Govt education cadre teachers call strike, shout ‘No BCS, No Cadre’ slogan

BCS General Education Association has announced a series of strikes against the government’s plan to give teachers of nationalised colleges the same status and benefits enjoyed by those in the education cadre.

The teachers, who joined government colleges after passing the BCS exams, declared the protest programmes at a rally for ‘No BCS, No Cadre’ demand at the Central Shaheed Minar in Dhaka on Friday.

According to the announcement, the teachers will enforce the strike in the government colleges on Nov 26 and 27, and then on Jan 6, 7 and 8.

The Association’s General Secretary Md Shahedul Khabir Chowdhury, addressing the rally, threatened a nonstop strike if the government continues with the plan to give teachers of the nationalised colleges the same status and facilities enjoyed by the BCS cadre teachers.

The government is nationalising in phases one high school and one college in every Upazila, where there is no government high school or college.

The speakers at the rally demanded the government either scrap its scheme to nationalise 325 private high schools and 315 private colleges or implement a different pay scale for them.

Khabir said the teachers of these colleges were already identifying themselves as members of BCS education cadre.