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DEMAND FOR NATIONALISATION

‘Now we’ll go back to classes’
Teachers withdraw strike following meeting with govt high-ups
STAFF CORRESPONDENT
After 22 days of continuous sit-in, secondary school teachers called-off their programme yesterday night following a meeting with former cabinet secretary Kabir Bin Anwar and Deputy Minister for Education Mohibul Hasan Chowdhury.
Sheikh Kawsar Ahmed, general secretary of Bangladesh Teachers’ Association, told journalists last night they will be included in the two committees that would be formed regarding nationalisation of their educational institutions.
The prime minister will take the final decision regarding their salaries and eliminating the discriminations they face, he added.
“So, we have decided to withdraw our agitation. Now we will go back to class,” he added.
Earlier in the day, the teachers started a fast unto death programme in front of the Jatiya Press Club in Dhaka, demanding nationalisation of their educational institutions.
Hundreds of teachers started the strike around 10:00am.
Earlier, they had earlier threatened hunger strike if they were not allowed to meet Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina by July 31.
While visiting the spot, this correspondent saw teachers shouting slogans wearing shrouds (a white cloth in which a body is wrapped for burial) around their bodies to press home their demands.
Attending the movement, Dilip Adhikary, 45, a teacher from Kotalipara, Gopalganj, expressed his concerns about the challenges faced by teachers due to their low salaries.
“We can’t sustain our daily expenses with such a small salary at the end of the month. While we do receive respect in our society, respect alone cannot fulfil our needs,” he told this newspaper.
“In these times of soaring prices of essentials, we need the nationalisation of our institutions to safeguard the dignity of teachers and support our families,” he added.
Another teacher, Md Morad of Bogura, said, “We are frustrated at the government’s silence on teachers’ demands.”
“The Directorate Of Secondary & Higher Education failed us, even the education minister did the same. Now, we want to meet the PM to hear our demands,” he added. “Then we want to go back to classrooms as soon as possible,” Morad said.
Sheikh Kawsar Ahmed, general secretary of Bangladesh Teachers’ Association, said, “We want to have at least a five-minute meeting with the PM. Until then, we will continue the hunger strike, even if it leads to death,” he added.
Teachers have been on a sit-in protest since July 11 in front of the press club. They have already had two meetings -- one with the DSHE and another with Education Minister Dipu Moni -- to resolve the matter.
Dipu Moni, in a meeting with the teachers, said nationalising private educational institutions before the upcoming parliamentary elections would not be possible. She, however, declared the formation of two committees to look into the issue.
But the teachers termed the meetings “unfruitful” and continued their agitation demanding to meet the PM.
They said entry-level teachers in private schools receive a basic salary of Tk 12,500 with an additional Tk 1,000 as rent, Tk 500 as medical allowance, and 25 percent of their basic salary as festival bonuses.
Meanwhile, teachers at government schools get Tk 16,000 as basic, 45 percent of this as house rent and a medical allowance of Tk 1,500 per month.