May 19, Kathmandu- The Nepal Teachers' Federation has stated that the provisions of the School Education Bill passed by the subcommittee under the Education, Health and Information Technology Committee are anti-teacher.

The subcommittee, led by MP Chhabilal Bishwakarma, reviewed the bill clause-by-clause and submitted its report to the committee on Sunday. Federation Chair Laxmikishore Subedi criticized the report, stating that it contains more liberal and anti-teacher provisions compared to the original bill. He also claimed that the bill does not reflect the agreements made between the federation and the government in 2075, 2078, and 2080.

Expressing his dissatisfaction on social media, Subedi wrote, “The bill report appears more liberal and anti-teacher and employee than the currently registered bill on many issues. All consensus has been disregarded. The recent movement in 2081/082 seems to have been forgotten. We now face the need for a tougher fight.”

The federation organized a 29-day street protest in Kathmandu from Chaitra 20, demanding that the School Education Bill be issued in accordance with the previous agreements.

Chairman Subedi has said that the bill has not given justice to teachers of temporary relief, former secondary schools, temporary/contract, learning grants, technical stream, special education, etc. as agreed. Stating that the subcommittee report had made provision for such teachers to compete for 60 percent of the seats, Subedi wrote, 'The arrangement for periodic promotions has also become like a moonlit night. Transfers have become more frequent among teachers. The problem of calculating temporary periods has not been addressed. Departmental action has remained the same. The problem of kindergarten teachers and school employees has not been addressed. An attempt has been made to do injustice to everyone.'

Although the bill includes agreements on periodic promotion of teachers every 10 years, transfer of teachers every 2, 5 and 7 years, and minimum wage for school employees, there has been no agreement on making the Early Childhood Development (ECD) class two years long and including it in the school structure.