Daijiworld Media Network- Kathmandu
Kathmandu, May 1: The long-standing deadlock between Nepal’s government and protesting educators came to a close on Wednesday after the Cabinet agreed to a nine-point demand charter put forth by the Nepal Teachers' Federation, prompting the teachers to call off their strike.
The breakthrough followed three days of intense negotiations led by Nepal’s Education Minister Raghuji Pant. Major political parties — including the Nepali Congress and the Communist Party of Nepal (UML) — as well as the House of Representatives’ Education Committee, committed to passing the School Education Bill by June 29, a key demand of the agitating teachers.
Announcing the decision at a press conference, federation chair Laxmi Kishor Subedi stated:
“We have decided to suspend the educational strike from today, following the Cabinet’s decision to implement our demands. We urge all teachers to begin student enrollment and resume pending examinations immediately.”
Key highlights of the Cabinet’s decision include:
• Lump-sum payment for accumulated leave to all temporary and contract-based teaching staff, including ECD facilitators and learning grant-based teachers, upon retirement.
• Medical treatment subsidies for teachers and school staff at Kathmandu’s Civil Service Hospital.
• Grade-based pay parity for primary and secondary teachers with civil servants.
• Free medical treatment for teachers injured during protests earlier this week.
However, the government has not yet specified salary revisions, leaving room for further negotiation.
Education Minister Pant revealed that fulfilling the teachers’ demands will place an estimated burden of Rs 8 billion on state coffers. He, however, expressed optimism that the move would ensure stability in Nepal’s education system.
The strike, which began on April 2, had thrown Nepal’s academic calendar into disarray. The national enrollment campaign was severely affected, Secondary Education Examination (SEE) answer sheet evaluations were delayed, and Grade 12 board exams had to be postponed till May 4.
The teachers' federation has warned of renewed agitation if the School Education Bill is not enacted by the June 29 deadline.
With classrooms set to reopen, Nepal’s education sector now braces for a race against time to recover lost academic ground.