Teachers, officials and employees of 55 public universities of the country have started their indefinite
work abstention since Monday (July 1) over pension.
Following their
strike, classes and examinations in those universities have come to a standstill.
Today (Tuesday), they are continuing their work abstention programme for the second consecutive day.
There are more than 16,000 teachers and 34,000 officers and employees in 55 public universities.
As per the reports from different universities, including Dhaka University, Bangladesh University of Engineering (BUET), Jahangirnagar University, Chittagong University, Rajshahi University, Jagannath University, Bangladesh Agricultural University, Khulna University, Shahjalal University of Science and Technology, classes, examinations and academic activities are suspended in these universities. The officers and staff associations of the universities also went on strike in solidarity with the teachers.
The teachers said they are ready to hold dialogue and want to resume classes and exams quickly. But if the demands are not addressed, they will have no choice but to continue the program.
On June 30, the Federation of Bangladesh University Teachers Association announced complete work abstention from July 1 demanding withdrawal of Prottoy Scheme under the Universal Pension Scheme.
The Federation's president Prof Nizamul Haque Bhuiyan said their work abstention will continue until their demand is met.
The teachers are waging the protest in three demands-- withdrawal of universal pension scheme, inclusion of the university teachers in super grade and a separate pay scale for the teachers—while the officials and staff’s only demand is withdrawal of the pension scheme.
TF
