Published :
Updated :
For all latest news, follow The Financial Express Google News channel.
As part of their “uninterrupted sit-in” demanding 20 per cent of their basic salary as housing allowance, MPO-affiliated teachers and employees have gathered at the Central Shaheed Minar for a third consecutive day.
They will march from Shaheed Minar to the Secretariat around 12 pm on Tuesday as part of their “March to Secretariat” programme, reports bdnews24.com.
The teachers and employees have been staging their protest under the banner of the MPO-affiliated Education Nationalisation Alliance.
Meanwhile, like-minded teachers and employees across the country have gone on strike at their respective educational institutions.
During the morning sit-in, the alliance’s member secretary, Principal Delwar Hossain Azizi, said: “We will observe the March to Secretariat programme in the afternoon. We will not leave the streets until a notification is issued setting the housing allowance for teachers and employees at 20 percent of the basic salary, the medical allowance for teachers and employees under MPO at Tk 1,500 and the festival allowance for employees under MPO at 75 percent of their wages.”
On Sunday morning, teachers and employees began a continuous sit-in programme in front of the National Press Club to push for these demands.
At 1:30pm that day, police requested that they move from the Press Club area, after which a section of the protesters decided to continue their sit-in at the Central Shaheed Minar. However, another section of the protesters refused to leave and remained in front of the Press Club.
At around 1:55pm, police again instructed the teachers to vacate the road in front of the Press Club.
When a section of the protesters resisted, police used sound grenades and batons to disperse them. Water cannons were also brought in front of the Press Club.
Following the incident, the alliance announced a nationwide strike at all private educational institutions starting Monday in protest of the police action.
On Sept 30, the government increased the house rent allowance for MPO-registered teachers and employees by Tk 500. When the announcement was made public on Oct 5, teachers rejected it and called for further protests.
The next day, the education ministry sent a proposal to the Finance Division to raise the house rent allowance to at least Tk 2,000 or Tk 3,000.
MPO-listed teachers and employees receive their salaries according to the national pay scale, along with a monthly medical allowance of Tk 500 and a house rent allowance that was recently raised from Tk 1,000 to Tk 1,500.
They also receive two festival allowances a year. After an increase in May last year, both teachers and employees now receive the allowance at the rate of 50 percent of their basic salary.