Education minister urges student leader Chapagain to end Maitighar protest

Nepal: Student leader Netra Chapagain suspended his nine-day-long protest at Maitighar on Monday afternoon after Education, Science, and Technology Minister Bidya Bhattarai pledged to address his demands.

 

photo: TKP

The minister, along with Ammar Bahadur Thapa, chair of the parliamentary committee on education and health, visited the protest site and assured the fulfilment of the demands.

 

Chapagain agreed to end his protest after being promised an invitation to the committee meeting to discuss and provide suggestions regarding his demands. Minister Bhattarai stated that Chapagain’s demands were already part of the education agenda, and efforts were being made to address them.

 

She emphasised dialogue and discussion as the way forward, saying, “The ministry accepts your demands. Let us resolve this through dialogue.” Bhattarai also invited Chapagain to the ministry for further discussions.

 

The minister assured that many of the demands would be addressed through the implementation of the Compulsory and Free Education Act and the upcoming School Education Act.

 

Committee chair Thapa added that the School Education Bill would be passed in the upcoming parliamentary session, ensuring provisions for effective implementation and resource allocation.

 

Chapagain, President of the Socialist Students Union, had been protesting daily by standing at Maitighar. After his health deteriorated, he relied on crutches to give continuity to stand. Prior to his Maitighar protest, which began on December 29, Chapagain stood for 14 days- two days each- in the capitals of all seven provinces.

 

Chapagain’s primary demand is the swift enactment of the education law as recommended by the High-Level Education Commission Report 2018.

 

His 15-point demand largely focuses on improving community schools, including integrating Early Childhood Development (ECD) education into the school structure, increasing the annual student scholarship of Rs400, providing free electricity (up to 100 units) and water to community schools, enhancing administrative budgets for schools, offering free education at all levels, prohibiting teachers from affiliating with political organisations and establishing residential schools in mountainous districts.

 

Similarly, he demanded that the monthly allowance for community school headteachers be increased and that an Education Reform Fund be created if budget constraints hinder education reforms.

 

Chapagain had staged a similar protest in Maitighar last May, which lasted two weeks and ended following an agreement with then education minister Sumana Shrestha. However, he resumed protests as the ministry failed to implement the agreement in the past six months.