Teachers affiliated with pro-Maoist Nepal Educational Republican Forum staging rally as part of their nationwide educational strike in Kathmandu, Wednesday, July 29 09. nepalnews.com/rh

Thousands of schools and higher secondary institutes throughout the country have remained closed Wednesday due to a strike called by the Maoist affiliated Nepal Educational Republican Forum (NERF) demanding the implementation of the agreements reached with the erstwhile government.

NERF announced the closure of schools after talks between the forum’s representatives and the education ministry on Tuesday failed to reach a conclusion. The forum has announced that it would shut down the schools for three days beginning Wednesday.

Some 6 million students studying in various government and private institutes have been affected due to the strike.

Although, education minister Ram Chandra Prasad Kushwaha urged the teachers to withdraw their strike assuring them of fulfilling their demands, NERF decided to go ahead with the strikes as there was no guarantee of the implementation, according to NERF’s chairman Hom Kumar Thapa.

NERF has been agitating demanding the implementation of agreements reached with the previous government on various issues including giving permanent status to temporary teachers of institutional schools and providing salary and perks equivalent to that of government schools to the teachers of private schools.

Meanwhile, the government has formed a three-member panel to address the demands of the agitating teachers. The panel coordinated by education minister Kushwaha includes peace minister Rakam Chemjong and federal affairs minister Minendra Rijal. Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal formed the panel after minister Kushwaha informed the PM about the schools closure. nepalnews.com