Around 65 per cent of government primary schools in Narail are operating without permanent head teachers, creating a severe administrative and educational crisis in the district.
According to Narail District Primary Education Office, 320 of the district’s 495 government primary schools have vacant head teacher posts.
The shortage affects all three upazilas. In Narail Sadar upazila, 90 of 175 schools do not have a headmaster. In Lohagara upazila, 112 of 164 schools lack a head teacher, while Kalia upazila has 118 vacancies among 156 schools.
To keep the schools running, assistant teachers have been assigned to serve as acting head teachers. However, managing administrative and clerical responsibilities alongside regular teaching has placed a heavy burden on them and disrupted classroom education.
Teachers said they have to divide their time between teaching and duties such as maintaining school records, uploading official data online, attending coordination meetings and handling office management. The situation is particularly difficult at schools that also have vacancies among assistant teachers.
Krupa Shikdar, acting head teacher of Tularampur Government Primary School in Narail Sadar, has been performing the duties since 2018. Despite carrying out the responsibilities for years, she continues to receive her salary under the assistant teacher pay scale without the rank or corresponding benefits of a head teacher.
“The responsibilities are those of a head teacher, but the benefits remain those of an assistant teacher. I have been working under these conditions year after year,” Shikdar said.
A similar situation prevails at DSB Government Primary School in Shekhati union, Narail Sadar. Established in 1954 and nationalised in 1974, the school has 132 students and has been without a head teacher for nearly two years.
Mahmuda Parvin, an assistant teacher serving as the acting head teacher, said her administrative duties often take her away from teaching.
“Since I am in charge of the school’s administration, I often have to focus on office work, which directly disrupts classroom lessons,” she said.
Sonia Khanom, an assistant teacher at the same school, said acting head teachers frequently have to leave the school for official and administrative work. With a limited number of teachers, she said, it has become difficult to maintain regular academic activities while handling administrative responsibilities.
District Primary Education Officer Jahangir Alam acknowledged the prolonged vacancy of head teacher posts across the district.
“As a result, assistant teachers in many schools have had to take on the additional role of acting head teacher, balancing both administrative duties and academic classes,” Alam said.
He added that higher authorities had been formally notified about the vacancies.
“We hope that once these positions are filled, normal academic and administrative environments will be restored in these schools,” he said.
