Govt, teachers holding decisive talks today

By A Staff Reporter,Kathmandu, Apr. 26: The government and the agitating community schoolteachers are set to hold decisive talks on Saturday at 7:30 am, following a series of failed attempts to initiate dialogue.

In an official statement released on Friday evening, Yubaraj Paudel, Joint Secretary at the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, announced that the Ministry is preparing to hold formal talks with the representatives of the Nepal Teachers’ Federation.

According to the statement, Education Minister Raghuji Pant called for dialogue to resolve the ongoing dispute through mutual understanding and negotiation on Friday afternoon.

The meeting scheduled for Friday could not take place due to undisclosed reasons, although sources indicated that the delay stemmed from the inability of teacher representatives to access Singha Durbar. 

The teachers were reportedly denied entry after failing to obtain the necessary security passes.

Sanubhai Karki, a leading figure in the teachers' protest, said that despite having previously valid entry permits, representatives were turned away and asked to produce separate passes. As a result, they were compelled to return from the main gate of Singha Durbar without participating in the prescheduled talks with the government.

The Ministry further clarified that it received the Supreme Court’s directive, issued on Thursday, earlier on Friday, and in compliance with the order, the leadership of the Nepal Teachers' Federation were invited for formal discussions.

Invitations have been extended to the Federation's president and executive members for Saturday’s talks.

Talking to the media, Karki expressed hope that Saturday’s meeting could be a turning point. “We were not allowed to enter Singha Durbar today, so we resorted to holding our internal discussions instead,” he said. “Tomorrow’s dialogue has been confirmed, and it can prove decisive.”