Monthly Pay Order (MPO)-registered teachers of private educational institutions have been staging an overnight sit-in at Dhaka’s Central Shaheed Minar, demanding an increase in house rent allowance.
Since Wednesday morning, the teachers have been awaiting the government’s response and are preparing to blockade Shahbagh to press their demands, though law enforcement agencies are ready to prevent any obstruction.
Jahangir Alam, a participating teacher, said the demonstrators, led by Delwar Hossain Azizi, member secretary of the MPO-registered Education Nationalization Expectation Alliance, will take positions at Shahbagh intersection. Preparations for the roadblock are currently underway.
Originally scheduled to start at noon, the sit-in will begin shortly after final preparations. The teachers are demanding a 20% hike in house rent allowance, Tk1,500 in medical allowance, and 75% festival allowance for staff, among other benefits.
The central sit-in in Dhaka continues as work stoppages are reported at educational institutions across the country. The teachers claimed they faced police harassment during a sit-in in front of the National Press Club on Sunday, prompting the move to Shaheed Minar.
Earlier, police had stopped their “March to Secretariat” program at the High Court’s Mazar Gate on Tuesday afternoon.
Delwar Hossain Azizi said: “We will blockade Shahbagh on Wednesday. Teachers across the country will observe work stoppage by suspending classes. Until a government notification is issued, no teacher will participate in class activities.”