Staff Reporter :
A section of teachers, who were appointed in a World Bank-run government project, declared to go on indefinite hunger strike from today (Tuesday) for making their jobs permanent.
They announced it from a sit-in programme held in front of the Jatiya Press Club on Monday morning.
Several hundred teachers from different educational institutions attended the programme under the banner of Bangladesh ACT Association.
A total of 5,200 men and women were recruited as additional class teachers (ACT) under the project titled Education Quality and Access Enhancement Project” (SEQAEP). The contract expired in December last year.
“The government assured us of making our jobs permanent after the project ended. They even took our documents in August and we were said that we would get a reply within a week,” Koushik Chandra Bormon, President of Bangladesh Additional Class Teachers’ Association said.
But the teachers have yet to receive any call, Bormon said. The teachers demanded a government gazette notification on making their
jobs permanent, he said.
Many of the teachers have crossed the age limit for government jobs and they did not switch to other jobs on getting assurance from the higher authorities, Bormon said.
“Seeing no other option, we have taken to the streets today,” he said.
The additional class teachers (ACT) were appointed under the project on a temporary basis to teach English, Mathmatics and Science subjects at secondary level in 2015, as students’ results in these subjects in public examinations were poor. They were teaching along with the regular teachers of the institutions.
The contract ended in December last year, and the ACTs are not receiving salaries from the government any more. However, many of the teachers received a small honorarium from the institution since the project ended.
On May 14, the teachers organised a press conference under the banner of Bangladesh ACT Association to voice their concerns and place demands to make their job permanent.
A section of teachers, who were appointed in a World Bank-run government project, declared to go on indefinite hunger strike from today (Tuesday) for making their jobs permanent.
They announced it from a sit-in programme held in front of the Jatiya Press Club on Monday morning.
Several hundred teachers from different educational institutions attended the programme under the banner of Bangladesh ACT Association.
A total of 5,200 men and women were recruited as additional class teachers (ACT) under the project titled Education Quality and Access Enhancement Project” (SEQAEP). The contract expired in December last year.
“The government assured us of making our jobs permanent after the project ended. They even took our documents in August and we were said that we would get a reply within a week,” Koushik Chandra Bormon, President of Bangladesh Additional Class Teachers’ Association said.
But the teachers have yet to receive any call, Bormon said. The teachers demanded a government gazette notification on making their
jobs permanent, he said.
Many of the teachers have crossed the age limit for government jobs and they did not switch to other jobs on getting assurance from the higher authorities, Bormon said.
“Seeing no other option, we have taken to the streets today,” he said.
The additional class teachers (ACT) were appointed under the project on a temporary basis to teach English, Mathmatics and Science subjects at secondary level in 2015, as students’ results in these subjects in public examinations were poor. They were teaching along with the regular teachers of the institutions.
The contract ended in December last year, and the ACTs are not receiving salaries from the government any more. However, many of the teachers received a small honorarium from the institution since the project ended.
On May 14, the teachers organised a press conference under the banner of Bangladesh ACT Association to voice their concerns and place demands to make their job permanent.
