Experts in the field of education have requested the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (MoEST) not to curtail the power of local level over school-level education given by the Constitution.
Speaking at a programme organised in Kathmandu on Monday, the stakeholders said that the agreement reached between the ministry and the Nepal Teachers’ Federation was against the law. This month, the ministry had reached a 51-point agreement with the Federation.
Though the Constitution gives local government authority over school-level education, the federal government snatched away this with this agreement, the stakeholders said.
Hom Narayan Shrestha, chairperson of the Federation of Rural Municipalities, said that it was against the spirit of federalism to give responsibility as per the old structure. Shrestha blamed that the federal government wanted to reestablish old structure of District Education Offices.
But, they will not allow this provision to be implemented under any circumstances, he added.
President of the Teachers Federation Kamala Tuladhar said that the agreed issues must be implemented without delay by the ministry.
The ministry has also entered into an agreement with the Federation to include the right to education at the school level in the common list of federal, state and local governments and to submit it to the government for amending the Constitution for its implementation.
Constitutional expert Radheshyam Adhikari said that the agreement was inked by the ministry to please the teachers would not be implemented immediately.
The agreement stipulates that the appointment and transfer of teachers will be done by the federal government, 20 per cent of the total budget will be allocated for education, and a constitutional national teacher service commission will be formed.
Academician Professor Dr. Biddhyanath Koirala said that the teachers’ demand was against the spirit of the Constitution and that they were not interested in implementing its provisions to improve the quality of education.
Spokesperson for the ministry Deepak Sharma said the agreement was signed with teachers to implement an agreement reached three years ago.
President of the Teachers Federation Kamala Tuladhar said that the agreed issues must be implemented without delay by the ministry. She added that they could discuss the issues requiring amendment to the Constitution again.
Source : TRN,
