Univ teachers' strike to be off till Feb 23

Public university teachers yesterday extended the pause of their indefinite work stoppage over "discrepancies" in the new pay scale until February 23.

Prof ASM Maksud Kamal, secretary general of Federation of Bangladesh University Teachers Association (FBUTA), made the announcement at a press briefing following a general meeting of FBUTA at teacher's club of Dhaka University.

"We'll sit on that day [February 23] to assess the development. Then we will decide our next course of action if our demands are not met," he told reporters.

"We are heading towards a respectable solution, but it depends on the bureaucrats,” he added.

Teachers of all 37 public universities, who have been agitating since May last year over “pay discrepancies”, went on a seven-day strike on January 11. On January 20, they suspended their strike until February 3 after getting assurance from the prime minister.

Prof Maksud said they had held meetings with four government secretaries and officials of University Grants Commission (UGC) twice to resolve the issue.

"We hope a solution will be reached soon as the prime minister is well aware of the situation,” said Prof Maksud who teaches disaster science and management at DU.

Prof Farid Uddin Ahmed, president of FBUTA, said they would continue to hold meetings with the government high-ups until February 23.

A meeting would be held between UGC Chairman Prof Abdul Mannan and education and finance secretaries on February 7, he said.

"… as some secretaries are trying to foil the attempt to meet our demands, we're worried," said Prof Farid.

The teachers suggested that 25 percent professors should be given grade-I status and 5 percent distinguished professors' salaries and status should be equivalent to senior secretaries.