity by being present at the teachers' demonstration site. Municipal Union and Rural Municipality Federation have issued a joint statement and expressed their support for the movement.
The Association of Municipal Corporations and the Federation of Rural Villages have warned that there will be no democratic practice if there is an agreement with the teachers by going outside the constitution. Reminding that the constitution stipulates that education up to the secondary level is the responsibility of the local government, the union and the federation have also drawn attention not to agree/compromise with teachers to the contrary. The main demand of the teachers is that they should not live under the local level and that teachers should be supervised and regulated by having a district education office.
The opposition Maoists have accused the government of ignoring the legitimate demands of the teachers. On Monday, the party's vice-president and spokesperson Agni Sapkota released a statement and said that it is ridiculous for the government to argue that the bill will be passed in the budget session now that the teachers' agitation has intensified. In the meantime, it is ridiculous to argue that the government, which can issue laws of a nature that will seriously affect the country through ordinances, will pass the bill in the budget session now that the teachers' movement has intensified. This confirms that the government is apathetic and irresponsible about the demands of the teachers," the statement said.
Maoist has expressed solidarity with the demands of teachers and has called upon the general public to stand in favor of the teachers' movement. Similarly, the education department of the Congress has said that the demands of the teachers should be discussed and communicated at the level of the Prime Minister. Head of Education Department, Naingsingh Mahar, issued a statement and drew the attention of the government to hold talks with the head of the government on the basis of the agreement reached earlier. Amalenikat student organization Aneraswaviyu also expressed solidarity with the teachers' movement. Samik Badal, president of ANERASWAVIU, has requested the government and parliamentarians to pass the school education bill as per the previous agreement.
