Primary school teachers across the country have issued an October 13 ultimatum to the government for the fulfilment of their 11-point demand.
Bangladesh Primary Teachers’ Association issued the ultimatum from a rally and hunger strike programme held at the Central Shaheed Minar in the capital on Friday morning.
The teachers warned of waging tougher agitation programmes including demonstrations and the boycott of examinations, if the government failed to publish a gazette notification to facilitate their demands by the mentioned date.
The agitating teachers have long been battling for implementation of an 11-point demand that includes the recognition of primary school headmasters as second-class government officers, a separate pay scale for assistant teachers, a hassle free process for promoting assistant teachers to headmasters, and the immediate payment of due salaries and bonuses.
President of the faction of the association Md Nuruzzaman Ansari said although the process to meet their demands began in 2006, they were still unimplemented.
“The main obstacle that stood in the way of achieving our rights is the ministry of public administration itself. The ministry officials had objected our demands even a few days back,” he said.
A number of primary school teachers took part in the rally amid the rain and drizzle.
Earlier on October 1, another faction of the association staged a rally and hunger-strike to press home the same demands. That faction, against the backdrop of the government’s assurance, served a October 6 ultimatum.
