KATHMANDU, DEC 11 - Part-time teachers of the Tribhuvan University (TU) boycotted classes on Wednesday, leading to sporadic closure of campuses throughout the nation.
Bhaktapur, Sano Thimi, Padma Kanya, Shankar Dev, among 61 campuses throughout the nation, remained closed throughout the day, Nanda Kishore Singh, president of the agitating TU Part Time Teachers’ Association, said.Regular classes were interrupted at about 14 campuses of the Kathmandu Valley, according to Singh.
Some teachers said other full-timers and some student organisations have also pledged their support to the part-timers by walking out of their classes.
But the Nepal University Teachers’ Association (NUTA) declined to comment on the protest.At Ratna Rajya Campus, students came for their classes but the teachers boycotted them, leading to a complete closure.
"We have been teaching without contract letters, and our position is highly insecure," Singh said while talking to The Kathmandu Post. "We want contract appointment letters and increment in our salary."
About 2,300 part-time teachers, teaching in about 61 constituent campuses of the TU, demand appointment letters, increment in salary and want to contest for the vacancies in colleges through competition.
They have further plans to launch signature campaign, talk programmes and a variety of other protests to pressurise the administration that is unwilling to budge.
The TU administration has firmly declined to yield to their pressure, saying that the university had enough full-timers already, and those teachers were not really required at the moment.
Part-timers at TU and its constituent campuses currently take six to eight classes a week and draw Rs. 60 per period, inclusive of paying 15 percent VAT. They demand that their salary be raised to be at par with the full-timers, and that a teacher who has completed one year of tenure be provided with contract letter.
Meanwhile, Tri Chandra College, which was locked up by the Maoist students union, ANNISU-R, remained open today, according to students.
At the Padma Kanya Campus, evening classes resumed as scheduled though the morning session was interrupted by the boycott of part-time teachers.Posted on: 2003-12-12 05:27

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