Kathmandu: The Nepal Teachers' Federation has launched a protest in Kathmandu, expressing its dissatisfaction with certain provisions in the Federal Education Bill that was recently registered in the Federal Parliament.

The Federation declined to attend a meeting summoned by the Minister for Education, Science, and Technology and opted to initiate the protest at the Maitighar Mandala in Kathmandu. They argue that the concerns of school teachers regarding the Bill were not adequately addressed by the Minister.

As of last year, there were 157,354 teachers, including permanent, temporary, and those appointed on relief quotas, working in 27,343 community schools across the country, serving 538,200 students. The Federal Education Bill proposes to grant local units the authority to transfer and evaluate teachers, but the Federation insists that this authority should remain with the federal government.

The Federation has been advocating for various measures, including the permanency of teachers appointed on a temporary basis, the creation of sufficient quotas for school employees, addressing the issues of child class teachers who remain outside the school structure, regular opportunities for promotion, fair performance evaluation, and transfer opportunities for teachers.

Laxmi Koshore Subedi, the Federation's general secretary, called on teachers and employees from across the country to join the protest. He expressed frustration that the Bill failed to address agreements reached between the government and the Federation on February 21, 2019, and February 21, 2022.

The Federal Education Bill, aimed at revising and integrating education acts, was registered in the House of Representatives on September 13.