2 college teachers suspended for comment on PPE shortage
The authorities have suspended two government college teachers for their ‘unexpected’ and ‘inciting’ facebook posts on the shortage of personal protective equipment for the physicians in the prevailing coronavirus (COVID-19) situation.
The suspended teachers are Shahadat Ullah Kayser, lecturer of Barisal Government Women’s College and Kazi Zakia Ferdousi, assistant professor of Gafargaon Government College, Mymensingh.
The Secondary and Higher Education Division on Wednesday suspended the teachers and served show cause notices on them to explain their act in seven working days.
On March 21, the teachers posted two posts on their own Facebook profiles criticising non-availability of PPEs for physicians while in some places administration cadre officials were using those in their routine work.
One of the posts said that the physicians should get protection at first and the government should combat the situation with its bureaucrats.
Two orders signed by the division secretary Mahbub Hossain said that all the ministries, departments and agencies of the government were currently working together to control coronavirus.
In this situation these two posts were ‘unwanted’ and ‘inciting’ which were also not consistent with the government’s ongoing coordinated activities.
These posts went against the Government Servants (Discipline and Appeal) Rules, 2018, the orders said.
The teachers were also served show cause notices to explain in next seven working days why the authorities would not start taking departmental actions against them as per the 2018 rules.
Shahadat Ullah Kayser told New Age on Friday that he posted an ‘status’ to create awareness on Facebook.
‘I’ve only wrote that the doctors need protection,’ he said. He later deleted the post.
Mahbub Hossain, secretary of Secondary and Higher Education Division, said that after the 10-day holiday between March 26 and April 4 the teachers would get seven working days to explain their position. (Source: New Age)
