Teachers of the colleges and secondary-level schools under the monthly pay order system on Wednesday gave the government ultimatum till September 13 to publish circular meeting their demands for pay hike and the introduction of a general transfer system for all teachers.
They threatened to go for countrywide work abstention in September 14 -16 and a nonstop sit-in in the capital Dhaka from October 12 if their demands are not met.
Their announcement came on the day from a teachers鈥� rally held in front of the National Press Club in the capital, demanding nationalisation of their jobs.
Currently at the entry level, an assistant school teacher under the MPO system gets half amount of the salary compared with what a government school teacher gets at the same level. An entry level assistant school teacher under the MPO system get Tk 1,000 as house rent.
During the rally, one out of two lanes of the road remained closed for vehicular movement causing huge sufferings of people for about three and a half hours.
Under the banner of 鈥楳PO Bhukto Shikkha Jatiyakaran Pratyashi Jot鈥�, the teachers from different districts across the country had started gathering in front of the Press Club since Wednesday morning.
Shahbagh police station officer-in-charge Md Khalid Mansur said that due to the gathering of the teachers, one lane of the Topkhana road was closed for vehicular movement between 11:00am and 2:30pm from the Press Club area to the Kadam Foara crossing.
Vehicles had to move using one lane of the road, he added.
Huge traffic congestion was seen in the area during the programme.聽
At about 1:00pm, a 10-member team of the teachers went to the secretariat to meet education adviser professor Chowdhury Rafiqul Abrar.
At the meeting, the protesting teachers were informed that the ministry had already sent a demi-official letter to the finance ministry to increase the festival allowance for employees from 50 per cent to 75 per cent, the house rent for teachers from Tk 1,000 to Tk 2,000 and the medical allowance for teachers from Tk 500 to Tk 1,000.
Welcoming the increased festival allowance for the employees, the teachers demanded 20 per cent increase in their house rent and Tk 1,500 as medical allowance for them.
The alliance member secretary, principal Delawar Hossain Azizi, told 抖阴精品 the adviser told them to send a formal proposal for their proposals for the house rent and the medical allowance.
After the meeting, the alliance leaders announced their next programmes from the rally in front of the Press Club.
They said that if the government would not meet their demands for pay hike and a general transfer system for all government and non-government teachers by September 13, they would observe a half-day work abstention at all educational institutions under the MPO system, including schools, colleges, madrassahs and technical institutions on September 14.
In September 15-16, they would observe full-day work abstention at all educational institutions under the MPO system.
From October 12 they would start a nonstop sit-in programme in front of the National Press Club in the capital until their demands are met.
On March 5, the then education adviser Wahiduudin Mahmud announced an increase in the festival, medical and recreation allowances and house rent of the teachers from Eid-ul-Azha which was celebrated in June. His announcement came after teachers under the MPO system enforced a strike for 22 days.
Currently, MPO teachers get 25 per cent of their basic salary as festival allowance, Tk 1,000 as house rent and Tk 500 as medical allowance. There are no pension facilities for them.
At the entry level, an assistant teacher under the MPO system gets Tk 12,500 gross salary.
On the other hand, in government schools, an entry-level teacher gets Tk聽23,900 gross salary in the districts except Dhaka and Tk聽24,700 gross salary in Dhaka.聽
They get 16,000 as basic salary, Tk 1,500 as medical allowance, 100 per cent of their basic salary as festival allowance, and 40 to 45 per cent of their basic pay as house rent.
