Education Mohibul Hassan Chowdhoury on Monday agreed with the protesting teachers on excluding the public university teachers, officers and employees from the new universal pension scheme Prattay, said protesting teachers’ leaders.
The minister, along with former education minister and chairman of parliamentary standing committee on education ministry Nurul Islam Nahid and prime minister’s education and cultural affairs adviser Kamal Abdul Naser Chowdhury, met the leaders of the Federation of Bangladesh University Teachers Association at the ministry conference room at the secretariat on the day.
Federation president professor Md Akhtarul Islam confirmed ¶¶Òõ¾«Æ· that all three present in the meeting reached a consensus on their demand of excluding them from this scheme entirely.
‘It is not a decision but the meeting was held in a very welcoming atmosphere which made us hopeful,’ he said adding that more discussions would be held on their all three demands.Â
The meeting was held after a month since the public university teachers under the banner of the federation had started an indefinite work abstention programme by boycotting classes and examinations since July 1, the day the Prattay pension scheme came into effect, demanding its cancellation.
The federation leaders deemed the scheme discriminatory and went on a strike for an indefinite period pressing for three demands, including the inclusion of public university teachers in the super grade, under which senior secretaries are paid, and the establishment of an independent pay structure for public university teachers.
Administrative activities also came to a halt as the general staff of these universities joined the strike with the same demand for the cancellation of the pension scheme.
Currently, the country’s education is in a standstill situation following the countrywide quota reform protests that turned violent.
On July 16, the University Grants Commission requested all public and private universities to remain closed and vacate student residential halls until further notice.
On Monday, before the meeting, the education minister said that this meeting was the beginning of the discussion while the decision on the teachers’ demands rested on different authorities.
Replying to a question, he also said that there was no suitable atmosphere for reopening educational institutions right now.
A gazette notification issued on March 14 mandated that all officials and employees joining state-owned autonomous and semi-autonomous bodies from July 1, 2024, must be included in the new pension instrument introduced by the National Pension Authority.
Rejecting the gazette, the Federation of Bangladesh University Teachers Association went for protests for the past three months.
Federation leaders alleged that they rejected the new scheme as the meritorious students would feel discouraged from taking teaching as a profession.
They termed the new pension scheme as a conspiracy to destroy the education system.
On July 13, ruling Awami League general secretary and road transport and bridges minister Obaidul Quader met the teachers’ leaders and urged them to call off their strike, promising to later consider their demands.
He added that teachers would be included in the pension scheme from July 2025.
The teachers’ leaders at that time said that their primary demand was to exclude them from this scheme entirely, rather than deferring the inclusion process.
Of the 55 public universities in the country, 35 are represented by the teachers’ federation as they have vice-chancellors and other key officials, according to the federation leaders.
Dhaka University, Jahangirnagar University, Jagannath University, Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University, Rajshahi University, Rajshahi University of Engineering and Technology, Islamic University in Kushtia, Chittagong University, Chittagong University of Engineering and Technology, Shahjalal University of Science and Technology, Khulna University of Engineering and Technology, and Chittagong Veterinary and Animal Science University are among these 35 universities.