The government has upgraded the post of public primary school headmasters to second class. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina made the announcement at the inauguration of the national primary education week in Dhaka. There are nearly 60,000 primary school headmasters in Bangladesh. Basic pay of trained teachers will stand at Tk 6,400 — an increase of Tk 900 — while those not trained will get a basic salary of Tk 5,900 instead of previous Tk 5,200. “I know about the problems teachers face. We have taken some initiatives to solve them,” the prime minister said in her speech. “We have upgraded the post of public school headmaster from third to second class.” Her announcement was received with applause from the teachers present. “You are the makers of Sonar Bangla, so please try your best so we can take Bangladesh forward.’ Ministry officials said that the move to upgrade pay for assistant teachers was in its final stage but the prime minister did not mention it during her speech on Sunday. “This is the step we are taking for now. I want to do more. For that, we need a stronger economy,” she said. The upgrade is also meant to attract educated men and women to teaching, she added. Trained assistant teachers, who now get Tk 4,900, will receive Tk 5,200 (grade-14) once their pay is upgraded and untrained assistant teachers will receive Tk 4,900 (grade-15) against their present pay of Tk 4,700. There are more than 350,000 assistant teachers in primary schools across Bangladesh. The Ministry of Public Administration on Nov 26, 2013 approved the move to increase pay scales and grades of primary school teaching posts. The proposal was approved by Secretaries’ committee on administrative reform. – bdnews24.com
