A total of 1,977 positions for headmasters in government-run primary schools in six districts of Barisal have remained unfilled for long, which has greatly hampered education.
Barisal primary education office sources said around one-third of the 6,168 government primary schools in the division are operating without head teachers.
The government has worked to develop school infrastructures every year but failed to fill the posts timely, said Masud Ahmed, president of Babuganj Upazila Government Primary School Teachers Association.
He said there was no system to monitor the state of primary education either.
“The fact that such a large number of posts for headmasters have remained unoccupied for long has not only caused the quality of primary education to fall but has also led to a variety of administrative problems,” said Jahanara Begum, a primary school teacher in Kedarpur under Babuganj upazila.
“Every government-run primary school should have four teachers. If a crucial post like the one for the headmaster remains vacant for long, it will certainly create academic and administrative problems,” said Mahbub E Elahi, deputy director at the Barisal divisional office of the Directorate of Primary Education.
“The posts of headmasters fell vacant for a number of reasons such as resignation, retirement, transfer and death,” he explained.
Mahbub said this is a common problem across the country and is particularly acute in primary schools located in remote areas. “The authorities have assured us of addressing the problem. They said the vacant posts would be filled soon.”
The Directorate of Primary Education official said the government has upgraded the post of the primary school headmaster to the second class category and the procedure to select 20,000 primary school head teachers would be initiated soon.
