Teachers of Patan Multiple Campus (PMC) are staging a hunger strike demanding that part-time teachers be contracted through an internal open competition. The teacher's union's central general secretary Kapil Karki has stated that despite the rules of Tribhuvan University (TU), the campus administration has only approved 26 part-time teachers for contracts based on seniority alone. Currently, there are 103 part-time teachers working in PMC but only 26 of them have been approved for contracts.
Sunil Rawal, another member of the protest committee, pointed out the difference in salary between part-time and permanent workers, despite the fact that the workload of part-time workers is higher. The principal associate professor of PMC, Dr. Laxmansingh Kunwar, has clarified that the campus has set the legal basis for managing part-time teachers according to the Part-time Teacher Management Procedure Guide 2077 issued by TU. The campus has sent a proposal for managing 30 part-time teachers to TU, of which 26 have been approved.
The campus head has stated that the selection committee will manage part-time teachers from among the applicants who meet the criteria through open advertisement on a monthly salary. However, Chief Kunwar also highlighted that the internal resources of the campus can support only 30 people. The entire education sector in Nepal is facing various challenges due to the lack of progress in the appointment of teachers in TU. The TU Service Commission has not been able to proceed with the appointment process due to the absence of a chairman for 7 months and the change of education minister in a short period of time has added to the chaos in the university education sector.
The appointment process for the Chairman of the TU Service Commission and Vice Chancellor of the Rajarishjanak University has been a topic of concern in the Ministry of Education. Seven months ago, the Ministry of Education had advertised for the position of Chairman of the TU Service Commission and received 38 applications. However, the process became inactive after the tenure of the Vice Chancellor of the university ended.
According to a source within the Ministry of Education, the Ministry is ready to advertise for the position once again. However, there have been concerns about political corruption in the education sector, leading to corruption in universities. The appointment of the Chairman of the Service Commission was also stopped in the middle due to the arrival of a new education minister who also serves as the Prime Minister.
The source stated that the education sector is not a priority for the Prime Minister and the appointment process has resulted in a waste of time and manpower. It is still uncertain when and how the appointment process for the Vice Chancellor and Chairman of the Service Commission will proceed. This raises questions about the future of the education sector and the steps being taken to address the issue of political corruption.
