The Nepal Teachers' Federation, which has been refusing to sit in the talks called by the government time and again, is ready to hold a dialogue with the Ministry of Education. After Education Secretary Deepak Kafle sent a letter on Wednesday asking to 'discuss the Education Bill', the Federation is going to discuss with the Ministry on Thursday.

Nanumaya Parajuli, co-president of the federation and coordinator of the Kathmandu-centered movement, informed that the decision was made to arrange the time because the education secretary had called to discuss the bill. "Rather than for talks, we will go to the discussion," she said, "even if we go to the discussion, the movement will continue."

The spokesperson of the Ministry of Education, Shivkumar Sapkota, said that correspondence was sent to the teachers to 'discuss current issues' and a positive response was received. "We have called the teachers' representatives to consult on current issues and figure out how to move forward," he said. 

The government called the teachers for talks on March 21 and 26 through a statement and on March 22 by writing a letter. However, the federation issued a statement saying that the agreement reached in the past would only come from government agencies with the approval of the Cabinet and the commitment to issue the School Education Act. Even now, rather than negotiating and agreeing, the Federation has stated that its main demand is that the School Education Act should be issued. 

Most of the teachers are in favor of making a decisive movement this time, saying that in the past, when the agreement was reached through negotiation, it was not implemented but betrayed. An official of the federation said that due to the pressure of the teachers, the dialogue to be held on Thursday was not called a dialogue. An official of the Ministry of Education also informed that the correspondence was conducted at the request of the teacher leadership. Sources claim that both the Ministry of Education and the Federation have formed a committee for negotiations. 

Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli discussed the demands of the protesting teachers on Monday with Finance Minister Vishnu Paudel, Home Minister Ramesh Akhtar, and Education Minister Vidya Bhattarai. After that, Prime Minister Oli responded on social media that the problem of teachers will be solved through dialogue and discussion. According to Education Minister Bhattarai, the discussion with the Prime Minister led to the conclusion that the demands of teachers that can be met immediately will be addressed in coordination with the Ministry of Finance. 

The Ministry of Education had been inviting representatives of teachers and staff including relief, temporary, former higher education workers, and child development to the talks. The school education bill is in the stage of biannual discussion in the sub-committee of the education and health committee of the House of Representatives. The Ministry of Education says that the bill will be passed in the upcoming session after the discussion is completed quickly. 

Although the teachers demanded that the law should be issued soon, they wanted a legal system favorable to them. Teachers are adamant that they should not be subordinated to the local level. Similarly, they demand that there should be a system to regulate and supervise teachers by having a district education office, while this demand is against the constitutional provisions. Officials of the Ministry of Education say that the constitution itself should be amended to meet this demand.