Two other teachers' organisations also announced to do the same from July 6 and 9.

At a press conference at the National Press Club, Jatiya Shikkhak Karmachari Front led by Principal Kazi Faruk Ahmed declared the indefinite strike in their institutions as part of their month-long series of programmes from July 5.

Their demands include providing 100 per cent basic salary, a 'respectable' amount of house rent, full festival allowances and medical allowances as per the latest pay scale from the national exchequer and withdrawal of the decision of 'stop-payment' of the teachers' salary.

"We will not submit any memorandum to the prime minister, as the government did not pay the least respect to the memorandum written with our blood," Principal Kazi Faruk Ahmed said at the press conference.

On July 5, the teachers and staff will observe daylong strike at their institutions across the country and express condemnation of the 2001 election manifesto of the ruling BNP by putting cross mark on the lines relating to the commitment of meeting their demands.

They will seek opinion from the legislators regarding their demands within seven days from July 7-10, make correspondence with the teachers' organisations of other countries and bring the matter of 'repression' on teachers to the notice of International Labour Organisation and Unesco from July 9 to15.

Their programmes include demonstration in upazila and district headquarters on July 12, laying siege to the offices of upazila nirbahi officers and deputy commissioners on July 18 and 20, one-hour sit-in at district towns on July 24 and holding a 'national rally' in Dhaka between July 27 to 30.

Degree of agitation on the streets will cross all the previous records if the government does not meet our demands before July 8, Kazi Faruk Ahmed said.

Among others, Bangladesh Teachers Association President Muhammad Azizul Islam, General Secretary Prof Asadul Huq, and Bangladesh Technical College Teachers Association President SMA Jalil were present at the conference.

Another organisation of non-government teachers and staff under the banner of Shikkhak-Karmachari Oikya Jote led by Selim Bhuiyan who announced indefinite strike from July 6 to realise their ten-point demand observed one-hour work abstention yesterday.

Prof M Shariful Islam-led Shikkhak-Karmachari Oikya Jote, another organisation of non-government teachers and staff, yesterday decided to observe two-hour work abstention on July 8 and indefinite strike from July 9 to press home their demand for providing 100 per cent salary and other allowances from the government.