After a week of teachers’ strike at all public universities of the country, the prime minister has invited the teachers for a meeting about their ongoing movement demanding a separate pay scale.
The meeting with Sheikh Hasina is scheduled to be held around 4:30pm today, said Farid Uddin Ahmed, the president of Federation of Bangladesh University Teachers Association (FBUTA).
He added that leaders from Dhaka University Teachers Association would also join the FBUTA Executive Council members at the meeting.
Farid Uddin expressed his hopes of getting a positive solution from the meeting as the teachers have long been demanding to talk directly to the prime minister regarding the crisis on the eighth pay scale.
“We have sent letters at least six times to the Prime Minister’s Office for getting a permission to meet her, but our requests had repeatedly been denied.”
He alleged that a group of bureaucrats were against any meeting or discussion taking place between the premier and university teachers.
Farid Uddin said the teachers would present their logical demands to Sheikh Hasina at the meeting.
Earlier yesterday, on the seventh day of indefinite work abstention, the FBUTA president and secretary general submitted a written proposal to Education Secretary Sohrab Hossain with some alternative demands from the teachers.
FBUTA Secretary General ASM Maksud Kamal said: “The ongoing crisis will be solved promptly as we have submitted an alternative proposal to the ministry that would preserve due respect of the university teachers.”
FBUTA leaders finalised the written proposal in a meeting at Dhaka University Teachers Club in the afternoon.
Last Tuesday, following a meeting with FBUTA leaders, Education Minister Nurul Islam Nahid expressed hopes of a quick solution to the ongoing crisis.
Since January 11, public university teachers have been on a strike over pay scale grievances. No classes took place during this time, but ongoing exams were held according to the schedule.
The teachers have been protesting the recently implemented Eighth National Pay Scale since May 2014, advocating their four-point charter of demands that includes formation of a commission to initiate an independent pay scale for public university teachers.
Their four-point demand also includes the immediate revision of the national pay scale, keeping senior professors and senior secretaries of the government at an equal level of payment.
Petition challenges strike
Meanwhile, a Supreme Court lawyer filed a writ petition with the High Court yesterday challenging the legality of the ongoing public university teachers’ strike.
The lawyer, Yunus Ali Akond, prayed to the court to direct the government to take steps to ensure the teachers withdraw the strike and direct the teachers to attend their classes within 24 hours.
In the petition, Yunus said teachers can go to the court if there is any discrimination in their salary and dignity but cannot boycott classes as education is a fundamental right which students were being deprived of because of the strike.
The court is likely to hear the petition today, he said.
