Isn't there any alternative to boycotting classes?

Boycotting classes at a time when public universities have just struggled out of the immense session jam and just back into the soothing academic calendar is perhaps the worst decision by our respected teachers protesting the current move of the government to reinforce the new "Universal Pension Scheme (UPS)".

I am from a teacher's family. My father had been in the teaching profession for forty-seven years till his last physical capacity of conducting a class. Three of our five brothers are teachers and two of them are the universities the other was the headmaster of a local school. So, I know exactly the struggle that our teachers have to face just to maintain a decent  livelihood, given the fact that they are the most meritorious segment of the entire population. My youngest brother is a professor now in a public university who holds the position of the head of the department and dean of the business faculty. I found him so shocked following such an important decision taken by the government without prior discussion with the teacher's community. The current agitation and boycotting of classes, which we discussed this morning and agreed has a deeper root of conspiracy against our entire education system. Many nations who apparently seem like our bosom friends do not want to see our genius boys' graduate from our public universities serving not only our nation but also holding leading positions at the global level of various capacities. 

Always government has to face immense pressure and criticism for politicising educational institutions across all levels and patronising the teachers, especially the public universities where the pro-government teachers lead the university teachers association. Such an intellect and powerful platform of teachers are now dominated by the pro-government teacher leaders. But why being so closed to the power grid the teachers have to choose the wrong path of agitation by boycotting the classes when the worst impact of such boycott has to be refurbished by themselves alone – no one else will come to help to take extra classes or other efforts to finish the syllabus in time and help the students ready for the examination. Most importantly the students who have just started their classes after the Eid-Ul-Adha vacation will be demotivated and those awaiting the examinations will fall into pray – many of them will be derailed and get involved with unhealthy practices that will end up with unexpected circumstances, and many of them will fail to appear in the upcoming civil services examination. No one has the sole right to play the game with the future of the students even of the most respected teachers.

UPS, as it was conceptualised at the formulation stages, has changed the characteristics of "universality" undermining the spirit of our constitution that no discrimination can be made while enacting any policy and creating facilities for the citizens rather it is the responsibility of the government to ensure that state facilities should be made equitable to all citizens. The Government's attempt to create opportunity for a segment of cadres serving the nation and provisioning unequal treatment to another segment who are equally even more important for building the nation's future also does not conform to the spirit of the global goals of "leaving no one behind".

Sudden changes in the pension scheme has created frustration among teachers of the public universities whose contribution to the nation is immense and has nuclear contribution in shaping public confidence in the government.  An initiative that was initially applauded by all concerned has suddenly taken U-turn leaving the most important stakeholders frustrated should not be welcomed.

The Government's decision leads towards a system in which the employee contributes to the pension funds, but such an initiative should be well managed so that the plan does not turn into a losing concern. Government spending on pension and gratuities was Tk 4,395 crore in fiscal year 2009-10, which was only 4.3 percent of the budget. But the proposed budget for the 2024-25 fiscal year has allocated Tk 36,902 crore, which is 4.63 percent of the total budget. This is a positive sign but there should be no discrimination and division in the pension of public servants. Under the new scheme, new teachers and staffers of public universities would enjoy fewer benefits than they would have under the current one which may discourage the brightest students not to choose teaching as a profession. Experts raised doubt about ill motivation behind such discriminatory policy initiatives by the government where teachers were being downgraded from other government officials, which is just unacceptable. The Government's assumption of not being able to bear the growing pension costs is just unacceptable given the fact a huge amount of state money is being misused by business tycoons in an illegal and unplanned way where the government is not taking any effective exemplary actions but in case of teachers, who are engaged in building nation's driving forces such lame excuse of financial incapacity does not reflect the far-sightedness of the government.

UPS was mainly aimed at bringing the growing elderly population of the country under a well-organised social safety net and providing them with a monthly stipend to support their daily expenses. I was seriously listening to the arguments made by the General Secretary of Dhaka University Teachers Association, Dr. Zeenat Huda who is the Professor and Chairperson of the department of sociology, which I found very logical when she was appealing to the government to review the decision – otherwise in future talented individuals will not be attracted to teach in the universities. Such a policy decision will have a longer impact and will not be conducive to realising the nation's dream of becoming "Smart Bangladesh" by 2040.  However, the decision taken by the Federation of the Bangladesh University Teacher's Association to boycott classes should be withdrawn at the earliest possible time and resuming classes so that students will not suffer anymore. Boycotting of classes as the symbol of  agitation by the teachers do not conform to their commitment to bringing the government's agenda forward fulfilling the nation's desire to become a developed country by 2024.

On the contrary, current agitation by the teachers which has been echoed by the recent student movement for assuring the Quota system might sabotage the integrity of the government actions delaying the development process. The movement of boycotting classes might fuel the agitation of the university students and turmoil may turn worse at any point in time that may not remain within the control of the teacher's leadership. So first of all the teachers should find a peaceful passage to raise their voices to the government and engage in dialogues and before that they should immediately resume classes and bring the students into the classroom. The teachers should find an alternative way of boycotting the classes.

Sadrul Hasan Mazumder. Photo: Courtesy

Sadrul Hasan Mazumder in a policy and development activist and can be reached at [email protected]

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions and views of The Business Standard.