The Education Ministry has announced that it will expedite the process to reinstate teachers and school staff who were forced to quit jobs due to the political reasons during the decade-long Maoist insurgency and the Madhes protest.

Hundreds of teachers and school staff quit their jobs due to threats to their life from the security forces and the then Maoist rebels. Similarly, dozens of teachers also left their jobs during Madhes protest. Publicising his action plan on Thursday, Education Minister Dhani Ram Poudel said a team will be formed within a month to probe the applications of those who had applied for reinstatement. Following the government’s directive, the Teachers Service Commission in 2013 had called applications from teachers and schools employees who resigned or were evicted during the insurgency from 1996 to 2006.

An investigation team led by former chief judge of Appellate Court Jageshwor Subedi had established that some 1,000 out of more than 1,500 applicants requesting for reinstatement to be the real victims. Around 150 community school teachers were displaced during the Tarai protests in 2006 alone. According to Poudel, the probe team will submit a final report after re-verification and the reinstatement process will start immediately on that basis. The eighth amendment in the Education Act, endorsed by the Legislature-Parliament three months ago, has a clause which envisages the reinstatement process.

The action plan also envisages the formation of a High Level Education Commission to develop a policy guideline of country’s education system in the changed context. The government, according to education minister, will formulate new laws based on the report of the commission. Formation of the commission has been the ministry’s main agenda for the last three years. However, former education minister Chitra Lekha Yadav failed to bring about any progress to this effect. So did Giriraj Mani Pokharel who succeeded her.

The 19-point action plan includes taking initiative in endorsing the National Medical Education Bill from Parliament as per the demand of Dr Govinda KC who has resorted to several rounds of indefinite hunger strike, calling for reforms in the medical education sector. He has also expressed commitment to start the process for establishing at least one government medical college in each of the seven provinces. Currently only Province 1 and 3 have government medical colleges while there is no medical college in Province 7.

The action plan also envisages completing legal procedures for providing academic loan by producing academic certificates as the collateral.