KATHMANDU: The Education, Health, and Information Technology Committee of the House of Representatives has given the government an additional five days to reach consensus on the School Education Bill.
In Sunday’s meeting held at Singha Durbar, the committee decided to grant the government more time to hold discussions with teachers without affecting the agreements already made in the committee. The aim is to finalize the bill and present updates to the committee within five days.
Committee Chairperson Amar Bahadur Thapa stated that Education Minister Raghujī Pant has been given the time to coordinate and finalize consensus. While Minister Pant had requested an open-ended timeframe, Thapa emphasized that indefinite delays would stall the bill’s progress. Therefore, the committee granted this final five-day window.
During the meeting, Minister Pant said that some provisions in the bill required further consultation with teachers and emphasized the importance of broad consensus.
Nepali Congress Chief Whip Shyam Ghimire also stressed the need to create a consensus-driven environment and urged the government to move forward after a few more days of discussion.
However, several committee members expressed dissatisfaction, saying the bill was being delayed due to government inaction. Maoist Center MP Rekha Sharma remarked that reopening settled issues for further debate was unnecessary. After Sharma said she would not follow any whip from Congress or other parties in the committee, Chief Whip Ghimire objected, calling it disrespectful, and attempted to leave the meeting but was persuaded to stay by Chairperson Thapa.
Meanwhile, UML lawmaker Bidya Bhattarai said that while teachers deserve respect, insisting on positions at the cost of progress was not appropriate. RSP lawmaker Sumana Shrestha also argued that politically connected teachers should not use the bill as a tool for personal or political agendas.
Although most issues within the committee have already been agreed upon, the bill has not progressed due to unresolved disagreements between the Ministry of Education and teachers.
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