By NNN-PTI
Kathmandu : Schools across Nepal were shutdown by Maoist supporters Wednesday to step up pressure on the government to improve the working conditions for teachers in the Himalayan nation.
The Maoist affiliated Nepal Educational Republican Forum (NERF) announced a three-day school shutdowns beginning today to force the interim government to accept their demands for better working conditions for the teachers.
The Forum accused the government of not fulfilling earlier agreements that include rehabilitating displaced teachers and giving permanent status to temporarily employed teachers and school staffs.
Education Minister Pradeep Nepal asked the Maoists to withdraw their strike as it could adversely impact the crucial Constituent Assembly polls on April 10. He said the government is considering their key demands.
Ethnic groups in the Terai have already enforced shutdowns in the country that has brought normal life to a halt, threatening to create a law and order problem ahead of the polls.
The government in Nepal has chalked out major security plans to ensure violence-free polls. Since the peace pact was signed, at least 200 people have been killed in the Terai in ethnic and communal unrest that has cast a shadow over the democratic transition in the country.
The election is a key part of the 2006 peace deal and will set in motion a process to end the 239-year-old monarchy in the Himalayan state.