Bishwajit Biswas, a teacher from Lahuria Dinnath Para in Narail, taught at a high school as a part-time teacher with a salary of Tk4,000. The rest of his family expenses were covered by home tutoring earnings.
It has been five months since schools shut down in the district. Now Bishwajit is a salesman at the local market earning Tk2,000 a month which isn’t nearly enough to sustain his family.
Bishwajit Biswas said: “I used to earn my living teaching, which is not possible anymore in this pandemic. Won’t the government do anything for us?
Around a thousand teachers at Narail’s private educational institutes, including primary schools, kindergartens and madrasas, are going without pay for the last five months of the coronavirus pandemic, forcing many to switch professions.
Management committees of many of these educational institutions are struggling to pay rent and utility bills during the closure for lack of funds.
Already, some private schools have closed down in this precarious situation while many others are considering shutting down, putting the academic future of thousands of students at risk.
Teachers and staff of many educational institutions say they did not receive any humanitarian assistance from the government since the beginning of the virus outbreak in March.
According to the district education office, there are 765 teachers and staff at 63 kindergartens where 7,427 students are enrolled. Another 5,000 students are enrolled at 24 Ebtedayee madrasas and seven non-MPO primary schools, where almost 300 teachers and staff are employed. There are also at least another 1,000 teachers who taught at schools part-time and home tutored students before the pandemic.
On March 16, the government closed down all educational institutions to prevent the spread of coronavirus. On August 27, the government extended the shutdown till October 3.
Due to the pandemic, the only income source for teachers and staff has dried up as many educational institutions across the country are closed.
Although these schools play a vital role in primary level education, this pandemic has left its teachers in dire straits.
Samiul Alam Zihad, vice-president of Narail District Kindergarten Association, said teachers and staff of schools have been living in dire conditions for the last five months. “We’ve submitted a memorandum to the Prime Minister on July 8 seeking assistance, but no response has come from there yet.”
Md Aslam Khan, general secretary of the association and headmaster of Narail Holy Child Pre-Cadet and High School, said academic activities of the school have remained suspended since the government announced the closure of educational institutions.
“Subsequently, we failed to provide teacher’s salaries, forcing many of us to change professions. Now we’re forced to relocate, failing to pay the rent. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has been helping out so many across the country but now is she turning a blind eye to us teachers?” he said.
Narail Deputy Commissioner Anjuman Ara said: “We currently don’t have any government funding to provide assistance to teachers who are facing much hardship during the ongoing pandemic. The best I can do is help them out personally but there aren’t any opportunities available from the government.”
