Assistant teachers call mass rally for Aug 30 to push for better pay, promotions

An alliance of the assistant teacher groups says the rally will be held at the Central Shaheed

Assistant teachers in government primary schools have announced a grand rally in Dhaka to press for reforms in pay grades and promotions.

On Monday, the Prathomik Sohokari Shikkhok Oikya Parishad, an alliance of assistant teacher groups, said the rally will be held on Aug 30 at the Central Shaheed Minar.

The teachers want their entry-level salary set at the 11th grade, resolution of complications in receiving higher grades after 10 and 16 years of service, and full promotion opportunities to head teacher posts.

Md Anisur Rahman, president of the Bangladesh Primary Assistant Teacher Society, said a work abstention campaign in May was suspended after ministry officials promised action, but no progress has been made.

“That’s why we have called the rally. We expect it to be the biggest in Bangladesh’s history on these demands,” he said.

There are more than 65,000 government primary schools in Bangladesh, with around 384,000 teachers.

In April, the Ministry of Primary and Mass Education moved to upgrade head teachers’ pay, shifting them from the 11th to the 10th grade, and from the 13th to the 12th grade.

Head teachers welcomed the move and demanded that all of them receive 10th grade salaries retroactively from 2014. Assistant teachers, however, rejected the plan, insisting instead that their own entry-level pay be set at the 11th grade.

On Jul 28, the Finance Division approved the ministry’s proposal to raise the salaries of 65,502 head teacher posts to the 10th grade.