Primary teachers to hold mass rally on Saturday to resolve pay disparity, political leaders to join

After a long-standing movement, assistant teachers of government primary schools have called for a mass rally demanding three points including pay disparity and higher grades. Lakhs of teachers from all over the country are expected to attend the program to be held at the Central Shaheed Minar in Dhaka on Saturday morning.

Teacher leaders said that BNP Organizing Secretary Principal Selim Bhuiyan, Jamaat Teachers Federation Secretary General ABM Fazlul Karim, NCP's Hannan Masud, Ganaodhikar Parishad VP Nurul Haque Nur, Gana Sanghati Andolan's Jonayed Saki and Nagorik Oikya's Mahmudur Rahman Manna will be present at the rally. Although BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir has been invited, a party representative will participate due to his busy schedule.

The assistant teachers' organization Oikya Parishad said that although the movement was suspended with the assurance of fulfilling the demands, it has not been implemented even after three months. Therefore, they are being forced to take to the streets again.

The teachers' demands are - payment of salary and allowances to entry-level assistant teachers in the 11th grade, ensuring 100% promotion, and resolving the complications of obtaining higher grades on completion of 10 and 16 years.

Currently, about four and a half lakh teachers are working in more than 65,000 government primary schools in the country. Among them, head teachers get a salary in the 10th grade, and assistant teachers get a salary in the 13th grade.