Agitating teachers to wait till today for talks invite from government

Kathmandu, May 21:

All private and government schools in the country remained closed today, the fifth day of the indefinite school strike called by teachers’ and students’ unions affiliated with the Maoists.

Though the government held talks with Nepal Teachers’ Association (NTA), it did not invite the agitating Educational Republic Forum (ERF).

Baburam Adhikari, the general secretary of NTA said, they discussed the anomalies in the education sector.

“We discussed issues of the temporary teachers and non-teaching staffers of schools,” he said.

Saying that the NTA was always against the strike, he said they have directed teachers affiliated with their association to open schools.

However, ERF representatives said they would not allow any school to reopen.

The agitating groups, including the Institutional School Teachers Union (ISTU), organised a corner meeting at Maitighar Mandala today and threatened to launch stronger protests if the government does not invite them for talks by tomorrow.

“We will wait till tomorrow for the government invitation and then decide on the course of the protests,” said Mukunda Gautam, the ISTU president.

He said they would launch ‘Educational Jana Andolan’ by closing down all educational institutions across the country if their voices are not heard soon.

Though the government has formed a secretary-level team to hold talks with the agitating teachers, the latter has been demanding ministerial-level talks.

Meanwhile, UNICEF said it was concerned about the closure of the schools since Thursday.

“To close schools during the school year is to deny children the right to learn,” a statement issued by the UN body said today.

In the statement, UNICEF representative Gillian Mellsop said: “This is a major disruption to their (children’s) studies and development opportunities.”

The UNICEF representative called upon the teachers’ and students’ unions to work actively on a prompt and peaceful resolution that does not affect the children.

“Even when schools are open, one out of five Nepali children aged six to 10 are still not in school, which means that more than half a million children do not attend school,” she said.

Around 7.8 million children of about 35,000 schools across the country have been hit by the strike.

Meanwhile, the Syangja chapter of the ANNISU-R today padlocked the district education office for an indefinite period in a show of solidarity with the school strike organised by the Nepal Educational Republican Forum (NERF).

The schools here have been shut for the past five days.

Speaking at a street corner meeting later, Syangja ANNISU-R president Subhas Poudel compared the boarding schools to a super market and urged them to slash fees by 50 per cent and provide reasonable remuneration to teachers.

He warned of a strong agitation if the demands were not met by May 23.

Acting DEO Dipendra Dhakal affirmed that the demands would be conveyed to the higher authorities.

NERF secretary Chandra Bahadur Basyal, Mitra Bandhu Poudel and ANNISU-R vice-president Laxmi Dhakal laid emphasis that a ministerial level team be constituted to resolve the crisis.

Meanwhile, the Kaski chapter of the agitating NERF staged a sit-in at the Kaski District Education Office and padlocked its main gate.

Four hurt in cop-protesters clash

Kapilvastu: Four persons were injured in a clash between agitators and the police at the Kapilvastu District Education Office (DEO) on Monday. The incident occurred soon after the agitators padlocked the DEO.

“Police teargassed the protesters and fired two rounds in the air when activists of the Nepal Educational Republic Forum and ANNISU-R broke windowpanes of the DEO and vandalised a motorbike,” SP Shashi Hajur Silwal said.

“Protesters became aggressive when District Education Officer did not come out of the office.” Inspector Ramesh Khadka, head constable Padam Kaucha and agitators Khshitiz and Shashi Mohammad were hurt in the clash. Police held Ram Kumar Paswan and Karna Bahadur on the charge of vandalising the DEO.

Agitators staged a demonstration on DEO premises for two hours and blocked traffic in the district headquarters. — HNS

Minister’s rider for talks

Kavre: Minister for Education and Sports Pradip Nepal on Monday said he will hold talks with the Educational Republican Forum (ERF) provided the latter submits its demands to the ministry and calls off its school strike. He said the agitation is meaningless as the ERF has not submitted its demands to the ministry.

“We are ready to hold talks within a hour after the demands have been submitted,” Nepal told an interaction in Dhulikhel. He, however, said that the schools should also reopen before dialogue is held.

He also said that all the padlocking of the schools is being carried out by the Maoists. Efforts will be made to reopen the schools after the eight parties hold a meeting, Nepal added.

“It is ridiculous as on one hand the ERF says it wants to hold talks with the minister, while on the other it seems they have no demand as they have not submitted a single one to the ministry.” — HNS