Only dialogue can solve row over pay scale
Prolonged protests
and strikes cannot be a rational solution for
meeting the demands
of a collective group
of respected professionals
Agitating teachers under the banner of Federation of Bangladesh University Teachers Association (FBUTA) has called for tougher programmes over the 8th National Pay Scale dispute. Simultaneously, teachers of Bagabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU) have also decided to abstain from their regular duties on a similar set of demands.
Prolonged protests and strikes cannot be a rational solution for meeting the demands of a collective group of respected professionals. Teachers may surely have demands regarding discrepancies in the pay scale, equal treatment and for issues concerning their lawful status, but the approach to voice that demand has to be clear, legitimate and peaceful. Their means of agitation should not hinder the service provided in their respective fields of teaching. Moreover, against the backdrop of such intensified campaigning programme the eventual sufferers are the innocent students. They must not be deprived of their academic rights.
However, in terms of meeting a demand nothing can act as a substitute for holding dialogue based on the guidelines of proper dispute resolution processes. Demands too, should be written and submitted in details. For instance, yesterday the agitating teachers of public universities were reported to submit a more specific proposal sometime very soon which actually should have been prepared earlier before the agitations to call for a strike was decided. Obviously, there is lacking in detailing specific demands from the teachers end. Responding to their demands, the education minister had called for detailed points too, long before leaving to attend an international conference in the UK.
Also on the topic of appropriate status for teachers community, BSMMU teachers should clarify their rightful claim as per ranks, experience and educational qualifications of medical teachers. Nevertheless, we welcome their commitment to continue providing treatment facilities to patients.
The over 8-months long standoff between the teachers and the government could surely have been avoided, if clarity and due procedures of effective negotiations were followed by both sides. In the light of the continuing impasse, all stakeholders representatives of public universities and BSMMU teachers, legal advisers, pay scale experts, government bureaucrats and the concerned ministry for education should play their rightful obligations. Dialogues should replace agitation for preventing unforeseen threats and potential session jams in academic courses. Moreover, the dispute should be resolved soon and amicably.
Everyone has the right to protest and fight for his/her due legal rights. With almost the entire year remaining before us, the dispute must end by handling it with due diligence before it gets out of hands. It is expected that both government and public university teachers would engage in a meaningful dialogue where rooms, discussions and agreements will replace streets, slogans and confrontations.
