M M Jasim :
The assistant teachers of primary schools are going to get promotion soon which was withheld for about 12 years. The Primary and Mass Education Ministry has already started the process in this regard, the ministry sources said.
Joint-Secretary of Primary and Mass Education Ministry Santhosh Kumar Odhikari said, the promotion process has already started. The promotion was kept in abeyance due to legal complicacy, he said.
“The headmasters of primary school are getting second class status. However, the Public Service Commission’s (PSC) direction is necessary in this regard. The government appointed headmasters from among the teachers directly. Now the PSC will do that work,” Santhosh Kumar Odhikari said.
There are no headmasters in 8,000 old schools across the country. The assistant teachers are performing their duties as the acting headmasters. As a result, the schools face difficulties. The government appointed assistant teachers as the headmasters in the past depriving the senior teachers.
The teachers alleged that the Primary Education Department of Primary and Mass Education Ministry felt little for them and stood silently. So, the teachers lodged cases in the court as they had no other way.
Primary and Mass Education Ministry sources said the government made 26,193 registered schools to government primary schools in
three phases in 2013. There are 63,863 government primary schools in the country. But there are no headmasters in 8,000 old schools out of 37,670 and the posts have been remaining vacant for about 12 years.
Government Primary School Teachers Association President Md Awal Talukder said the primary teachers had been suffering tremendously due to apathy of the Primary and Mass Education Ministry. The stoppage of promotion hampered immensely in the academic activities as the teachers were frustrated.
