Pry school ‘Asst Teacher’ posts rebranded as ‘Teacher’

Staff Reporter :

In a move to modernise the primary education framework, the government has dropped the long-used designation of “assistant teacher” for public primary schools and replaced it with the simpler title of “teacher.”

A recent order, signed by Md Shamsul Arif, deputy secretary of the Ministry of Primary and Mass Education, confirmed that the new titles were approved based on recommendations from a Directorate of Primary Education coordination meeting held in May.

This change affects more than 362,000 teaching posts across the country. Entry-level educators in government primary schools will now hold the title “teacher,” with scope for promotion to “senior teacher” as they gain experience.

According to ministry officials, the updated titles align better with the actual duties carried out by teachers and field officers, removing outdated wording and making the roles clearer and more relevant.

In addition to this change, the ministry has also renamed four other administrative roles to better match their responsibilities. The position of “assistant district primary education officer” will now be known as “additional district primary education officer.

“The “accounts officer” post becomes “finance officer,” “assistant monitoring officer” will be retitled “administrative officer,” and teachers working at model schools will now be called “assistant instructors (model schools)” instead of “teachers (model schools).”

These revisions are particularly notable for the 335 government model schools nationwide, where teaching staff will officially adopt the new title.

Officials say the previous titles, often burdened with the word “assistant,” created confusion and overlap in duties, especially at local levels. By streamlining the designations, the ministry aims to better define responsibilities and recognise the full contributions of educators and education officers.

A senior official described the change as a small but significant part of broader institutional reforms.

“This is not just about renaming posts,” the official said. “It’s about raising the profile of our teachers and boosting administrative clarity and efficiency across the primary education system.”