The assistant teachers’ key demands include: Salary upgrade to the 10th grade, Resolution of higher-grade issues for teachers completing 10 and 16 years of service, and Ensuring 100% departmental promotions.
Organizations under the Demand Implementation Council include the Bangladesh Primary Teachers Association (Qasem-Shahin), Bangladesh Primary School Assistant Teachers Association, Bangladesh Primary Teachers Association (Shahin-Lipi), and the Assistant Teachers 10th Grade Implementation Council, along with several other primary teacher groups.
On Friday (November 7), Khairun Nahar Lipi, General Secretary of the Bangladesh Primary Teachers Association (Shahin-Lipi), said that around 20,000 teachers would gather at the Shaheed Minar on Saturday to demand their rightful salary scale, higher grades, and promotions. She affirmed that the protest would continue until their demands are fulfilled.
“Officials have repeatedly called for discussions, but we no longer want to hear explanations. We’ve told them our stories many times, yet nothing has changed. This time, we’ll return home only after achieving our demands through street protests,” Lipi said.
She noted that there are currently 384,000 teachers working in 65,567 government primary schools across the country. The Ministry of Primary and Mass Education had earlier, on April 24, issued an order upgrading the salaries of head teachers from the 11th to the 10th grade and from the 13th to the 12th grade. However, assistant teachers remain dissatisfied, as their salaries were left unchanged.
Highlighting disparities, Lipi said that administrative officers with bachelor’s or equivalent degrees receive 10th-grade pay, while nurses with HSC and nursing diplomas, deputy assistant agricultural officers with SSC and agricultural diplomas, and police sub-inspectors also enjoy the same grade. Even assistant teachers in government secondary schools receive 10th-grade pay.
“In contrast, assistant teachers in government primary schools, despite having bachelor’s degrees or equivalent qualifications and completing CNAD, BPAD, or BTPT training, are still paid in the 13th grade. Teachers at PTI-affiliated schools already receive 10th-grade salaries. Hence, we are launching this sit-in to demand justice and equal pay,” she added.
Talukder Pias, a leader representing new teachers, said, “Primary assistant teachers have long been deprived of their fair rights. Primary education is the foundation of the nation, and primary teachers play a crucial role in shaping the future citizens of Bangladesh.”
Meanwhile, another faction of teachers under the Primary Assistant Teachers’ Organization Oikya Parishad has given the government until November 15 to resolve the issues related to salaries, higher grades, and promotions.
If their demands are not met, the group announced a series of protest programs half-day strikes on November 23 and 24, full-day strikes on November 25 and 26, and a sit-in in front of the Directorate of Primary Education on November 27.
They also warned that if no visible progress is made, they will boycott exams and begin a hunger strike unto death from December 11.
