KATHMANDU, FEB 08 -
Public schools were closed across the country for the second consecutive day on Monday because of a strike by the Relief Teachers Central Struggle Committee.

The committee announced a three-day protest on Sunday demanding that all relief quota teachers be made permanent through internal competition, but without any age limits.

Hundreds of teachers held a sit-in programme at the gates of the Ministry of Education (MoE) to pressurise the government. However, police personnel dispersed the crowds in an hour, detaining a few teachers for nearly three hours.

The teachers recruited under the relief quota have been agitating for the last six months demanding facilities and salaries at par with permanent teachers.

“The government hasn't paid any attention to our genuine demands for the last six months,” said Rajkumar K.C., member of the committee. “

We were recruited according to the due process; therefore, we must be upgraded as permanent teachers are.”

Meanwhile, spokesperson of the MoE, Lekhnath Poudel said that the demands put forth by the agitating teachers are not logical and cannot be met. “Relief teachers are just for a certain period and cannot be made permanent,” said Poudel.

According to Ministry data, at least 38,000 relief teachers were appointed during the Maoist insurgency to cope with the increasing number of students in community schools in Western Tarai.

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