Teachers are the mirror of a nation and the central force in shaping future generations. Therefore, it is natural for them to remain aware of the political direction of the country, and inevitably, as human beings, they will hold political beliefs.
The critical question is: How acceptable is active political involvement in the workplace of an educational institution? Making students politically conscious is important, but skipping classes to join rallies and meetings is unacceptable.
In rural areas, many teachers serve as associates of politicians and, in return for political patronage, secure jobs without accountability, even if they neglect their duties.
A background paper for the Education Commission found that teachers, politicians, and government officials often become mutually dependent, weakening accountability and reducing educational standards. Improving the quality of education, therefore, requires attention not only to teachers but also to the politics of education itself.
Teacher politics
Globally, teachers are not merely passive implementers of policy but central political actors. Research shows that teacher political engagement operates at multiple levels. In South Asia, teachers are among the most powerful political forces due to strong unions and associations.
A report prepared for the Education Commission demonstrates that such unions actively lobby for higher salaries and job security, use strikes and demonstrations as bargaining tools, and sometimes influence state politics, as in Uttar Pradesh, where teachers even hold constitutional representation.
Even in the absence of formal unions, teachers exert influence through everyday micro-politics. A study published in the Journal of Education Policy shows that teachers raise classroom experiences to policymakers, collectively ignore or bypass official policies until legalized, or openly resist reforms by refusing cooperation or publicly criticizing initiatives.
Political ideology in teacher training
Evidence from Germany provides a crucial comparative perspective. An article published in the European Journal of Political Economy shows that individuals who self-select into teacher training programs already tend to have more left-leaning political orientations compared to other university students.
Teacher training further reinforces these ideological preferences through peer influence and exposure to professors’ views. As a result, tenured teachers in Germany maintain stronger left-wing orientations than other graduates or civil servants.
Such predispositions have long-term consequences: Teachers influence students’ political attitudes, curriculum interpretation, and classroom dynamics from the very beginning of their careers.
Impacts of teacher politics
The consequences of teacher politicization are multifaceted. Organized teacher mobilization has positive outcomes for teachers’ welfare: Improved salaries, job security, and better working conditions. The Education Commission background paper cites the Sixth Pay Commission in India as an example; similar initiatives were also evident in Pakistan.
Studies published in the Journal of Education Policy and the Education Commission report demonstrate that union resistance to performance-based pay, eligibility tests, and stricter monitoring protects underperforming teachers and obstructs systemic improvements.
In India, union membership has been linked with higher pay but reduced student achievement, while frequent strikes disrupt schooling. Evidence from the World Journal of Education indicates that partisan involvement in Bangladesh diminishes public trust, erodes professionalism, and undermines classroom integrity.
Why teachers become politicized
The roots of teacher politicization lie in both structural and institutional contexts. Education is one of the largest public sector employers, giving teachers strong incentives to mobilize collectively around salaries, promotions, and job security.
In South Asia, teachers are often burdened with non-teaching duties -- election work, census surveys, vaccination campaigns -- which creates frustration and intensifies political engagement.
In Bangladesh, the interplay of party patronage, fear of losing benefits, and financial constraints has created a culture in which even teachers who wish to remain neutral feel compelled to participate in partisan politics.
The German study underscores another dimension: Teachers’ political engagement is not solely reactive to structural incentives but also shaped by ideological formation during training. Some political attitudes precede employment and are reinforced throughout professional development.
Teacher politics in higher education
In higher education, partisan politics among teachers is steadily increasing. Educational standards are deteriorating, social divisions are deepening, and students are deprived of a genuine academic environment.
The 1973 University Ordinance gave teachers the right to democratic participation, but this has often been abused. Decisions are increasingly based on political loyalty rather than merit, creating an environment where opportunists replace principled and competent educators.
The solution is not to ban teachers from politics entirely; rather, political parties must rise above personal interests and give equal importance to merit and ideals. Teachers’ role in national politics should be exercised through thought and scholarship, guiding society rather than engaging in opportunistic struggles.
Restoring educational integrity
Some teachers may be corrupt or unethical, but justice must follow legal procedures. Student misconduct cannot justify collective attacks on the teaching profession. Political appointments and favouritism in private institutions have increased the number of unqualified teachers, harming both education and society.
Today, students are frustrated because the noble profession of teaching has, for many, become a tool of party interests. Partisan involvement pollutes the academic environment, increases corruption and favouritism, and shifts recruitment and promotion criteria from merit to political loyalty. Students demand principled, impartial, and devoted educators -- teachers who are craftsmen of intellect and morality, not representatives of any political party.
Professor Dr Bidhan Ranjan Roy Poddar, Adviser for Primary and Mass Education, once stated that teachers may not engage in politics and that action would be taken according to regulations.
Yet teachers also have the right to practice just and positive politics; denying this right entirely would be unjust. Bangladesh’s universities were once centres of knowledge, free thought, and social change.
Looking forward
Taken together, research and local evidence show that teacher politics is both inevitable and impactful. Collective engagement through unions improves teacher welfare, while micro-politics allows teachers to influence policy even without formal representation.
Ideological predispositions formed during teacher training further shape professional behaviour, proving that political engagement is both structurally induced and socially reinforced.
However, excessive politicization harms education quality, student learning, and professional integrity. The challenge is to create systems of constructive engagement where teachers’ political energy is harnessed for reform, not self-interest; where merit and ideals guide recruitment, promotion, and evaluation; and where the noble role of teachers as guides of knowledge, ethics, and civic values is restored.
Teachers should remain politically-conscious, but their primary battlefield must always be the classroom, the library, and the pursuit of truth -- not party lines.
Nafew Sajed Joy is a Bangladeshi researcher, writer, and environmentalist. He holds Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Social Sciences from the University of Dhaka.
