The government has said that the demands of the agitating teachers will be addressed by Wednesday at the latest.

Thousands of public school teachers have been protesting in Kathmandu for nearly four weeks, hindering smooth functioning of schools, conduction of exams, and affecting admissions and other academic activities.

The possibility of a quick resolution increased following hours-long talk between senior ruling party leaders and representatives of agitating teachers on Monday at the residence of Nepali Congress Vice President Purna Bahadur Khadka, according to sources.

“After getting some positive signs in the talks, the Cabinet was briefed on the matter on Monday evening,” a minister told the Post. “Both sides sat for a second round of talks on Monday night after the Cabinet meeting.”

Participants in the two rounds of talks included Congress’ Khadka, Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Bishnu Paudel, Home Minister Ramesh Lekhak, Education Minister Raghuji Pant, UML General Secretary Shankar Pokharel, and Congress General Secretaries Gagan Thapa and Bishwa Prakash Sharma. On behalf of the Nepal Teachers’ Federation, there was the participation of Chairman Laxmikishor Subedi and two others.

Education Minister Pant had presented the outcome of the talks with the teachers’ federation in the Cabinet meeting. After Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli and other ministers also agreed to address the key demands of teachers, the agitating teachers too agreed to alter the modality of their protest.

As the Post went to press, another follow up meeting had been scheduled for the wee hours of Tuesday, with Pant leading the talks from the government side while Laxmikishor Subedi representing the teachers.

“We will address the demands of teachers by tomorrow or day after,” said Minister for Communication and Information Technology Prithvi Subba Gurung after the Cabinet meeting. “The Cabinet has entrusted Education Minister Pant to take the lead in addressing their demands.”

Pant had led the second rounds of talks with leaders of the agitating teachers.

Ahead of the second rounds of talks with the government representatives, the office bearers of the teachers’ federation had held a separate meeting where they had discussed the outcomes of earlier talks with government representatives and party leaders.

According to the minister, efforts are being made to reach an agreement based on a seven-point proposal prepared by the immediate-past education minister, Bidya Bhattarai.

“We are creating an environment whereby the demands of the teachers will be addressed latest by Wednesday,” said Gurung.

On Monday, the government had responded to the Supreme Court on the ongoing protest of the teachers.

The court had ordered the government to ensure that the protesting teachers return to classrooms within three days. In the meantime, local units have also started directing the teachers to take up their duties.

Issuing an interim order in a writ petition filed by advocate Shrawan Chaudhary on Friday, the top court said that the protest has, prima facie, denied the students their right to education and it would continue if the court doesn’t intervene.

The Teachers’ Federation Nepal, an umbrella body representing school teachers, has been staging demonstrations for the past 27 days, demanding immediate promulgation of the School Education Act incorporating their demands.

The agitating teachers are adamant on continuing with their demonstrations until the enactment of the new law. Assurance of pay and perks at par with those of civil servants is their major demand.

Other demands include payment of grades, allowances to relief quota teachers, separate dedicated hospital or health checkups at a discounted price at the Civil Service Hospital. Permanent status of temporary teachers through internal competitions is another demand.

Yet another demand is that these teachers be allowed to work under the federal government rather than the local governments. Yet the teachers have been downplaying this demand following the criticism that it is against the spirit of the constitution.

Local governments have said the ongoing protest will affect the academic calendar if the teachers do not return to work immediately.

Their protest forced the National Examination Board to postpone the grade 12 final tests by 10 days, to May 4.

Earlier, several rounds of formal and informal talks between the government and the teachers had been fruitless. The situation got more complicated after then education minister Bhattarai on April 21 resigned following growing differences between her on one side and Prime Minister Oli and Finance Minister Paudel on the other over addressing the teachers’ demands.

The Cabinet meeting also decided to forward the text of the government’s policy and programme to President Ramchandra Paudel. The head of state will address the joint session of the House on May 2 and will present the government’s policy and programme.

As per the Article 95 of the constitution, the government has decided to request the President to present its annual policy and programme, said Gurung, who is also the government spokesperson.