The government has decided to replace the word “punishment” in the title of the schedule of the proposed education law with a word “respectable” for teachers.
Education Minister Nurul Islam Nahid Sunday said teachers were respectable people and the word “punishment” was “not respectable for them.”
Teachers have been agitating against a disciplinary action proposed in the Education Bill 2013, which states that teachers will be sentenced to three months’ imprisonment or fined Tk10,000 or both for corporal punishment in schools.
Nahid, however, said teachers would face “stern” action for absenting classes and torturing students.
The education minister was speaking to journalists at his secretariat office after receiving a set of recommendations from the NGO Campaign for Popular Education (Campe) on the proposed law.
Campe recommended that the law should bring teachers to “accountability” instead of punishing them.
The other recommendations include considering the law from rights perspective, emphasising inclusive education for all including indigenous people, and clustering the education administration.
Campe Executive Director Rasheda K Choudhury said they welcomed the law as she believed that was the first step towards ensuring education rights. She expressed hope that the recommendations would be included in the bill.
The education minister said he expected the law to be placed in parliament in the upcoming session.
Earlier on September 3, the parliamentary standing committee on education ministry suggested that the ministry consult all stakeholders opposing the provisions for imprisonment of teachers and owners of educational institutions guilty of unlawful activities related to education.
The committee asked the ministry to prepare a fresh draft of the education law within 15 days.