Govt-varsity teachers� �row� over pay scale
No headway in sight
The government has been unable to arrive at a concrete solution to the problems of public university teachers relating to salary discrimination in the eighth national pay scale. The government said it needs much more time to sort out these problems as it involves issues such as promotion and university laws. Meanwhile, leaders of the Federation of Bangladesh University Teachers Association (FBUTA) said that they have not come across any visible results so far except participation in two secretary-level meetings. The teachers said they will hold a review meeting on Wednesday where they will discuss government progress in terms of fulfilling
their demands. They also said that on February 4, they will take a decision about future steps to be taken to realise their demands.
Secretary General of FBUTA, Prof Dr A.S.M. Maksud Kamal, said, We have still not got any tangible outcome from the government regarding fulfillment of our demands. He held the bureaucratic tangle responsible for delay in fulfillment of their demands and said that a conspiracy is going on against them, pushing them into uncertainty.
Fulfillment of our demands is unnecessarily being delayed, he said. Asked whether they would once again go on an indefinite shutdown, he said, Maybe or may not be.
Education Ministry sources said that the teachers demands are huge and it is a mammoth task to fulfill them within such a short time. Ministry sources said that as selection grade and time scale has been erased in the new pay scale, it has become difficult to address the teachers problems quickly as there are different laws in different universities.
Additional Secretary (University) of the Education Ministry, Helal Uddin, told The Independent, It obviously demands time as their demands are huge. We have not reached any concrete solution. We are holding meetings in this regard. More time is necessary to address the demands of teachers.
Earlier, teachers of 37 public universities started indefinite work abstention on January 11, suspending the programme on January 19 after getting Prime Minister Sheikh Hasinas assurance after a meeting with her at Gana Bhaban on January 18. FBUTA on January 19 gave the government time till February 3 to address their problems.
They said that if their demands are not fulfilled within the stipulated time, they will take the next step after holding a federation meeting on February 3. Public university teachers have been carrying out different programmes for the past eight months to protest the new pay scale. Meanwhile, students are worried that their classes and examinations may be suspended with the continuing deadlock between teachers and the government.
