Teachers of all 37 public universities across the country continued their indefinite work abstention yesterday for the 4th consecutive day, protesting what they called the government inaction on addressing their demand for removing the pay disparity with bureaucrats. Under the leadership of the Federation of Bangladesh University Teachers' Association (FBUTA), they refrained from taking any classes including evening courses at the universities.
Earlier, at a press briefing on the Dhaka University campus, ASM Maksud Kamal, secretary general of the federation, hoped that they will stop the work abstention soon. Dhaka University, the premium educational institution in the country which always remains abuzz with activities, had a thin presence of students  yesterday and most of the classrooms remained locked. As the course final exams were out of the purview of the strike, some semester final exams were held at DU. "Teachers all over the country are observing the work stoppage spontaneously. But we want to go back to our classrooms soon through a fruitful solution, “ said Prof Farid Uddin Ahmed, president of FBUTA. When questioned if this will create session jam, he replied, “This might cause session jam and hamper student’s academic lives, but we know better how to eradicate the plague”. “That is why we urge the government to take prompt action to smoothen students’ regular academic activities.” he added. Teachers of public universities have been protesting against the 8th pay scale since May last year, pressing for a four-point charter of demands including the formation of a commission to initiate an independent pay scale for the public university teachers.