Kathmandu, January 2

Kathmandu University’s School of Science and School of Engineering in Dhulikhel and all of varsity’s deans’ offices have been padlocked since yesterday.

Teachers and employees have padlocked the departments and deans’ offices demanding that the agreement signed with them by the KU management more than a year ago be implemented at the earliest. Deans’ offices at School of Law, School of Management, School of Arts, School of Education and School of Medical Sciences have been padlocked. The agitators have also padlocked Office of the Examination Controller and all administrative offices of the university.

This is the first time that the classes of the university have been hampered due to protest by its teachers and staffers. University’s teachers, including lectures, assistant professors and professors and staffers have been demanding for long that the KU management formally grant recognition to their associations Kathmandu University Professors’ Association and Kathmandu University Staff Association.

Granting recognition is one of the four demands that the KU’s executive council, on August 30 last year, had agreed to fulfil. Other three demands include allowing KUPA’s president to attend the university’s executive council meeting, ensuring transparency in administrative work of the university and developing mechanism to guarantee career growth of teachers and employees at the university.

KUPA said the university management was forced to reach an agreement with it last August, after years of peaceful protests, but even after signing written agreement to fulfil the demands, the management had not been serious in implementing it.

Yesterday, the management had mobilised police to control agitating employees outside the university’s School of Medical Sciences. KU management said they had to call police after protesters created unhealthy environment at Dhulikhel Hospital, which is also a teaching hospital of KU.

KUPA said there were above 550 teachers working at KU and more than 75 per cent teachers and staffers had joined the protest. Bed Mani Dahal, president of KUPA, said they had been requesting the management to grant recognition to their associations for the last five years, but it had always been ignoring their requests.

KU management had agreed to form KU’s Faculty Welfare Council and KU Staff Welfare Council, instead of granting recognition to the associations. Welfare Council did not function well as the management formed such councils only at the School of Management and the School of Medical Sciences. “Welfare councils were mere show-piece formed by the management for its benefit,” said a KUPA source. KUPA said they wanted the KU management to give recognition to their association for the welfare of teachers and staffers working at the university.

Hem Raj Kafle, KU’s Information officer said the demands of agitating party could be met only by KU’s senate. “The senate is chaired by the chancellor (prime minister). The senate also requires presence of education minister and vice-chancellor, which is not an easy task as the university only holds two senate meetings in a year,” added Kafle. Kafle said protests would not bring any solution to the problem and urged the agitating teachers and staffers to resolve the problem through dialogue.