Aug 25, Kathmandu - The Nepal Teachers' Federation has launched a nationwide protest, saying that their demands have not been addressed in the School Education Bill 2080.

The Federation has submitted a letter of appeal to the Prime Minister, the Minister of Education and the chief whips of political parties today. Federation President Laxmi Kishor Subedi informed that the letter of appeal has been submitted as part of the first phase of the movement. Mahesh Bartaula, Chief Whip of the CPN-UML Parliamentary Party, urged the agitating teachers to welcome them as there are good things in the School Education Act. He said that many of the demands of the teachers have been fulfilled and some demands remain to be addressed, so they will be addressed in the coming days. He also urged the government to abide by the agreement made with the teachers. He said that the government can move forward by addressing the demands of the teachers that do not impose a large financial burden on the government.

Chief Whip of the Nepali Congress National Assembly, Krishna Bahadur Rokaya, said that the Education Bill is important now. Pointing out that the School Education Act, Federal Civil Service Act and Police Act are necessary to implement federalism, he said that the bill is important. He said that since the syllabus is not immutable, it can be revised if there is a problem while practicing.

The Nepali Congress Federation has stated that the School Education Bill has weakened the services, facilities, stability and rights of teachers. The teachers' month-long agitation in Baisakh was suspended after a nine-point agreement, but the federation has resumed its agitation after the agreement was not implemented in the bill submitted to the House of Representatives on Bhadra 6, said Federation President Subedi. The federation has opposed the implementation of the agreements reached with the government in 2075, 2078, 2080 and 2081/082, 75% internal and 25% open posts for temporary teachers (instead of the current 60%-40%), periodic promotions, renewal of expired teaching licenses, salaries and posts of school employees, services of kindergarten teachers, security of institutional school teachers, gratuity for conflict-affected teachers and transfer of teacher posts to the local level.