Teachers announce 'complete shutdown' of primary schools over pay, promotion demands

Government primary school teachers in Bangladesh have announced a nationwide “complete shutdown” from Wednesday as part of their ongoing protest over pay and promotion demands.

The Primary Teachers’ Demand Implementation Council, which is leading the movement, made the announcement late on Tuesday, saying there had been “no visible progress” despite the finance ministry’s earlier promise to address their three-point demand, bdnews24.com reports.

Teachers say 22 days have passed since the assurance, but the government has yet to take concrete steps. As a result, they will lock school gates, halt classes, and continue boycotting exams in all primary schools, including Grade 11, until their demands are met.

The group said show-cause notices issued to four of its conveners, Md Abul Kashem, Mohammad Shamsuddin Masud, Khairun Nahar Lipi, and Md Mahbubur Rahman, as well as teachers from the 2023 and 2025 batches had further fuelled the protest.

In response, teachers will hold demonstrations at 11:00 am on Wednesday outside every Upazila Education Office.

The platform’s three demands include placing assistant teachers in the 10th grade of the national pay scale, resolving complications over higher-grade eligibility after 10 and 16 years of service, and ensuring 100 per cent departmental promotion from assistant teacher to head teacher.

According to the statement, teachers submitted a memorandum to deputy commissioners in every district at 4:00 pm on Tuesday, urging swift implementation of the “promised, logical demands” to allow teachers to return to classrooms and conduct exams.

“We hope the chief advisor and the authorities concerned will take steps to implement the promised reasonable demands of assistant teachers, resolve the stalemate in primary schools, and create an opportunity for teachers to return to classrooms and hold exams,” it said.