Govt secondary teachers threaten shutdown, boycott of exams to push for demands

Teachers of government secondary schools have gathered at the premises of Shikkha Bhaban, the headquarters of the Directorate of Secondary and Higher Education (DSHE), on Abdul Gani Road in Dhaka to conduct a protest.

They are pressing for four demands, including elevating their pay scale from Grade 10 to Grade 9 and the formation of an independent Directorate of Secondary Education without delay.

The teachers have given the government until Sunday to act.

If their demands go unmet, they say they will boycott annual exams and admissions from Monday and enforce a shutdown across more than 700 government schools.

Teachers from districts across the country joined the demonstration on Thursday morning under the banner of the Government Secondary Teachers’ Association.

Shahab Uddin Mahmud Salmi, former general secretary of the association, said that assistant teachers have long been denied promotion opportunities because only one position is currently eligible for promotion.

“In reality, teachers are struggling with salaries in Grade 10,” he said.

“We want the assistant teacher post to be included in the BCS (General Education) cadre in the Grade 9. A Directorate of Secondary Education should be formed immediately and the gazette published. Once the directorate is established and the posts are listed as cadre positions, we will have access to other administrative roles.”

Their other demands include:

• Appointment, promotion, and postings of teachers working in schools and inspection branches to existing vacancies.
• Issuing the pending timescale and selection grade approval order within three working days, in line with the Supreme Court’s verdict.
• Publishing the gazette restoring the advance salary benefits for assistant teachers with three or two increments, as they had before 2015.

“If the four demands are not met within the deadline, we will suspend all activities, including ongoing annual exams and admission processes, from Monday (Dec 1),” Shahab Uddin said.

“We will enforce a complete shutdown in government secondary schools.”

According to DSHE, there are 721 government secondary schools across the country.