Govt in a spot of bother over teachers stir
Academic activities take a beating across country
HARUN UR RASHID
The agitation by teachers and employees of different educational institutions across the country to realise various demands have not only put the government in trouble, but is also hampering academic activities. Education ministry sources said the government suddenly felt the tremor of the movement, that started last December and are still continuing. Teachers under different banners are organising various forms of agitation, like sit-in or indefinite hunger-strike.
They are demanding Monthly Pay Order (MPO) facility, nationalisation of non-educational institutions, nationalisation of MPO schools, nationalisation of Independent Ebtedayee madrasas and upgrading of the salary scale of assistant teachers in government primary schools,
Cadre-listed teachers are opposing the government move to offer same facilities to non-cadre teachers. The Awami League-led government is worried as the next general election is scheduled to be held either later this year or the beginning of next year. Academic activities are being hampered as well, concerned sections said.
As per the latest development, teachers and employees, under the banner of the Non-Government Education Nationalisation Liaison Forum, started a sit-in in front of the Jatiya Press Club in the capital on Wednesday. They are demanding the nationalisation of their institutions.
The Forum convenor, Abdul Khaleque, told The Independent that they had requested the government to nationalise their MPO educational institutions. He said around five lakh teachers and employees of around 27,000 educational institutions are deprived of different facilities.
We will continue the sit-in till January 13. If our demand for nationalisation is not met, we will begin an indefinite hunger-strike, he added.
Asked about the hampering of education at the beginning of the year, he said: Agitations do affect educational activities. But we dont have any other option.
Several hundred teachers and employees of independent Ebtedayee madrasas have been carrying out a movement since January 1 with the demand for nationalisation of their institutions. They say their salary is too meagre compared to those of primary schools.
Their indefinite hunger-strike entered the third day yesterday (Thursday). Many have fallen sick and others are suffering in the biting cold.
Mokhlesur Rahman, secretary general of the Independent Ebtedayee Madrasa Teachers Association, said: We dont have any other option. Our salary is very poor compared to government primary schools. But we are contributing to education as well.
He, however, admitted that such movements adversely affect educational institutions. The association has submitted a memorandum to the newly appointed state minister for education, Kazi Keramat Ali, but is yet to get a response.
Some of the teachers said they get only Tk. 1,000 per month as salary, which is not enough to run their families. On the other hand, hundreds of teachers of non-government educational institutions that are not covered by the MPO facility organised a movement in the capital demanding the facility.
They called off the movement, including a hunger-strike, after 11 days following assurance from Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. Education ministry sources said they are working on the demand of around 5,242 non-MPO educational institutions, where there are around 75,000 teachers and employees.
The matter will be scrutinised properly. The government is well aware of it, Salma Jahan, joint secretary (Secondary) of the Secondary and Higher Education Division under the education ministry told The Independent yesterday.
During the non-MPO teachers movement from December 31 to January 5, they could not take part in the free distribution of books, the biggest programme of the government on the first day of the New Year.
On December 24, several thousand assistant teachers of government schools staged a hunger-strike at the Central Shaheed Minar premises, alleging discrimination between their salary structure and that of headmasters.
Trained assistant teachers get salary under the 14th grade of the pay scale, whereas trained head teachers are paid under the 11th grade. The hunger-strike was withdrawn after assurance from the minister. We suspended the movement following the ministers assurance. But if our demand is not met within a month, we will go for a fresh hunger-strike, Shahinur Al-Amin, one of the leaders of the movement, told The Independent.
On the other hand, the cadre-listed teachers are opposing the government move to offer the same facilities like them to the non-cadre teachers, who belong to the newly-listed nationalised colleges numbering 283.
The cadre teachers said they would not accept it. They observed work-abstention on November 26 and 27 last year, protesting the government move. The movement hampered academic activities. But the work-abstention was suspended on January 6, 7 and 8.
But the president of the BCS General Education Association, IK Selim Ullah Khondkar, said: We suspended the January programme, but a fresh programme would be launched after a meeting within a week because the government move cannot be accepted. Rasheda K Chowdhury, executive director of the Campaign for Population Education and former adviser to the caretaker government, said: The government should accept the logical demand of the teachers, but it should be properly scrutinised considering the strength of the educational institutions.
She added: It is also true that such movements hamper educational activities. The teachers should also understand it.
