MPO teachers' protests hold firm on day 9, several fall ill during hunger strike
Hundreds of teachers and employees from various districts across the country have poured into the Central Shaheed Minar area since this morning to join the rally and strike
Teachers of MPO-listed non-government educational institutions entered the ninth consecutive day of their agitations today (20 October), staging a fast-unto-death and rally at the Central Shaheed Minar after rejecting the government's newly announced basic salary's 5% in house rent allowance.
The demonstration intensified as several teachers collapsed due to the heat while participating in the hunger strike.
We have reports of at least four teachers falling ill so far due to the intense heat
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Mohammad Ali Mondal, a teacher from Abdul Hai Akbar Ali Khan High School in Gaibandha, lost consciousness and was rushed to the Dhaka University Medical Centre around noon.
Delwar Hossain Azizi, member secretary of the Alliance for Nationalisation of MPO Institutions, also fell ill during the protest.
"We have reports of at least four teachers falling ill so far due to the intense heat," said Faiz Ahmed, one of the coordinators of the demonstrations.
The protesters categorically rejected the Ministry of Finance's notification, issued yesterday (19 October), which set the house rent allowance to 5% of the basic salary (minimum Tk2,000), which they called an "injustice".
The teachers remain firm on their three core demands: increasing the house rent allowance to 20%, providing a full festival allowance (instead of the current partial amount), and increasing the medical allowance to Tk1,500.
"The government's 5% house rent notification is an injustice to teachers. We will not leave until all three of our demands are implemented," affirmed Azizi.
Meanwhile, hundreds of teachers and employees from various districts across the country have poured into the Central Shaheed Minar area since this morning to join the rally and strike.
They also issued a response to the education adviser's calls yesterday for them to return to classes.
"We want to tell the education adviser that teachers will not return to the classroom. Either our demands must be accepted, or he will have to leave the ministry," said protest leader Azizi.
The ongoing work stoppage has now kept over 30,000 private secondary and higher secondary educational institutions closed for nine days.
Meanwhile, BNP Joint Secretary General Shahid Uddin Chowdhury Annie is currently at the Central Shaheed Minar to express solidarity with teachers' demands.
Yesterday, BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir had assured that BNP will give priority to the nationalisation of MPO-listed educational institutions if it returns to power in the next election.
He gave the assurance during a meeting with the protest leaders at the BNP Chairperson's office in Gulshan.
Following that, the protesters held a massive "hunger march" with empty plates, which was eventually halted by a heavy deployment of police and BGB personnel near the High Court area.
