Aug 05, Kathmandu - The meeting of the advisory committee under the Education Committee, which was held to find a solution to the disputed clauses of the School Education Bill, has ended without a conclusion. The meeting of the committee, which was held to discuss the issue of the inconsistent clauses in the bill, has ended without a conclusion.

The Education, Health and Information Technology Committee under the House of Representatives has not even been able to hold a meeting due to the inability to reach an agreement on the disputed clause. Committee Chairman Ammar Bahadur Thapa, however, said that the bill would be finalized within a day or two.

"A meeting of the advisory committee under the committee is underway. Discussions are underway on how to reconcile the disputed clause," Thapa said. "The decision will be made tomorrow, Wednesday. If there is time, the committee will meet tomorrow. If there is insufficient time, a meeting will be held the day after tomorrow to decide."

The advisory committee has been discussing the bill since Sunday. The controversial sections of the bill include temporary teachers and teacher performance evaluation, teacher recruitment, and pre-primary education (ECD). The government and teachers have not yet reached an agreement on these issues.

The 'ultimatum' given by the Nepal Teachers Federation to pass the bill ends tomorrow, August 21. Federation co-chair Tula Bahadur Thapa said that there has been no discussion about the upcoming strategy in the federation.

"There has been no discussion in the federation regarding the bill. We have received news that the advisory committee is meeting since yesterday. The committee will probably sort out the disputed clauses and take them to the education committee. So we are in a wait-and-see situation at the moment," Thapa told Bahrakhari.

The federation had been staging street protests in Kathmandu for almost a month since March 20, demanding the promulgation of the School Education Act.

Education Minister Raghuji Pant had reached a nine-point agreement on April 17, promising to pass the School Education Bill by June 15. However, no agreement has been reached yet on the controversial issues in the bill.