MPO-listed teachers’ class boycott from today

MPO-listed secondary and higher secondary teachers from private educational institutions yesterday declared that they would again boycott classes, this time for three days, starting today.

On Sunday, the agitating teachers, demonstrating for nationalisation of all private secondary and higher secondary educational institutions, observed a class boycott. 

“We had to take this decision as there's been no response [in this regard] from neither the prime minister nor the ministry concerned,” said GM Shawon, joint convener of Besarkari Shikkha Jatiyakaran Liaison Forum, the platform under which six organisations of teachers and employees of MPO-listed private educational institutions have been staging demonstrations.

The teachers have been on an indefinite hunger strike since January 15 at the capital's Jatiya Press Club where they first started their demonstration on January 10 through a sit-in protest.

“We get basic salary like other government educational institutions. But we don't get other facilities such as increments and Baishakhi allowances,” said Shawon, the forum's joint convener.

“In other countries, teachers are given the highest priority in the society and they are provided with good amount of salary and facilities so they can teach students with full attention,” he said, adding that their financial hardship forces them to look for substitute sources of income such as tutoring privately or setting up coaching centres.

Explaining the rationale for their movement, a number of agitating teachers said if all their institutions were nationalised, the government could earn approximately Tk 121.97 crore each month from student tuition fees.

This could be achieved if a student's monthly tuition fee is increased from Tk 15 to Tk 75. Moreover, the government could also earn around Tk 30 crore a year from the income generated from various properties of the institutions including ponds, markets and land, they also said.

As of yesterday, a total of 103 teachers fell ill and 35 of them were hospitalised since they started their hunger strike.

Meanwhile, several hundred teachers of non-government primary schools under the  banner of Besarkari Prathomik Shikkhak Samity have been continuing their sit-in protest and “symbolic hunger strike” that they started on Sunday in front of Jatiya Press Club demanding nationalisation of their institutions as well.

According to the agitating primary teachers, the government already nationalised 26,193 primary schools that were established before May 9 of 2012 following the announcement in this regard by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on January 9, 2013.

But, around 4,000 primary educational institutions were not included in the third phase of the nationalisation process despite fulfilling the prerequisites for the process, said Mamunur Rashid, president of the platform.

"Committees were formed at district and upazila levels to recommend primary schools that were suitable to be nationalised. Unfortunately, though our institutions met all the criteria, we were left out," he alleged.

Mamunur also said their schools operate like any other government primary schools and their students participate in Primary Education Completion Examination every year. Yet they are excluded from the nationalisation process.