Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has
urged public university teachers to go back in classes, assuring to meet their
demands.
The prime minister said this
during a meeting with the delegation of Federation of Bangladesh University
Teachers Association (FBUTA) who called on her on January 18, 2016.
The PM's meeting with the FBUTA
delegation, led by its president Professor Farid Uddin Ahmed, began at
Ganabhaban after Maghrib prayers. After the meeting, PM's press secretary
Ehsanul Karim said, PM assured the delegation to create a way of upgrading the
scale of the university teachers from Grade-3 to Grade-1.
Maksud Kamal, a member of
delegation, said PM called us to talk about the problem. We discussed about
different matters. She urged us to go back in class. We will decide about going
back to class after a meeting on January 19, 2016. We will return in classes as
soon as possible.
Principal Secretary to the Prime
Minister's Office M. Abul Kalam Azad and Senior Secretary of the Finance
Division Mahbub Ahmed were present at the meeting. Earlier on January 17, 2016
(Sunday), the Prime Minister's Office invited the teachers to have tea at the
Prime Minister's official residence.
On January 11, teachers of the
country's 37 public universities went on an indefinite strike protesting what
they said discrimination against them in the 8th national pay scale. Public
university teachers have been on protests since the 8th National Pay Scale was
announced on May 14 last year, pressing for a four-point demand that includes
the formation of a commission to initiate an independent pay scale for them.
