The talks between the Nepal Teachers' Federation and government representatives have been ongoing since Monday.
Following the talks held on Monday evening, discussions also took place in the Council of Ministers. After the Council of Ministers' meeting, another round of talks was held at the Ministry of Education late at night on the same day.
On Tuesday afternoon, Education Minister Raghuji Pant had called for talks at 3 PM. He waited for more than five hours at the ministry. The talks started only at 8 PM due to delays caused by the extended executive committee meeting of the Teachers' Federation.
The Federation has put forward nine points for immediate agreement and has stated that if an agreement is reached, they will change the form of their protest and return to their workplaces.
The nine points received by Nepalkhabar from the negotiation venue are as follows:
1. Healthcare Facilities: Arrange concessional treatment facilities for all teachers and staff in all seven provincial hospitals and the Civil Hospital in Kathmandu.
2. Sick Leave Accumulation: Ensure that temporary/contract teachers, former secondary school teachers, learning grant technical stream teachers, special education child development facilitators, and all other temporary school staff can accumulate sick leave and receive a lump sum payment for unused leave upon retirement.
3. Salary Standardization: Establish a salary structure equivalent to that of Kharidar (non-gazetted second-class officer) for Early Childhood Development Facilitators (child development teachers) and school staff, ensuring a monthly salary of Rs. 32,902. Similarly, school assistants should receive a monthly amount of Rs. 26,082, equivalent to non-graded employees, with the federal government bearing the cost.
4. Grade Determination: From fiscal year 2082/83, permanent primary-level third-class teachers should be placed in Grade 10 (equivalent to kharidars), primary second-class and lower secondary third-class teachers in Grade 10 (equivalent to Nayab Subba), and secondary first-class teachers in Grade 7 (equivalent to joint secretary/gazetted first-class officer).
5. Remote Allowance: All permanent and temporary teachers should receive a remote allowance similar to civil servants, with the allowance also applicable during 45-day leaves.
6. Social Security Fund: Establish a mandatory contribution-based social security fund for teachers and staff of institutional schools and private-source teachers of community schools.
7. Inclusion in Government Hierarchy: Include teachers in the Nepal government’s hierarchy, placing them alongside university teachers.
8. Salary and Grade Alignment: Ensure that lower secondary first-class teachers receive salaries and grades equivalent to secondary second-class teachers.
9. Halt Arbitrary Actions: During the ongoing protest led by the Nepal Teachers' Federation, local levels have started threatening principals/teachers/staff with arbitrary transfers and withholding salaries. All such actions must be revoked.
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