Kathmandu, April 29
The government is now preparing to address the teachers’ demands based on a seven-point proposal previously drafted by former Education Minister Bidya Bhattarai.
Negotiations are scheduled to continue today. Ahead of that, the Nepal Teachers’ Federation, which is leading the protest, is consulting with all participating unions.
The government is also expected to make decisions related to the demands during today’s Cabinet meeting.
The main demand of the teachers is the enactment of the School Education Act. A meeting of chief whips is being planned to finalize a timeline for passing the legislation.
On Monday, ruling party leaders and teacher representatives met at the residence of Nepali Congress Vice-President Purna Bahadur Khadka to discuss the issue. Participants said the meeting yielded positive progress.
Present at the meeting were Congress Vice-President Khadka, General Secretaries Gagan Thapa and Bishwa Prakash Sharma, CPN-UML General Secretary Shankar Pokharel, Finance Minister Bishnu Poudel, Home Minister Ramesh Lekhak, and Education Minister Raghuji Pant. The teacher delegation was led by Laxmi Kishor Subedi.
Following the discussions, Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli and Nepali Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba were briefed Monday night.
Both sides expressed optimism that today’s talks would lead to a breakthrough.
