Government primary school teachers have threatened to go on an indefinite hunger strike at the Central Shaheed Minar from September 26 if their three-point demands are not met through the direct intervention of the chief adviser by September 25.
The announcement came on Saturday at a grand rally organized by the Bangladesh Primary Assistant Teachers’ Organization Unity Council at the Shaheed Minar premises in Dhaka. The rally, presided over by Munir Hossain, ran from 10am to 3pm.
Mohammad Shamsuddin Masud, president of the Bangladesh Primary School Assistant Teachers’ Association, said the teachers were making a humble appeal to the government to end discrimination by reducing the salary gap between head and assistant teachers and fixing assistant teachers’ entry-level pay at grade 11.
He warned that if the demands were ignored, the organization would launch an indefinite hunger strike.
Teachers also pressed their second demand to fill 32,000 vacant head teacher posts through 100% promotion. They noted that promotions have been stalled since 2009. While some acting promotions were given in 2017–18, most have not been regularized, leaving thousands of teachers retiring without ever being promoted.
The third demand centres on promotions. Teachers argued that the upgraded pay scales for 10-year and 16-year service are being treated as higher grades, depriving them of legitimate higher-grade benefits. They said service after September 2, 2020, is not being counted toward higher-grade promotions, calling it a violation of fundamental rights.
Background of the dispute
Teacher leaders said primary teachers’ salaries were upgraded in 2014, but a three-tier disparity was created between head teachers and assistants. Although this gap was reduced by one tier in 2020, assistant teachers remain at grade 13 while head teachers are at grade 10.
Assistant teachers stressed that until August 2006, they were placed just one grade below head teachers. The introduction of a two-tier gap in that year prompted them to form a separate association and launch movements that continue to this day.
The three-point demands
- Fix assistant teachers’ entry-level pay at grade 11.
- Fill all vacant head teacher positions through promotion.
- Do not treat 10- and 16-year upgraded scales as higher grades for promotion purposes.