KATHMANDU, SEPTEMBER 23
Expressing serious dissatisfaction with the agreement between the government and the authorities of Nepal Teachers' Federation, government teachers under relief teacher's category today continued their protest at Maitighar Mandala in Kathmandu.
Yesterday, government teachers ended their two-day long protest after they reached a seven-point agreement with the government.
However, relief teachers whowere the major part of the teachers' protest had come out of the meeting after knowing that their demands would not be fulfilled.
Issuing a notice, President of Relief Teachers' Federation Khemraj Adhikari and general secretary Kumar Bajagain deemed the agreement an act of betrayal and called to continue with the protest.
There are around 40,000 relief teachers in the country who are either selected by a particular school management committee or by the local levels to fulfil teachers' requirements in government schools. Government teachers are to be selected by the Teachers Service Commission under the federal government.
But due to lack of timely examinations, many public schools fail to fill vacant positions. Such relief teachers have demanded that separate examination be held to turn them into fulltime government teachers.
This was a part of the 18-point demand forwarded by the NTF during the twoday protest. But, the NTF succumbed to the pressure of the government and agreed to end the protest without fulfilling the demands of relief teachers. The relief teachers' representatives departed from Singha Durbar where agreement was being reached without signing, citing that it was an act of betrayal.
Today, a few hundred relief teachers obstructed traffic movement in Maitighar and staged demonstration for a few hours at the call of Nepal Relief Teachers' Central Committee. They have said that the protest will continue in the coming days as well if their demands are not addressed.
A version of this article appears in the print on September 24, 2023, of The Himalayan Times
