Kirtipur, November 27:

The agitating students of the Tribhuvan University Struggle Committee today burnt copies of their academic certificates given by the university on the premises of the VC office, saying the TU discarded the merit system and promoted the contract system in appointing university teachers.

About 400 students took part in the symbolic protest. They said they would not regret at all if they have to burn their real copies of certificates. Ramesh Thapa, co-ordinator of the struggle committee, said those certificates should better be burnt. “If the university does not appoint teachers on the basis of merit, what is the use of taking it,” he said.

The students are demanding removal of the provision of hiring university teachers on contract, who eventually are appointed in permanent posts of teachers.

Thapa said the provision is illogical. “There has to be a system for selecting teachers. We are not saying those teachers on contract are incompetent, but they should come through the proper process,” he said.

The VC office, registrar office and TU Service Commission Office are still locked indefinitely. The agitators had padlocked these offices on November 18. The committee unlocked only the main gate of VC building yesterday, saying they would not hamper other administrative works of the university.

There were four rounds of talks held between the agitators and the TU executive body, but in vain. The students are not ready to move back from their demands, while the TU has already expressed inability to meet their demands citing the decision was reached between the government and the TU, and it can do nothing about it.

After a series of protests of part-time teachers, the government on August 22 had agreed to take in 900 part-time teachers in contract in the TU service. Two days after the pact was made, TU students begun a stir. The students’ protest forced the government to roll back the decision to make part-time school teachers permanent, but it did not cancel the decision on university teachers.