What can half-fed teachers teach their students?

Non-government secondary school teachers did not respond to the call made by education minister Dipu Moni. They said, "We will only go home after our demands are met." To teachers, 'home' means the classroom.

The teachers have been on strike since 11 July. Hundreds of teachers from all over the country have come to Dhaka and are staging a sit-in in front of the National Press Club in the burning heat of the sun. While officials of the education directorate are comfortably ensconced in the air-conditioned offices, the non-government secondary school teachers sit on the roads, being bitten by mosquitoes.

Time and again teachers have to launch into a movement to materialise their demands. It is not just primary, secondary and college teachers, but university teachers too who took up a movement to change their gradation. This makes the government's attitude towards the teachers very clear.

Non-government secondary school teachers have demanded that secondary education be nationalised. They have called for equity in wages and allowances. There are three categories of secondary schools at present -- government schools, MPO-enlisted non-government, and non-MPO schools.

Government and non-government school teachers teach the same curriculum to the students of the same classes. But their wages, allowances, benefits and facilities are not the same. The teachers of non-government MPO-enlisted schools get the entire basic salary. Previously they would get 70 to 80 per cent of the basic. But there is a huge gap when it comes to house rent, medical allowance and festival allowance.

Government teachers get 45 to 50 per cent of their basic salary as house rent. And MPO-enlisted teachers get only Tk 1000. Government teachers' festival allowance is same as their basic pay. Non-government teachers get only 25 per cent. They get only Tk 500 medical allowance. If teachers are not paid proper salaries and allowance, you cannot expect them to teach well.

Education minister Dipu Moni on 19 July spoke to the protesting teachers and leaders of other teacher organisations about the movement. The teachers demanded that secondary schools be nationalised. The minister, however, said there was no scope to take such a decision. Even before the 2018 election, the teachers had been told that the issue of nationalisation would be duly considered.

It was decided to form two committees to examine the justification of nationalising the schools and also the overall quality improvement of the teachers. After the committees submit their reports, the next course of action will be decided upon.

Dipu Moni said, it will be possible to form the two committees by the end of August. Why will it take one and a half months to form two committees, that too, not to meet the teachers' demands, but just to look into the demands? Why should that take more than a week? As long as the teachers continue in their movement, the students will continue to be deprived of their studies.

The directorate of second and higher education and the madrasa education directorate issued a warning to the teachers about this movement. The directorates in separate notices directed the teachers to regularly attend their classes. And the secondary and higher education directorate instructed the school governing bodies and local administration to check which teachers remained absent.

Does the government imagine that the teachers can be admonished and brought back home? They have been provoked by the directives of the directorate. Bangladesh Teachers Association (BTA) leaders have said until the nationalisation of the education institutions is announced, they will remain steadfast in their movement.          

In January 2018 too, non-government secondary school teachers had gone on a hunger strike, demanding that the schools be nationalised. They had formed a Nationalisation Liaison Forum. The government then assured them of an annual 5 per cent salary increase and full festival bonus.

A leader of the teachers' association told me that they were no satisfied with the discussions with the education minister. They also spoke to an advisor of the prime minister and Awami League education affairs secretary. He said, "Now that the teachers have launched a movement, they will not return home empty-handed."

Why will the teachers who are meant to be in the classrooms, be under the open sky, burnt in the sun, drenched in the rain? The students are facing the most losses. As it is, Covid put a dent in their education and they fell back in their studies. Educationists had recommended extra classes so they could make up for lost lessons. But now they are not even getting their regular classes. The government is not bothered.

There is a sort of chaos in the education sector. The government is opening one public university after the other, but overlooking primary and secondary education. The Kudrat-e-Khuda education commission and the 2019 education policy recommended that primary education be taken up to Class 8. The government did nothing about this in the last 10 years. They didn't even come up with the law that was supposed to be made to implement the education policy.

A recent study of a government institution reveals the state of primary education, with the primary level remaining up till Class 5. The government claims that the country's literacy rate is 74 per cent. That means these persons can all read and write. But according to Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS), 63 per cent of the people are capable to reading, writing and communicating. Have the remaining 11 per cent studied for five years simply to be able to sign their names? The government takes credit in providing primacy education for all, free of cost. But a large chunk of primary education has gone to the non-government sector. Instead of a uniform education system, four education systems are in place.

Many may question the justification of the teachers' demands to nationalise secondary education and the government's capability in this regard. But it must be admitted that the teachers' demand for an increase in salary and allowances is absolutely justified. The funds required by the government to nationalise secondary education, is not more than what is needed to set up universities in every district.

Just as the allocation for education in Bangladesh is lowest among South Asian countries, so are a teacher's wages and allowances. A university lecturer's basic pay is Tk 22,000, an assistant professor gets Tk 35,500 and a professor Tk 64,600. In India, an assistant professor gets 55,000 taka, an associate professor 90,000 and a professor 110,000. Teachers' salaries in Bangladesh are comparatively low.

A developed country requires a developed education. And for a developed education system, skilled and meritorious teachers are required. It will not be possible to get such teachers unless they are paid well. Nobel prize-winning economist Amartya Sen once wrote that 'our students learn their multiplication tables on half-empty stomachs'. But teachers can't teach them on half-empty stomachs.

* Sohrab Hassan is joint editor, Prothom Alo, and a poet. He can be reached at sohrabhassan55@gmail.com