On the third consecutive day of their protest at Dhaka’s central Shaheed Minar, MPO-listed teachers and staff of private educational institutions have set a 4 PM deadline for the fulfillment of their demands.
If their demands are not met by then, they have warned of launching a long march toward the Secretariat.
The protestors, campaigning for three key demands, rejected a proposal for dialogue from the Education Adviser.
However, at the request of Hasnat Abdullah, chief organizer of the National Citizens Party (NCP) South Zone, they agreed to postpone their long march until 4 PM today.
Delwar Hossain Azizi, Secretary of the “MPO-Listed Education Nationalization Alliance,” said that the administration has indicated that it will meet their demands, but issuing the official notification will take some time. “We cannot withdraw the long march unless the official notification is issued,” he added.
The protestors’ three demands include:
A 20% increase in base salary (minimum BDT 3,000),
Medical allowance of BDT 1,500 for both teachers and staff,
Festival allowance of 75% for staff.
The demonstration drew thousands of teachers and staff to Shaheed Minar this morning. Sudas Chandra Das, a college teacher from Khulna participating in the protest, said, “Teachers work honestly and contribute diligently, but their salaries are insufficient to run their households. It is impossible to teach properly on an empty stomach. The government must meet these reasonable demands.”
Police officials, including DC Masud Alam from Ramna division, visited the protest site around 11:45 AM to request postponing the long march. Following discussions and a call from NCP leader Hasnat Abdullah to Delwar Hossain, the protestors agreed to wait until the 4 PM deadline.
