KATHMANDU, SEPTEMBER 22

The government and agitating school teachers held decisive talks on Friday, culminating in the signing of a seven-point agreement.

Teachers from across the country launched a Kathmandu-centric mass protest beginning on Wednesday, expressing concerns over the Federal Education Bill-2080 BS recently presented in the federal parliament.

According to Minister for Information and Communications and government spokesperson, Rekha Sharma, the agreement reached between the two sides in the presence of Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Home Affairs, Narayan Kaji Shrestha, assures that the government will facilitate addressing the demands of the Nepal Teachers' Federation regarding the Bill while avoiding any inconsistency with the Constitution.

With this development, community school teachers and employees from various districts, presently in the federal capital to participate in the agitation, will return to their respective schools, as stated by the Minister Sharma. She did, however, remind that the constitutional provision regarding the operation of schools under the local level is presently undeniable by any law.

Stating that the Bill, already presented to the sovereign parliament, will not be withdrawn, the Minister affirmed that the government is positive about facilitating its high acceptability and adjustability during the implementation phase.

It should be noted that acting Prime Minister and Minister for Defence, Purna Bahadur Khadka, directed the government talks team on Friday morning to do their best to reach a conclusion on the same day.

In response to the Federation's call, community teachers and employees arrived here to protest against certain provisions in the Bill presented in the House of Representatives on September 13th.

The Federation demanded that the authority to transfer, promote, and take action against teachers should not be given to the local level. They presented a 17-point charter of demands, including trade union rights for teachers.'