Staff Reporter :The public university teachers continued their strike for third consecutive day on Wednesday against what they call the ‘pay disparity’.Classes in all 37 public universities in the country remained suspended, as the teachers did not attend. Vowing to continue the strike, the Federation of Bangladesh University Teachers Association (FBUTA) said that returning to the classrooms would depend on the government’s positive response. “If the government meets our demands, we will go back to the classes. So the ball is now in the government’s court”, said FBUTA President Prof Farid Uddin Ahmed. The FBUTA was briefing reporters on Dhaka University campus on Wednesday. Prof Farid said that they were ready for discussion with the government but they were not getting any effective response from the authorities. Asked whether they were making the students hostage, he rejected the blame and held the government responsible for the dislocation of academic activities. “We don’t want to continue our movement harming the students. We want to go back to our classes,” he said. FBUTA Secretary General Prof Maksud Kamal said that they believe the problem will be solved soon if the Prime Minister sits with them. Chittagong University Teachers’ Association (CUTA) President Prof Abul Mansur said that they have been demonstrating not only for hiking their salaries, but they are fighting to protect their prestige. The teachers said that the latest pay scale for civil servants was discriminatory to the teachers and Bangladesh Bank officials. So, the university teachers have been protesting against the new pay scale since the government announced the 8th National Pay Scale. The teachers sat in discussion with the Education Minister several times, but to no avail.On Wednesday, some exams were taken in some universities but no classes were held.Earlier on Tuesday, the agitating teachers had urged the PM to sit with them, even if only briefly. “We are urging the PM to hold a 10-minute meeting with us in order to resolve the crisis,” said Prof Farid.Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Monday criticised the teachers for boycotting the classes. The teachers called for the indefinite demanding the formation of a commission to initiate an independent pay scale for them.The other demands are to remove gap of salary and allowance between senior professors and senior secretaries, and between professors and secretaries; upgrading the status of teachers in the warrant of precedence; and the provision of cars and other allowances for teachers similar to provisions given to senior bureaucrats.
