President Ramchandra Paudel on Thursday administered the oath of office and secrecy to newly appointed Minister for Education, Science and Technology Raghuji Pant.

The swearing-in ceremony was held at the Office of the President, Sheetal Niwas. The event was attended by Vice President Ramsahay Prasad Yadav, Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli, Speaker Devraj Ghimire, National Assembly Chairman Narayan Prasad Dahal, ministers, lawmakers and heads of constitutional bodies.

Pant’s appointment followed the resignation of Bidya Bhattarai from the ministerial position on April 21, who stepped down citing health reasons.

However, officials at the Education Ministry said Bhattarai had resigned due to lack of support from Prime Minister Oli and disregard for her efforts during a challenging time marked by widespread teachers’ protests.

Bhattarai had presented a seven-point proposal to address the demands of protesting teachers, but her initiative was reportedly not backed by Prime Minister Oli and Finance Minister Bishnu Paudel.

Pant now assumes leadership of the ministry at a crucial time. The ministry is under pressure to resolve the ongoing teachers’ strike, resume stalled academic activities, and navigate the controversial School Education Bill that has been stuck in a parliamentary committee due to disagreements on several clauses.

A member of the House of Representatives elected through the proportional representation system, Pant is also a standing committee member of the UML. He previously served as minister for Labour and Transport Management in 2004.