Mr. Nepal, Talk to Your Teachers!

You know your democracy is not working when those in power stop communicating with those they are supposed to serve. Yet, leaders in Nepal, however vocal and radical-sounding they may be at the outset, as soon they get a berth in the cabinet, a fancy car and a security detail (albeit a mere lousy police inspector who himself is too worried about his own security), they somehow feel that they’re off-limits to the very people that got them there. Now a regular citizen must give up his hopes of ever talking to his leader, or organize with other citizens in similar plight, face a thousand batons, and rubber bullets, and may be even lose a limb. Even then it is only in the best case scenario that this leader might show up at this citizen’s hospital bed with a Mango Fruity (and of course, an NTV camera to offset the trouble of having walked all the way from the air-conditioned car to the stinky hospital ward and any political capital lost).

What is so perplexing is that this scene repeats itself over and over (makes you think if it’s a conspiracy on the part of the Fruity makers!). It’s probably the only thing that transcends (the degree to which it does may vary a little) all types of rulers and leaders that have ever ridden in the back of the government-owned shiny black limos or have had offices in one of those Rana-built palaces and mansions (maybe it’s these buildings that are cursed?).

One such scene is now in the works between Pradip Nepal, the Minister of Education and all elementary to high school teachers in the country. The teachers, tired of being pushed around by the politicians for years (although in all fairness or irony, many of the current leaders started out as teachers), have united together to demand a better environment for their jobs, including job security, less corporate influence (in case of private schools) and dignity. After the prior agreements with the government were not acted upon, the teachers have staged a massive nationwide protest, now running on its second week. All the while, all schools (private or public) in the country have been closed affecting millions of students (and the rich parents, who are having their handful tending their brats 24/7, and the poor parents who already feel so helpless). The actual cost of this stalemate in terms of its short-term impact on the economy and the long term impact on the country’s competitiveness is too high to be calculated.

It has emerged that at the center of the contention is a key demand by the teachers that they be allowed to sit down for talks with Mr. Nepal, which he subtly rejected, appointing his deputy to the task. Teachers, not happy with the arrangement, protested in front of the ministry (incidentally, an old Rana palace!) asking again that Mr. Nepal be present at any negotiations they would have. In response, Mr. Nepal had the police intervene to disperse the crowd. Batons were used to beat up the teachers (so much for the guru devo bhaba!). Dozens had to be rushed to the hospital (where some may be awaiting the Fruity drink). But Mr. Nepal still hasn’t agreed to talk with them and there are widespread rumors that he may be using his influence to break up the teachers’ unity. The teachers have stepped up their agitation with a general strike in Kathmandu. It has also been suggested that there are anti-democracy actors working hard to prolong the crisis for their political advantage.

But regardless, it is hard to believe that an education minister, whose job it is to work with the teachers, doesn’t want to talk to them and allow a crisis of this magnitude to develop. Whether and however unwilling he is to accept their demands, when all schools have been closed in the country, it should be his top most priority to find a resolution. Moreover, it doesn’t even appear that the teachers are demanding anything too unreasonable and the public seems to be largely sympathetic to them. If our country is to move forward, we should empower our teachers, give them the training, job security and dignity they need and keep them out of the political manipulation that they have been subject to throughout our modern history. Teachers’ job should be to teach and help produce a better workforce (and it works when they do that). They shouldn’t have to stop teaching for two weeks in order to make their voices heard and they certainly shouldn’t have to get killed to make the education minister talk to them.

So Mr. Nepal, you should talk with the teachers immediately, even if it takes you to swallow your pride for a moment. You are just making it too obvious that our democracy isn’t working and by your behavior, you are perhaps even contributing for it to fail yet again. But most importantly, our kids’ future (and by extension, the country’s) is too important for us to let you mess around with.

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