New Age | Teachers at state universities continue strike for three days

On Tuesday, teachers at various public universities in the country resumed their half-day abstention from work as part of a three-day protest, demanding the cancellation of the general pension scheme notification for them, saying it was discriminatory.

The strike is expected to last until tomorrow.

Examinations and emergency activities are exempt from this strike.

Teachers have threatened to stop working altogether at the country’s public universities from July 1 if the regulation is not withdrawn by June 30.

On June 30, teachers are scheduled to have a full day off work.

New Age correspondents at various public universities and in different districts confirmed that teachers kept their planned abstention from work with demands for the abolition of the general pension scheme, retention of the existing pension scheme and introduction of a separate salary structure for teachers with professional benefits.

Previously, the Ministry of Finance had stated in a notification on March 13 that all civil servants and employees who enter the service of autonomous, self-governing, nationalized, statutory or similar organizations and their subordinate institutions on or after July 1, 2024, would be included in the general pension system.

Soon after the announcement, teachers at state universities began protesting and stayed away from work for half of the day for the first half of this month.

A correspondent from Dhaka University reported that the leaders of the Dhaka University Teachers’ Association and the Federation of University Teachers’ Associations of Bangladesh took up positions in front of the main gate of the university’s Faculty of Humanities on Tuesday.

DUTA Chairman Professor Md Nizamul Hoque Bhuiyan said they would stay away from work for a whole day on June 30.

He added that if their demands were not met by June 30, they would have to stay away from work completely from July 1.

A Jahangirnagar University correspondent reported that teachers under the banner of JU Teachers’ Association staged a sit-in in front of the university’s Faculty of Social Sciences demanding the reinstatement of the existing pension scheme.

JUTA Secretary General Professor Shahed Rana said the scheduled exams would be held during the three-day half-day work layoff.

JUTA President Professor Motahar Hossain warned against stopping planned exams after June 1.

Teachers at Jagannath University and Khulna University of Engineering and Technology also confirmed that teachers at these and other public universities had taken half a day off work.

United News of Bangladesh reported that teachers at Bangladesh Agricultural University stayed away from work for half a day on the day, the first working day after the 12-day Eid holiday.

According to a statement by the General Secretary of the Teachers’ Union, Professor Tanvir Rahman, teachers will also stay away from work from 8:00 am to 1:00 pm on June 26 and 27.