Temporary teachers have been staging a 24-hour relay hunger strike at Ratnapark in the Capital city since Wednesday, calling on the government to make them permanent as per promises made in the past.

Dinesh Thapa, general secretary of the Temporary Teachers’ Struggle Committee, said the strike aims to press the government to implement agreements reached with temporary teachers.

He pointed that the government has not bothered to abide by an agreement that teachers had reached with the Ministry of Education in 2006 to make all temporary teachers permanent through a due process.

According to Thapa, the government is yet to incorporate the 2006 agreement into the Education Regulation. “We want the government to make the regulation teacher-friendly by incorporating the agreement into the regulation,” Thapa further said.

The agitating teachers have been demanding that the government should make them permanent on the basis of their service period, provide uniform allownaces for teachers and non-teaching staff, and do away with a provision on teachers’ appointment on contract from the education regulation.

The teachers have also been demanding emoluments for those temporary teachers, who retire due to the age limit. According the committee, 36 temporary teachers have retired upon turning 60, emptyhanded.

Gopal Koirala of Sindhuli district is a case in point. Koirala had worked as a temporary teacher for 24 years and retired two years ago because of the age rule.

Koirala reportedly received nothing from the government on retirement. “I taught for more than two decades. Retired life will be easier if I get assistance from the government,” the former teacher said.

“Those, who taught for 35-36 years, have retired emptyhanded. This is ridiculous,” according to Thapa.

On February 2010, the Supreme Court had issued a verdict directing government authorities to provide facilities to temporary teachers on a par with permanent ones. The verdict remains unimplemented.

According to the committee, there are up to 17,000 temporary teachers throughout the country. “Many of these teachers want to quit if there is a guarantee that they will get emoluments from the government. It will create vacancies,” Thapa argued.

source: the himalayan times,22 Dec 2013