The primary and mass education ministry has sent a proposal to the cabinet division and the finance division to upgrade the pay scale of assistant teachers at government primary schools by two grades to grade 11.
If implemented, the move would require an additional annual expenditure of about Tk 8.32 billion to pay the teachers under the higher grade.
According to ministry sources, the written proposal was recently sent to the Cabinet Division after a similar one had been forwarded to the Finance Division, detailing the estimated financial implications.
Assistant teachers at government primary schools have launched a movement demanding their salaries be upgraded to grade 10.
Responding to a call from the Prathomik Shikhkhok Dabi Bastabayan Parishad (Primary Teachers’ Demand Implementation Council), the teachers have been observing a non-stop sit-in at the Central Shaheed Minar while also abstaining from work at schools.
A large number of teachers from across the country have joined the protest at the Shaheed Minar.
On Saturday, police confronted the demonstrating teachers during their march towards Shahbagh. Police charged batons, fired tear gas and sound grenades, and used water cannons to disperse the protesters, leaving more than a hundred teachers injured.
Their other two demands include full departmental promotion and higher pay grades upon completion of 10 and 16 years of service. Earlier, they had demanded an upgrade of assistant teachers’ pay scale to grade 11 but have shifted their stance.
However, another group of primary teachers has demanded that the assistant teacher position be treated as the starting post, with salaries raised to grade 11, full departmental promotions given to eligible candidates, and complications over higher-grade pay resolved.
Under the banner of the Primary Assistant Teachers’ Unity Council, this group set a deadline of 15 November for the government to meet their demands at a press conference on 1 November. The organisation’s leaders said that if their demands are not met, they will continue with a series of programmes, including boycotting annual and scholarship examinations.
Currently, assistant teachers receive salaries at grade 13 on the national pay scale. Meanwhile, the heads of government primary schools are on grade 11.
Recently, following a long legal battle, the salaries of 45 headteachers who filed writ petitions were upgraded by one grade to grade 10.
As a result, the path has been paved for all headteachers of government primary schools across the country to have salaries at grade 10, and the process has already begun.
At the same time, an effort is underway to raise assistant teachers’ salaries to grade 11, according to sources at the Ministry of Primary and Mass Education.
In its proposal sent to the Cabinet Division on 4 November, the ministry highlighted the teachers’ ongoing protests and mentioned the possibility of discussions with them.
Currently, there are 65,569 government primary schools nationwide, with over 10.06 million students enrolled. The total number of teachers exceeds 374,000, of whom 369,216 are sanctioned assistant teacher posts. At present, 352,208 assistant teachers are in service, leaving 17,008 posts vacant.
The Ministry of Primary and Mass Education’s proposal states that, according to the Government Primary School Teacher Recruitment Rules, assistant teachers must hold a bachelor’s or honours degree—or an equivalent qualification—with at least a second-class result or equivalent CGPA recognised by a university.
Officers in various ministries, divisions, and departments with equivalent qualifications are paid at grade 10. For this reason, assistant teachers have long demanded an upgrade in their salary grade.
The ministry’s written proposal adds that the qualitative and quantitative aspects of assistant teachers’ work in government primary schools have increased significantly compared to before. Moreover, relevant authorities have already agreed to raise the salary grade of headteachers in government primary schools to grade 10. Considering this rationale, it is necessary to upgrade assistant teachers’ salary scale to grade 11.
The cost
The Ministry of Primary and Mass Education says that upgrading the salary grade of currently serving assistant teachers to grade 11 would incur an additional annual cost of about Tk 8.32 billion. If teachers are appointed to the more than 17,000 currently vacant positions in the future, an extra Tk 552 million would be needed. However, the relevant government offices have not yet made any decision on this matter.
Under the national pay scale, the starting basic salary for grade 10 is Tk 16,000. If the salary is upgraded to grade 11, the starting basic salary would be Tk 12,500, while in grade 13, a teacher’s starting basic salary is Tk 11,000. This is in addition to house rent and other allowances.
Regarding assistant teachers’ demand, professor Bidhan Ranjan Roy Poddar, advisor to the Ministry of Primary and Mass Education, said at an event in Khulna on Saturday that a proposal has been sent to the Ministry of Finance to enable assistant teachers to receive grade 11. The new pay commission has also been informed.