He said this while speaking as a special guest at a conference organized by the Teachers-Employees United Alliance at the Engineers Institution auditorium in Ramna of the capital on Thursday morning.
Mir Shahe Alam said, in the interest of improving teachers' status and quality of life, the nationalization of private teachers and employees will happen today or tomorrow—it will definitely happen. He advised teachers to place the demand before the government through large-scale peaceful and democratic programs to implement nationalization.
He informed that a special fund of Tk 2,000 crore has been formed to pay allowances to nearly one lakh male and female teachers who will retire from 2022 to 2026. The State Minister also said that an additional Tk 700 to 800 crore is needed annually for nationalization.
Mentioning the initiative to use solar power in educational institutions, he said, there is a plan to provide financial grants for installing solar power panels with a capacity of 5.5 kilowatts on the roof of each institution. With this, besides ensuring power supply, by selling surplus electricity to the national grid, institutions will be able to earn Tk 5,000 to Tk 10,000 per month.
Highlighting the social status of teachers, the State Minister said, teachers are the ones who build the foundation of all professions in society. Everyone must unitedly build resistance against such propaganda that undermines their dignity.
Regarding teachers' participation in local government elections, he said, until private educational institutions are fully nationalized, there is no legal or policy barrier for teachers to participate in local government elections.
BNP Acting Secretary General and Prime Minister's Adviser Advocate Ruhul Kabir Rizvi was present as the chief guest at the conference. Also present were Member of Parliament and teacher leader Principal Md. Selim Bhuiyan, Secretary General of the Teachers-Employees United Alliance Chowdhury Mugis Uddin Mahmud, and Secretary General of Bangladesh Teachers' Association Md. Zakir Hossain, among others.
