Teachers of the public universities of the country will observe work abstention programmes for today and Thursday demanding a separate pay scale.
Earlier, the Federation of Bangladesh University Teachers’ Associations (FBUTA) in a press release said that if the government failed to meet their demand by September 17, they would be compelled to go for indefinite work abstention.
President of the association Professor Farid Uddin Ahmed yesterday said that they would abstain from work but examinations will be out of the purview of their protest programme.
“We still hope that the prime minister will accept our demands,” he said adding that Dhaka University Teachers Association will hold a press conference today at 11pm.
Relations between public university teachers and the government soured after teachers took exception to comments made by Finance Minister AMA Muhith about their demonstration.
The finance minister, however, later withdrew his remarks and apologised.
Teachers at public universities have been protesting the Eighth National Pay Scale since May 14, advocating a four-point charter of demands that includes the formation of a commission to initiate an independent pay scale for public university teachers.
The other demands of the public university teachers are salary and allowance parity between senior professors and senior secretaries, and between professors and secretaries; upgrading the status of teachers in the warrant of precedence; and the provision of cars and other allowances for teachers similar to provisions given to bureaucrats.
