‘Use reserve funds to pay our salaries’

Some 829 public and private university teachers yesterday in a joint statement said private university authorities can pay salaries to their teachers and staff using their reserve funds.

According to Private University Act 2010, it is mandatory for each private university to have a reserve fund. They can use that fund to bear expenses in times of crisis, said the statement signed by Kamrul Hassan Khan, chief coordinator of Bangladesh Biswabidyalaya Shikkhak Forum, an association of public and private university teachers.

They urged the education ministry and University Grants Commission (UGC) to resolve the issue by sitting with university trustee boards as soon as possible, the statement said.

According to the law, each private university in Dhaka and Chattogram has a reserve fund of Tk 5 crore, each university in other metropolitan cities has Tk 3 crore, and each university in other places has Tk 1.5 crore.

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

Asked, UGC Chairperson Prof Kazi Shahidullah appealed to all private universities to pay salaries. "If they send us proposals for using the funds and repaying the amount later, we will study their proposal to come up with a solution," he told this newspaper.

Kamrul said many private universities are failing to pay salaries, both fully and partially. "This is inhumane and unprecedented."

"Our private universities are more like industries, and this is not at all a sign of a healthy nation," Kamrul told The Daily Star.

To contain coronavirus spread, all educational institutions have been closed since March 17. The number of infections is still rising, showing no sign of slowing down. As a result, the government extended the closure till May 16.