Teaching licence holders stage protest against ninth amendment

Kathmandu, March 12

An estimated 1,000 aspiring teachers took to the street today protesting against the 9th amendment of the Education Act.

They said the amendment gave ‘an unfair advantage’ to temporary teachers without thinking about the future of more than 700,000 teaching licence holders in the country.

The amendment act has provisioned that 75 per cent of the vacant posts of the teachers will be filled through internal examination among temporary teachers and for the remaining 25 per cent posts, a large number of teaching licence holders will have to through a tough competition.

Students of education faculties from various colleges along with student leaders of major student unions also joined the protest. The licence holders have been protesting against the amendment, from the time of its endorsement. They also staged a relay-hunger strike in front of TSC, and they had padlocked the office earlier.

The 9th amendment was endorsed by the Parliament and certified by President Bidhya Devi Bhandari in October 2017. The TSC had called for applications from temporary teachers for the vacant post of teachers on 7 November  2017. The date of the examination was, however, postponed time and again. The date is now fixed for April 6, as per the decision of former minister of education Gopal Man Shrestha. It is estimated that around 26,000 temporary teachers will take the exam on April 6.

Press coordinator of the struggle committee of the agitating license holders Dijjag Dhaurali said, “Our struggle will continue until the government rectifies the 9th amendment that will deprive more than 700,000 aspiring teachers with teaching licence from a fair opportunity to get job and will open a path to appoint comparatively less incompetent teachers.”