Staff Reporter :
Assistant teachers from government primary schools across the country are set to begin a continuous sit-in demonstration at the Central Shaheed Minar in Dhaka from Saturday, demanding an upgrade of their salary to the 10th grade and other service-related benefits.
The programme is being organised under the banner of the Prathomik Shikkhok Dabi Bastobayan Parishad, a coalition of four teachers’ associations, with participation from newly appointed teachers as well.
Their three-point demand includes upgrading assistant teachers’ pay scale to the 10th grade, resolving complexities surrounding higher-grade benefits after 10 and 16 years of service, and ensuring 100 percent departmental promotion.
The participating organisations are the Bangladesh Primary Teachers Association (Kashem-Shahin), Bangladesh Primary School Assistant Teachers Association, Bangladesh Primary Teachers Association (Shahin-Lipi), and the Assistant Teachers 10th Grade Implementation Council.
Teachers recruited in the third phase from Dhaka and Chattogram divisions have also expressed solidarity with the movement. Khairun Nahar Lipi, general secretary of the Bangladesh Primary Teachers Association (Shahin-Lipi), said around 20,000 teachers are expected to join the sit-in on Saturday.
“We have discussed our issues with the authorities many times, but no progress has been made.
This time, we will remain on the streets until our demands are fulfilled,” she said.
According to the Directorate of Primary Education (DPE), there are currently 65,567 government primary schools in the country employing about 384,000 teachers.
Earlier in April, the Ministry of Primary and Mass Education upgraded headteachers’ pay scale from the 11th to the 10th grade, and assistant teachers’ from the 13th to the 12th grade.
However, assistant teachers expressed dissatisfaction, demanding parity with other professions that require similar or even lower qualifications but receive higher pay grades.
“Administrative officers, nurses, sub-inspectors of police, and secondary school assistant teachers — all receive 10th-grade salaries with equivalent or lesser qualifications. We deserve the same,” Lipi added.
Echoing the sentiment, Talukder Piyas, a representative of newly appointed teachers from Dhaka and Chattogram, said, “Primary teachers are the foundation of the nation’s education system.
Ensuring fair pay and dignity for them is essential to improve the quality of education. The 10th-grade demand is both logical and justified.”
Meanwhile, another platform — the Prathomik Shohayok Shikkhok Songothon Oikya Parishad — has given the government until 15 November to accept their demands, including upgrading salaries to the 11th grade and providing higher-grade promotion benefits.
Failing that, they have announced a series of protest programmes: half-day work stoppages on 23–24 November, full-day abstentions on 25–26 November, a sit-in at the Directorate of Primary Education on 27 November, and an indefinite hunger strike from 11 December.
