Higher Secondary Teachers´ Association of Nepal (HISTAN) and Higher Secondary Schools´ Association of Nepal (HISSAN) had closed all schools, floating their 10-point demand on December 24.
HISTAN and HISSAN opened the schools after the seven-member taskforce led by State Minister for Education Govinda Chaudhary assured them of submitting a report to the cabinet meeting to address their problems by February 28, during a two-hour talks held in the morning.
HISTAN and HISSAN also let the Department of Education (DoE) and the Higher Secondary Education Council (HSEC) open. DoE and HSEC were padlocked since December 24.
“We have put off all agitation programs, hoping that the taskforce will genuinely address our demands,” Punya Neupane, coordinator of central struggle committee of HISTAN and HISSAN, told myrepublica.com. “We will restart our agitation if the taskforce fails to do so.”
According to Neupane, HISTAN and HISSAN will launch an extended program of agitations through an intensive discussion with students, parents, civil society members and all stake holders. “We will even talk to donor agencies supporting our education system if need be,” he said.
The strike affected 2,510 higher secondary schools and over thousands of students across the country.
HISTAN and HISSAN´s have been demanding that the government scrap one of its clauses of an agreement signed with teachers associations, which allows secondary level teachers to teach higher secondary level students on the basis of their experiences. Among other demands, HISTAN and HISSAN have also asked the government to implement all past agreements between them and provide permanent affiliation to all higher secondary schools.
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