CU Correspondent :
Chittagong University (CU) students fear that they would face a long session jam due to ongoing demonstration of the teachers over the pay scale this year.
The Federation of Bangladesh University Teachers’ Association (FBUTA), a central organisation of university teachers, on January 3 announced to launch an indefinite strike today demanding a revision of the pay scale and restoration of selection grade and time scale benefits.
However, the Chittagong University Teachers Association (Cuta) started the demonstration nine days earlier.
Over the last one week, no classes were held during the period of strike except for the scheduled examinations and inevitable administrative activities.
All academic and administrative activities will remain halted from today until their demand is met, said General Secretary of Cuta Kazi SM Khasrul Alam Kuddusi.
Mehedi Hasan, a student of accounting and information system, said, “My friends in other departments have already graduated but I am still in the fourth year.
If the strike continues, it may take two more years for me to graduate.” “A supplementary examination is scheduled for January 13. If it is not held due to the strike, publication of our results will linger and hence completion of the course,” said Syed Mohon Uddin, a second-year student of communication and journalism.
Many students expressed similar anxiety over the likelihood of a session jam, saying they are already struggling to recover the time lost during the countrywide blockade enforced by the BNP-led alliance in the first three months last year.
The university, where 24,000 students study, remained closed for 223 days last year on different occasions including the three-month blockade. Due to that students of 25 departments including Bangla, economics, finance, math, statistics and physics are facing session jams, sources said.
According to the CU holiday schedule, it will remain closed for 104 days this year. Cuta President Prof Abul Manchur said they enforced a complete shutdown as the status of teachers had been degraded in the pay scale.
He said teachers also know about students’ plight, adding that they would try to recover the loss by delivering make-up classes once their demand is met.
