Kathmandu, September 28

Institutional School Teachers’ Union, an organisation of private school teachers across the country, today warned of staging stern protests after Dashain.

Aruna Koirala, vice president, ISTU, said the government was not serious towards fulfilling their demands and therefore the organisation had decided to announce stern protests.

ISTU organised a three-day relay hunger strike from September 25 to 27. “Despite our peaceful protest, the education ministry failed to address our demands. Thus, we were compelled to announce further protest programmes,” she said.

Koirala added that they have already drawn the attention of private schools and government officials towards their demands. ISTU has been demanding that the schools being run under the Company Act be brought under Educational Guthi in line with the recent amendment to the Education Act.

Their other demands include inclusion of private school employees under the definition of employees in the Education Act and Education Regulations and removal of the ‘discriminatory’ rule 112 related to private schools from the Education Regulation. It has also demanded that private schools under foreign boards be brought under the government’s purview.