Teachers strike enters day 5
Staff Correspondent
Government primary schools and community primary schools yesterday remained closed across the country for the fourth consecutive day as the teachers continue their indefinite strike despite the prime minister's request to resume work.Under the banner Bangladesh Primary Teachers Association, the government primary school teachers went on an indefinite strike across the country from last Saturday demanding elimination of wage discrimination and introduction of school-based exam system. However, teachers of community primary schools, under the banner Bangladesh Community Primary Teachers Association, are continuing their hunger strike until death in the capital from the same day. They have kept their educational institutions closed. Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, also in charge of the primary and mass education ministry, urged the teachers to return to their schools and give lessons, assuring them of fulfilling their rightful demands in phases. She was addressing the prize distribution and closing ceremony of National Primary Week 2006 at the city's Osmani Memorial Auditorium yesterday. Teachers of both government and community primary schools have vowed to continue their strike saying that the prime minister did not mention the exact date of meeting their demands. "We heard the prime minister on television but we did not get any assurance letters from the ministry," Kazi AK Fazlul Huq, general secretary of Bangladesh Primary Teachers Association, told The Daily Star yesterday evening. He said they held a meeting at Mirpur in the capital with the representatives of schools to scrutinise their future agitation programmes. The government primary school teachers decided they would continue their strike and go on a hunger strike until death from June 24 to force the government to meet their demands. Two factions of Bangladesh Community Primary Teachers Association wearing shrouds continued their hunger strike until death in separate places demanding their five-point demand which includes nationalisation of their jobs. The pro-BNP teachers' association continued to observe their hunger strike at Muktangon while the pro-Awami League teachers' association started their strike at the Central Shaheed Minar on Sunday. Around 65 teachers, 50 pro-Awami League and 15 pro-BNP, had decided to take their lives in protest yesterday but their programme was postponed. "We postponed our suicide programme because around 30 teachers became sick," said Mahabubul Alam, secretary general of the BNP-backed association.
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