Staff Reporter :
Assistant teachers of government primary schools on Saturday began hunger strike sitting on the Central Shaheed Minar premises of Dhaka city demanding removal of discrimination.
Bangladesh Primary Assistant Teachers Oikya Jote organised the hunger strike programme.
Hundreds of teachers from all over the country took part in the programme starting from 10am of the day with Pledge to continue their movement till it is realised.
Iqbal Hossain (Azad), Assistant Teacher of Char Kukri Mukri Government Primary School, said, “The remaining salary structure of the assistant primary school teachers is ‘disrespectful. Headmasters are in the 11th grade of the 8th National Pay Scale, while assistant teachers are in the 14th grade having equal educational qualification.”
“We will not go to the classes until salary disparity is no more,” he said.
Bangladesh Primary Assistant Teachers Society President Tapon Kumar, General Secretary Md Asadur Rahman, and National Primary Assistant Teachers Foundation President Shahinur Aktar spoke at the programme, among others.
“Only 15 per cent assistant teachers of primary schools can get promotion once in their total service life,” Tapon Kumar said.
“We arranged press conferences in all the districts of the country on December 15 to press home our one-point demand. We demanded it to fulfil by December 22. But the government did not do it. That is why we have started fast-unto-death at Central Shaheed Minar,” Tapon said.
Primary Assistant Teachers’ Oikya Jote is a combined platform of some 3,50,000 assistant teachers of Bangladesh Primary Teachers Society, Bangladesh Primary School Teachers Association, Bangladesh Government Primary School Assistant Teachers Association and Primary School Assistant Teachers Forum.
