Primary teachers post, pay upgraded

The post of public primary school headmaster have been upgraded from third to second class.

The salary scale for assistant teachers was also in for a raise.

The teachers will enjoy the upgrades immediately (from Mar 9), said the Ministry of Primary and Mass Education in an order issued on Sunday.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina announced the decision while inaugurating the national primary education week in the morning.

More than 60,000 headmasters of government primary schools are set to benefit from the upgrade in post and pay.

Basic pay of trained headmasters now stands at Tk 6,400 -- an increase of Tk 900 -- while those not trained will get a basic salary of Tk 5,900 instead of previous Tk 5,200.

Trained assistant teachers, who used to get Tk 4,900, will now receive Tk 5,200 (grade-14) due to the raise.

Those not trained will be given Tk 4,900 (grade-15) against their previous pay of Tk 4,700.

There are more than 350,000 assistant teachers in primary schools across the country.

The Ministry of Public Administration on Nov 26, 2013 approved the move to increase pay scales and grades of primary school teaching posts.

The proposal was approved by Secretaries' committee on administrative reform.

“I know about the problems teachers face. We have taken some initiatives to solve them,” the prime minister said before she announced the decision.

The teachers present received the upgrade with applause.

“This is the step we are taking for now. I want to do more. For that, we need a stronger economy,” she said.

The upgrade is also meant to attract educated men and women to teaching, she added.