Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will sit on Monday with public university teachers who are protesting against what they call ‘discrepancies’ in the Eighth National Pay Scale in a bid to break the deadlock.The prime minister will host the leaders of the organisations of professionals in ‘Pitha Utsab’ (cake festival) at the Ganabhaban at 4:30pm on Monday.She will meet the teachers after the festival, Prof Farid Uddin Ahmed, President of the Federation of Bangladesh University Teachers’ Associations (FBUTA), told bdnews24.com on Sunday.He said Dhaka University Teachers’ Association leaders will join the FBUTA Executive Council members in the meeting.The federation submitted some proposals to the education ministry over their demands earlier in the day, Prof Ahmed said.The teachers have been on an indefinite strike from Jan 11, crippling all 37 public universities throughout the country.They had started the movement about nine months ago when the draft pay scale proposed to abolish selection grade and time-scale.The teachers claim it had lowered their status.Facing protests, the government formed a committee to look into the teachers’ demands.The committee head, Finance Minister AMA Muhith, had promised to meet their demands but the pay scale gazette published on Dec 15 did not reflect his pledges, the teachers say.
The previous pay scale kept an option for the professors to get paid in grade one, under which the secretaries are paid.The current pay scale puts secretaries on grade one and stipulates two other grades above it—one for the cabinet secretary and the principal secretary. The other grade is for senior secretaries.In the new pay scale, professors have been put in grade three, with no option to get promoted.Prof Ahmed had earlier said there has to be a provision by which 25 percent of the professors can be elevated to grade one.He had on several occasions said a meeting with the prime minister will thrash out a solution.The teachers said they had sent a number of letters to her but received no response.Prof Ahmed alleged the secretaries stopped the letters from reaching the prime minister.
source:bdnews24.com
