Unpaid pvt university teachers in a tight spot

All educational institutions in the country have remained closed since March 17 to contain the spread of Covid-19. As the situation shows no signs of relenting, the government has now extended the closure till May 16 .

Amidst this virtual lockdown, almost all private sector industries are bearing the brunt of a faltering economy, and private universities are no different.

As the shutdown continues, many private universities are failing to pay faculty and staff their salaries, both fully and partially. This is pushing university employees and their families into great economic and psychological distress.

"I am not sure what is waiting for us in the future. I did not get paid for two months [March and April]. I have already started borrowing from my well-wishers and friends. But they can only help me for so long," a teacher of University of Development Alternative (UODA) told The Daily Star recently, preferring not to be named.

"If this continues, I will be left with no option but to leave the profession," he added.

During March and April, several universities have reportedly paid half or less than half of teachers' and staff's salaries, while several others have not made any payments yet. Talking to this correspondent, authority figures of several universities confirmed this.

University authorities say the complication is arising from their failure to collect tuition fees from students.

UODA registrar Dr Iffat Quaes Chowdhury said they cannot pay everyone's salaries as students cannot be reached for semester fees due to the closure of their campuses.

"We will try to clear all dues before Eid-ul-Fitr (expected to be observed on May 24 or 25)," he assured.

Similar sentiments were echoed all across the board.

Metropolitan University, Sylhet pro-VC Prof Shiba Prasad Sen confirmed that they have not paid salaries for March and April but all dues will be cleared within this month.

Cox's Bazar International University trustee board secretary Mujibur Rahman said salaries of March have been deposited to the bank (as of this report's filing) and it will be disbursed soon.

Stamford University treasurer Lutfor Rahman said 30 percent of March's salaries have been paid, although all payments for April are outstanding,

Asked if the university can pay the staff from savings, Lutfor said they do not have any savings due not having as many students as it used to.

Sylhet International University VC Prof Shahid Ullah Talukder said they have given festival allowance for Eid-ul-Fitr, equivalent to a month's basic salary.

"We cannot pay the salaries for April. We know many families are in hardship, and we are trying our best," he said.

Daffodil International University paid 50-70 percent salaries for March. They are yet to pay salaries for April, pro-vice chancellor SM Mahbub Ul Haque Majumder said.

Unlike Stamford, the number of students at Daffodil is increasing every year. Asked why the university is still failing to pay salaries, the Pro-VC said they are facing the crunch due to several development projects they have undertaken, like permanent campus, hostels and state-of-the-art laboratory facilities.

Meanwhile, American International University Bangladesh (AIUB) has paid half of the salaries for April. AIUB pro-VC Tofazzal Hossain said the rest will be paid soon.

Association of Private Universities of Bangladesh (APUB) chairman Sheikh Kabir Hossain, also chairman of Board of Trustees of Fareast International University, said his university could not arrange for full salaries in March and have not paid anything for April so far.

"Taking the realities into consideration, we have sought incentives from the government," he added.

On April 27, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said all educational institutions may stay closed until September if the situation does not improve.

There are 105 government approved universities in the country, of them 96 are carrying out academic activities right now. According to the latest (2018) University Grants Commission (UGC) annual report, there were some 3,62,000 students in these universities, along with about 16,000 full-time and part-time teachers and 12,960 staff members.

These universities are not providing salaries, although the education ministry and UGC after a meeting on April 30 asked all private universities to pay salaries to the teachers and staff regularly.

Among others Education Minister Dipu Moni, UGC top officials, vice-chancellors of several public and private universities and leaders of Association of Private Universities of Bangladesh (APUB) attended the meeting.

Private universities have sought a stimulus package from the government so that they can pay salaries to teachers and staff for at least six months. APUB sent a letter to the UGC in this regard on April 29. The association promised to repay the amount in installments over three years when the situation stabilises.

At least two teachers proposed that the government can allow private universities to use their reserve fund deposited to bank in line with law for six months. The government can set a condition that the amount they are withdrawing from reserve fund will be repaid within a year of normalcy.

According to Private University Act 2010, each private university in Dhaka and Chattogram has a reserve fund of Tk 5 crore, private universities in other metropolitan cities have reserve fund of Tk 3 crore each and universities established in other places have reserve fund of Tk 1.5 crore.

UGC Private University Division Director Fakhrul Islam said the universities cannot use the reserve fund without an approval from UGC.

Asked, UGC Chairman Prof Kazi Shahidullah appealed all private universities to pay the salaries. "If they send us any proposal of using reserve fund for paying salaries and repaying it later, we will sit and study their proposal to come up with a solution in this regard," he told this newspaper.