Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has assured teachers of reaching a solution about their demand for a separate pay scale and asked them to return to classrooms, said Professor ASM Maksud Kamal, secretary general of the Federation of Bangladesh University Teachers’ Association (FBUTA), yesterday.
He told reporters after a meeting with the prime minister that the demands of the striking teachers had been raised at the meeting.
“The premier said she would look into the matter. She also called on the teachers to withdraw the ongoing strike,” said Kamal.
“After a meeting with the FBUTA members tomorrow [Tuesday], we will decide on the next course of action. We will also make a decision about whether to call off the strike,” he added.
An eight-member FBUTA delegation met the prime minister at the latter’s office yesterday.
On Sunday evening, the FBUTA president and secretary general submitted a proposal to Education Secretary Sohrab Hossain on behalf of the striking teachers.
In the proposal, the teachers raised two demands. First, 5% of all public university professors should be made distinguished professors and their pay should be equal to that of senior secretaries. The other demand was that 25% of all professors should be raised to grade one status.
After yesterday’s meeting, Professor Kamal said: “The prime minister said there would be initiatives to fulfill the second demand but no decision could be made immediately about the first one.”
“But we are still optimistic that a solution will emerge soon as we have finally been able to meet the prime minister. We are expecting a positive result,” he added.
Yesterday was the eighth day of the indefinite strike of public university teachers, who have been protesting what they described as pay disparity in the eighth national pay scale.
No classes are being held at any of the public universities as part of the strike, except some examinations at Dhaka University.
The teachers, who began protests in May last year, have been demanding that a commission be formed to prepare a separate pay scale for public university teachers.
Their four-point demand also includes the immediate revision of the national pay scale, and keeping the pay of senior professors and senior secretaries at an equal level.
The teachers have been claiming that the new pay scale ensures more facilities for secretaries and government officials but less for teachers.
The salary of the teachers in the new pay scale remains two points below that of the secretaries, which is not only discriminatory but also humiliating, the teachers claim.
Last Tuesday, FBUTA leaders met Education Minister Nurul Islam Nahid at the ministry to talk about the ongoing crisis. The minister said he was optimistic that the deadlock would be resolved soon.
