Primary teachers’ work abstention puts annual exams in doubt

Government primary school assistant teachers across the country are continuing their indefinite work abstention to press home their three-point demand, leaving classroom teaching suspended in more than 65,000 schools.

With annual exams scheduled to begin on Monday (December 1), the teachers have warned of boycotting the examinations if their demands are not met, creating major uncertainty in the primary education system.

Teacher leaders have given the government until Sunday (November 30) night to announce a concrete decision. Without it, they say, teachers will not participate in Monday’s exams.

Md. Mahbubur Rahman, a convenor of the Primary Teachers’ Council, said, “Continuous work abstention has already halted teaching nationwide. If the government does not declare a solution by Sunday, we will have no option but to boycott the exams.”

According to the Directorate of Primary Education (DPE), Bangladesh has 65,569 government primary schools and over 384,000 teachers. While head teachers are now placed in the 10th grade pay scale, assistant teachers remain in the 13th grade—one of their major points of grievance.

Earlier, between November 8-12, more than 150 teachers were injured during clashes with police at an agitation programme at the Central Shaheed Minar. Although they returned to work following government assurances, the perceived lack of progress has led them to resume their work abstention.

In a meeting on November 27, the DPE Director General urged teacher leaders to participate in the upcoming exams, but they insisted the programme would continue until a firm commitment is made.

Three-Point demands include upgradation of assistant teachers’ pay scale to 10th grade, resolution of higher grade issues after 10 and 16 years of service, ensuring 100% departmental promotion.