KATHMANDU, July 1: The meeting of the Education, Science and Technology Committee under the House of Representatives has been halted as the agreement with the Nepal Teachers' Federation (NTF) becomes increasingly contentious.
The Education Subcommittee under the main committee had submitted a report proposing a provision to make temporary teachers permanent through 60 percent internal and 40 percent open competition. The committee had been preparing to register the School Education Bill, 2080 BS, in Parliament on Sunday after reaching a consensus. However, an agreement could not be reached as leaders of the NTF remained firm on their demand for a 75 percent internal and 25 percent open competition provision.
The committee meeting scheduled for 8:30 AM on Monday could not convene due to the increasing complexity of the issue. Following this, Minister for Education, Science and Technology Raghuji Pant held discussions with leaders of the NTF at the Ministry of Education. As no agreement was reached there either, Minister Pant also met with Nepali Congress (NC) President Sher Bahadur Deuba for further discussions, according to the NTF’s Deputy General Secretary Ram Prasad Dhakal.
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“Education Minister Raghuraj Pant met with CPN-UML Chief Whip Mahesh Bartaula, NC Chief Whip Shyam Ghimire, CPN (Maoist Center) leader Devendra Paudel, and NC leader Gagan Thapa on Monday itself,” Deputy General Secretary Dhakal told Republica. “The Federation's stance is that all teachers—including those under temporary relief quotas, grant quotas, and former higher secondary levels—should be included under a 75 percent internal and 25 percent open competition provision. However, since the committee insists on a 60 percent internal and 40 percent open competition ratio, consensus could not be reached.” He added that agreement has already been reached on all other issues.
According to the NTF’s General Secretary Tula Thapa, a meeting of the NTF held on Monday evening decided to move forward with the 75 percent internal and 25 percent open competition provision, as agreed upon with the government. “The Federation's meeting has decided to ensure the implementation of the agreement made with the government—to retain the provision of 75 percent internal and 25 percent open competition for the permanency of temporary teachers,” Thapa told Republica after the meeting. “If the government backs down, we will resume our protest. Not only that, Early Childhood Development (ECD) has been brought under the school structure, and yet facilitators have been required to pass Grade 12 without being granted the status of teachers—this is also unacceptable.”
Lawmakers from the NC and the Maoist Center are in favor of the 60/40 ratio, while UML lawmakers support the 75 percent internal and 25 percent open competition provision. Similarly, leaders of the Teachers' Federation have expressed disagreement with the committee's conclusion that ECD facilitators should not be recognized as teachers, according to Deputy General Secretary Dhakal.
However, lawmakers argued during the discussion that since teachers who have passed the Teachers' Service Commission exam are already working in schools, and ECD facilitators are often politically appointed, it would not be appropriate to grant them official teaching positions.
As soon as the meeting began, Committee Chairperson Ammar Bahadur Thapa convened a meeting of the Bill Coordination and Consultation Committee to discuss the matter.
According to the agreement between the NTF and the government, the bill was supposed to be passed by parliament by June 29. However, due to the failure to reach a consensus on the bill, it could not even be registered in parliament on Sunday.
Lawmaker Devendra Poudel stated that the bill could not be registered in parliament mainly because no agreement was reached on granting ECD teachers the same official positions as school teachers.
According to him, although consensus and decisions have been made on many other aspects of the bill, issues related to ECD teachers and the 60 percent internal and 40 percent open competition provision have become increasingly complicated.
