KATHMANDU, May 1: The teacher's protest has ended after the Cabinet approved a nine-point agreement reached between the Nepal Teachers' Association (NTA) and the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology on Wednesday.
The agreement was made on the 29th day of the strike between the protesting teachers and the Ministry of Education. After reaching an agreement with the government, NTA President Laksmi Kishor Subedi stated that community schools across the country will resume operations starting Thursday.
"Our main demand is the new education law, which the government has committed to bring by June 29," Subedi said, “The Cabinet has addressed our nine-point demands. Therefore, we announce that our protest will be suspended starting Wednesday. From Thursday, we will focus on regular educational activities in the classrooms.”
Ammar Bahadur Thapa, Chairperson of Education, Health an Information Technology Committee, stated that the teachers called off their protest after the government agreed to address demands that could be fulfilled through the Cabinet and to table the School Education Bill in the current parliamentary session, ensuring its passage by June 29.
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"Out of the 163 clauses in the bill, consensus has already been reached on 135 through clause-wise discussions," Thapa said, responding to the agreement reached between the teachers and the Ministry of Education. “By mid-June, consensus will be reached on all clauses, and the bill will be passed in this session, resulting in a new Education Act."
On Wednesday evening, a discussion between representatives of the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology and the teachers concluded with an agreement to implement the nine-point demand. The Cabinet meeting held the same day approved the agreement.
Informing that the Cabinet has approved the nine-point agreement, Minister for Education Raghuji Pant stated that from Thursday onward, teachers will resume regular teaching, examinations, and all academic activities in classrooms.
According to him, the federal government has decided to fully manage the salaries of early childhood development (ECD) teachers, school staff, and school assistants. As a result of this decision, around 33,000 ECD facilitators will now be recognized as teachers and included in official positions. Their salaries will be maintained as per the government’s prescribed scale.
Similarly, school staff positions will be established just like those of ECD teachers, and their salaries and benefits will also be maintained accordingly. In the case of school assistants, the Cabinet has decided to provide salaries equivalent to that of non-categorized government employees. The Cabinet has addressed the key demand of the NTA regarding the inclusion and salary of ECD teachers.
Overall, it has been stated that the nine-point agreement addressing teachers' demands will be implemented through the upcoming budget. Federation President Subedi said that the protest was also called off on the condition that other demands would be addressed through the forthcoming School Education Act.
In the discussion held at the Ministry of Education, the Government of Nepal was represented by Education Minister Pant, Home Minister Ramesh Lekhak, Secretary of the Ministry Deepak Kafle, and Joint Secretaries Shiv Sapkota and Krishna Prasad Kapri. Also present were Nepali Congress Parliamentary Party Whip Shyam Ghimire and, Ambar Bahadur Thapa.
From the teachers’ side, representatives from the NTA took part, including President Subedi, General Secretary Tula Thapa, Vice President Nanumaiya Parajuli, and Deputy Financial Secretary Madanraj Joshi. In addition, presidents and representatives from 15 different political party-affiliated teacher organizations associated with the Federation participated. Together, they reached an agreement on a 9-point decision.
According to the Ministry of Education's Information Officer Neelkantha Dhakal, Minister Pant said that the agreement included two additional points added to the original seven-point proposal prepared by former Education Minister Bidya Bhattarai. With this agreement, the NTA has ended its 29-day long street protest.
Minister Pant said, "To fulfill the demands approved by the Council of Ministers, the Ministry of Finance will allocate an additional Rs 8 billion in the upcoming budget." He added, "This year, the total education budget will increase from 206 billion to RS 214 billion." According to him, the Education Act is scheduled to be announced by the June 29.
