Minister for Education and Sports Pradeep Nepal on Thursday urged the agitating teachers to sit for dialogue with the government. Speaking at the inauguration of the ECAN education fair, Nepal said that he was taking current deadlock of education sector very seriously.
In his speech, Minister Nepal also clarified that the statement he had given a few days back was not controversial. Earlier, speaking at a program organized by Radio Nepal, he had alleged that the Nepal Education Republic Forum (NERF), which is spearheading the teachers’ agitation, was involved in violent activities.
Although the Ministry had issued a statement inviting the agitating Nepal Educational Republican Forum (NERF) for talks, the latter refused to sit in dialogue accusing the Education Minister of spreading malicious reports against them.
"The Education Minister has called us as terrorist group in his interview with Radio Nepal. We will not sit for talks before he withdraws his allegations," Guna Raj Lohani, president of Forum, told BBC Nepali Service.
The teachers have been protesting with their five-point demands which include provision of appointment letters, minimum benefits and annulment of the Company Act, among others, in order to stop commercialization of the education sector.
Due to the strike, 36,000 private and public schools have remained closed since last Thursday. Over 7.8 million students have been affected by the strike.
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