Teachers likely to sit for talks today; Bandh called off

Following the Education Ministry's request to call off the valley strike and sit for talks Sunday, the agitating Nepal Educational Republican Forum (NERF) is likely to sit for talks with the government.

Issuing a press statement today the Education Ministry had urged the Forum to withdraw the general strike to avoid any untoward incident.

According to reports, the agitating teachers and the Education Ministry are going to hold talks till today evening.

Similarly, the agitating teachers have called off the Bandh (general strike) they had called in the valley for today with effect from 5 pm.

They said the bandh will be lifted from 5 pm at the call of the government for the same and sit for talks to resolve their problems.
 
President of the NERF, which had called the general strike, Gunaraj Lohani said they decided to lift the bandh as the government was found positive towards addressing their demands.

Earlier today, life in the valley had remained crippled due to a bandh called by the Forum, a group backed by Maoist teachers and students, against the police excesses during their agitation on Friday.

The agitators have demanded free treatment to the injured in the incident and sought apology from education minister Pradeep Nepal for his controversial remarks on the agitation.

Due to the shut down of the schools, at least 7.8 million students of over 35,000 schools across the country have been affected, which continues since last ten days.