PAY SCALE DISPARITIES : Teachers’ protest paralyses univs

Public universities remained paralysed as teachers continued their indefinite work abstention for the fourth consecutive day on Thursday, while two-hour work abstention by doctors, engineers, agriculturists and government officials continued to hamper treatment at public hospitals, academic activities at government colleges and normal functioning at different government offices.
The teachers, doctors, engineers, agriculturists and government officials, other than administration cadre officers, began the work abstention on Monday for immediate redresses of disparities in the eighth national pay scale.
Public university teachers expressed their disappointment at prime minister Sheikh Hasina’s remarks on their ongoing movement saying that vested quarters misguided her.
At a public rally on Monday, Hasina said that the university teachers’ demand to have the same status of a secretary was not justified and she asked them to sit for BCS exams if they wanted to enjoy the status.
Federation of Bangladesh University Teachers Associations president Farid Uddin Ahmed, also the Dhaka University Teachers Association president, said, ‘Teachers are very embarrassed, disappointed and surprised by her [Hasina] comment.’
The teachers are not eager to become secretaries. ‘University teachers rather produce secretaries…We just want dignity,’ he added.
Farid Uddin also said that country’s founding president Sheikh Mujibur Rahman through promulgation of the University Ordinance 1973, gave the university befitting dignity and independence for intellectual pursuit, but a conspiracy was now going on to snatch away the dignity.
JU Correspondent reported, Jahangirnagar University Teachers Association secretary Mafruhi Sattar said, ‘The status of the teachers cannot not be decreased forcibly…We don’t want the honour by forcing the government, we just urge the government to restore our status.’
Terming Hasina’s comments ‘irrelevant’, Mafruhi said, ‘The prime minister indirectly admitted that she would undermine the status of teachers.’
‘Prime minister Sheikh Hasina and Finance minister AMA Muhith have repeatedly made such comments against the peaceful movement of teachers which is not expected from them,’ he said.
In separate identical remarks, Rajshahi University Teachers Association general secretary Rejaul Karim and Islamic University Teachers Association secretary Wali Ullah said that bthey did not expect such remarks from the prime minister, New Age correspondents at the universities reported.
University teachers’ work abstention kept 1.8 lakh students off the classrooms. Teachers at several universities, however, took scheduled semester final exams.
A simultaneous work abstention on the same ground by over 4.3 lakh government officers including engineers, doctors, agriculturists and cadre service members continued to hamper the government’s day to day activities for two hours from noon.
Restoration of time-scales and selection grade, which facilitate moving onto higher scales or grades of pay, is a demand common among all protesting groups. Removal of inter-cadre disparity is another major demand of the cadre service officers.
Classes were abandoned for two hours at 320 government colleges as members of BCS education cadre skipped work as usual on Thursday, affecting about 13 lakh students throughout the country.