Teachers belonging to the BCS general education cadre began a two-day work abstention yesterday protesting a government move to provide teachers of newly nationalised non-government colleges the same status and benefits as theirs.

No classes and examinations were being held at any of the 333 government colleges while the official activities were also disrupted following the protest, Prof IK Selim Ullah Khondaker, president of BCS General Education Association, told The Daily Star.

Yesterday's exams at the National University and at the seven colleges affiliated to Dhaka University were postponed due to the abstention, he said.

"We have come to our respective workplaces, but refrained from working. We have the slogan -- No BCS, no Cadre," said the association president.

Besides, the officials of the National Curriculum and Textbook Board, the Directorate of Secondary and Higher Education, different education boards and Government Alia Madrasa, belonging to the BCS general education cadre, are also observing the work abstention, he added.

The government is nationalising, in phases, one high school and one college in every upazila which has no government high schools or colleges. It has already announced nationalisation of 283 colleges.

Teachers of these colleges have already been listed under the BSC cadre. The government has not decided on their status.

But the General Education Association has been protesting the plan that will eventually nationalise 325 private high schools and 315 private colleges. They called on the government to come up with a specific set of rules for integrating the teachers of those colleges into the workforce.

There are more than 15,000 teachers in different government colleges under the general education cadre.