Supreme Court Gives Government Three Days to Make Sure that Protesting Teachers Return to Classrooms

The Supreme Court has ordered the government to make sure that the protesting teachers of community schools return to classrooms within three days. 
The order comes amid increasing appeals from diverse sections of the society, including local governments and parents, to the teachers to resume their duties, at a time when private schools have resumed their teaching-learning activities in line with the new academic calendar that took effect from April 16 and amid increasing worries that the ongoing protest could disrupt the academic calendar, thereby affecting millions of students.    

Issuing an interim order in response to a writ, a single bench of justice Nahakul Subevi said that the teachers’ protest has denied the students their right to education and this violation would continue if the court doesn’t intervene.

With regard to fulfilling the legitimate and constitutionally-justified demands of the protesting teachers, the bench ordered the defendants—the prime minister’s office and other government agencies—to take necessary decisions and to ensure within three days from the date of issuance of the order the return of the teachers to their respective schools and restoration of an environment conducive to regular teaching-learning activities.

It also directed the Ministry of Education to report to court within four days regarding the status of implementation of the decision, apart from directing the relevant authorities to ensure the publication of results of SEE and the conduct of grade 12 examinations (slated to begin from May 4) on time. 

The ruling comes at a time when local governments have urged teachers to resume their duties with the beginning of a new academic year (April 16) following which private schools have already started teaching-learning activities. 

At the call of the Teachers’ Federation Nepal, teachers of community schools from across the country have been staging a Kathmandu-centric protest for more than three weeks demanding the enactment of a long-pending School Education Bill through the incorporation of their demands mentioned in agreements reached with the government, including the six-point pact dated  September 22, 2023.

Meanwhile, a talk scheduled for Friday between the government and the teachers could not take place. Another round is scheduled for today (April 26).