KATHMANDU - The Nepal Temporary Teachers and Employees Union on Thursday publicly demanded that all temporary teachers and employees working in community schools across Nepal be immediately enrolled in the contribution-based Social Security Fund. The demand was made at a press conference organised by the union in the capital, where union representatives also called for guaranteed professional continuity and permanent-like service facilities for relief, contract, temporary and child development teachers, as well as other school staff. With the announcement, the union has once again drawn attention to the condition of the non-permanent teaching workforce that staffs many of the country's community schools, arguing that educators who serve in these roles should not be left outside the social security system available to permanent employees.

Immediate Enrollment in the Social Security Fund

The central demand put forward at the press conference was the immediate enrollment of every temporary teacher and employee in community schools into the contribution-based Social Security Fund. The union made the demands public during the event held in Kathmandu, pressing the authorities to act without further delay, as reported by Khabarhub and Nagarik News.

The union's position is that enrollment in the fund should not depend on the nature of the appointment. In other words, whether a teacher is working under a relief quota, on a contract basis, in a temporary post, or in a child development position, the union maintains that the person should be covered by the same contribution-based social security mechanism as other formal-sector workers.

The demand also extends beyond teachers to employees working in community schools generally, meaning administrative and support staff employed by schools are included in the union's call for universal coverage of the non-permanent workforce.

Professional Continuity and Permanent-Like Facilities

Alongside social security enrollment, the union raised a connected set of demands centred on job security and service conditions. It called for ensuring professional continuity for temporary teachers and staff, a demand aimed at protecting non-permanent educators from the uncertainty that comes with working outside the permanent cadre. The union further sought permanent-like service facilities for all categories of temporary school employees, arguing that those performing teaching and school duties should receive treatment comparable to their permanent colleagues.

The core demands presented by the union can be summarised as follows:

  • Immediate enrollment of all temporary teachers and employees of community schools in the contribution-based Social Security Fund
  • Ensuring professional continuity for relief, contract, temporary and child development teachers and school staff
  • Provision of permanent-like service facilities to all non-permanent teachers and employees working in community schools

Who the Demands Cover

The union's demands span the full range of non-permanent positions found in Nepal's community school system. These include relief quota teachers, contract teachers, teachers appointed on a temporary basis, child development teachers who work with young learners at the pre-primary level, and other school staff. By framing the demand to cover all of these categories, the union has positioned the issue as one affecting the community school workforce as a whole rather than a single group of employees.

Background: A Long-Standing Concern in Community Schools

Community schools form the backbone of public education in Nepal, and non-permanent teachers have long worked in them alongside permanent staff, often carrying out similar teaching and administrative responsibilities. The existence of a dedicated union for temporary teachers and employees reflects how significant this section of the workforce is within the school system.

Nepal's contribution-based Social Security Fund was introduced to bring formal-sector workers, including those in education, under a unified protection scheme. Enrollment in the fund ties benefits to contributions made by the employer and the employee, providing workers with long-term financial protection. The union's demand on Thursday makes clear that, in its view, temporary teachers and school staff remain outside this protection and that this situation must be corrected immediately.

The union's other demands address the same underlying concern from a different angle. Professional continuity speaks to the stability of employment, while permanent-like service facilities speak to the terms and conditions under which non-permanent staff work. Together with social security enrollment, these demands form a package aimed at bringing the service conditions of temporary teachers and employees closer to those of permanent staff.

What Enrollment Would Change for Temporary Teachers

If the union's demand is met, temporary teachers and school employees enrolled in the contribution-based Social Security Fund would be brought under a system designed to provide workers with coverage across key areas of social protection, including old-age provision, medical care, and protection in cases of accident and disability. For teachers who have spent years serving in community schools without such coverage, enrollment would mark a significant change in their employment situation.

Guaranteed professional continuity would similarly alter the working environment for non-permanent staff. The union's demand suggests that temporary teachers currently face the risk of losing their positions and that a commitment to continuity would give them greater confidence in their careers and in the schools where they serve.

Awaiting a Response

The press conference in Kathmandu was the vehicle through which the union formally made its demands public, and the organisation has now placed the ball in the court of the authorities responsible for education administration and social security implementation. Neither of the published reports indicates an immediate response from the government or school authorities to the union's demands. What is clear from Thursday's announcement is that the Nepal Temporary Teachers and Employees Union intends to keep the enrollment of temporary teachers and staff in the Social Security Fund, along with professional continuity and permanent-like facilities, at the centre of its agenda until those demands are addressed.