By A Staff Reporter
Kathmandu, Aug. 11: More school teachers are losing their jobs after the school owners have started firing them with the uncertainty of resuming classes because of the COVID-19 fear.
Mostly the teachers teaching in grade 11 and grade 12 are losing their jobs after the owners are firing them stating that they are unable to pay them as they have no student to collect tuition fees.
According to Institutional Schools’ Teachers’ Union (ISTU), many teachers of grade 11 and 12 have not been paid for long and some of them lost their jobs. Although the teaching and non-teaching staff members of all private schools have been facing troubles during this pandemic, the situation of grade 11 and 12 teachers is now more vulnerable, it said.
Hom Kumar Thapa, chairperson of ISTU, said more than 20 teachers of Capital College Research Centre (CCRC) have lost their job. Earlier, CCRC was paying the teachers on the monthly basis, and it started paying them half their salary after the government enforced lockdown. But from mid-July, it has decided to fire the teachers, Thapa said.
Likewise, Radiant Academy, Kathmandu, owned by D.K. Dhungana, co-chair of Private and Boarding School Organisation Nepal (PABSON), has fired five teachers; Rising Nepal School of Biratnagar has fired four teachers, United Academy, Janakpur, fired five teachers and Balkalyan Secondary School, Janakpur, fired four teachers.
These are only some examples; many private schools have fired teachers after the enforcement of lockdown.
A teacher said in a condition of anonymity, “We were underpaid since the enforcement of the lockdown but we easily accepted it because the schools were facing genuine problems. But now the school owners are removing us from job without showing any humane behaviour towards us during this crisis.”
According to the ISTU, it had submitted a letter of memorandum to the Minister for Education Science and Technology, Higher Secondary School Association Nepal (HISAN), Private and Boarding School Association Nepal (PABSON) and National Private and Boarding School Association Nepal (NPABSON) and others, but their plights remained unheeded.
D.K. Dhungana, co-chair of the PABSON, said many schools might not extend the teachers’ contract if they did not require them after expiry of their contracts. “The schools are not in a situation to pay its staff for long as they are unable to collect fees,” he added.
Dhugana further said about 40 per cent private schools are not in situation to sustain due to pandemic. But the stakeholders are always negative towards the private schools, he added.