The movement of MPO-listed teachers to press home their three-point demand, including a 20 per cent rise in house rent allowance, entered the seventh day on Saturday, October 18.
From Friday afternoon, October 17, they began fast-unto-death at the Jatiya Shaheed Minar in Dhaka and today announced to brought out processions with black flags.
"Come with black flags. We will protest through procession with black flags at 12:00 noon against the state's negligence to the teachers," Principal Delwar Hossain Azizi, member secretary of the MPO-affiliated Education Nationalisation Alliance, urged the protesting teachers in a Facebook post this morning.
Earlier, MPO-listed teachers of non-government educational institutions postponed their ‘March to Jamuna’ programme planned for Thursday, October 16, citing 'various reasons, and also threatened to begin fast-unto-death at the Jatiya Shaheed Minar if their demands are not met.
On October 5, the Ministry of Finance issued a notification increasing Tk 500 in house rent allowance for the MPO-listed teachers but teachers refused this and began movement with a three-point demand.
On October 12, the police charged batons on the protesting teachers in front of the Jatiya Press Club.
Since then, teachers from non-government educational institutions under MPO (Monthly Pay Order) scheme across the country have been demonstrating in protest against the attacks and to press for their demands.
The demands are a 20 per cent increase in house rent allowance (minimum Tk 3,000) based on basic salary, Tk 1,500 as medical allowance for both teachers and staff, and 75 per cent of the basic salary as festival allowance for staff.
AAH/MSU