Nepal: Hundreds of teachers
associated with Nepal Teachers’ Federation, an elected body of teachers across
the country, organised a protest on Wednesday against the school education bill.
The ministry, led by Ashok
Rai of the Rastriya Janata Party, on Monday had invited the disgruntled
teachers for a meeting on Tuesday. However, the federation turned down the
offer, saying they will not sit for dialogue in a meeting led by the education
minister.
The protest has affected
the studies of seven million students in 34,000 schools, of which 6,000 are
private. Over 20 percent of the students are enrolled in private schools.
The bill has met with criticism from several quarters since
it was registered in the House of Representatives on September 13. The
federation, which demonstrated against the bill on Friday, announced a series
of protests starting Wednesday by closing schools.
The federation has presented an 18-point demand and is
particularly unhappy with the provisions that will allow local units to
recruit, transfer and demote or promote teachers. The authority to transfer and
evaluate teachers also lies with the local units. The federation wants the
authority to remain with the federal government.
Protesting teachers argue that there will be no job security
if the responsibility of managing teachers is given to local governments. Last
year, the government signed a deal with the federation agreeing to keep the
public school teachers under the federal government’s jurisdiction.
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