Ebtedayee madrasa teachers have staged a sit-in on the Paltan-Press Club road in the capital, demanding the implementation of the nationalisation announcement and four other demands. This has caused disruptions to vehicular movement on that road.
After 1pm on Wednesday, Ebtedayee teachers started a protest march from in front of the National Press Club towards the Ministry of Education. After proceeding a short distance, when police stopped them, they sat down on the road. This halted vehicular movement on the Paltan-Press Club road.
Kazi Mokhlesur Rahman, president of the Bangladesh Independent Ebtedayee Madrasa Teachers Association, said, “Due to bureaucratic complications and vindictiveness, we have had to take to the streets again. The nationalisation process has been suspended under various pretexts.”
Recently, following protests by teachers, the Ministry of Education announced on 28 January the phased nationalisation of Ebtedayee madrasas. However, no institution has been nationalised since that announcement.
Teachers’ 5 demands:
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All grant-in-aid and non-grant-in-aid independent Ebtedayee madrasas must have the government’s phased nationalisation announcement from 28 January of this year implemented swiftly.
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The files, scrutinised for the MPO inclusion of 1089 institutions and sent to the Chief Adviser’s Office by the Technical and Madrasa Education Division under the Ministry of Education, must be approved promptly and published as a gazette notification.
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Arrangements must be made to publish a notification for MPO applications for all recognised non-grant-in-aid independent Ebtedayee madrasas.
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Pre-primary positions must be created in independent Ebtedayee madrasas, similar to primary schools.
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A separate directorate for independent Ebtedayee madrasas must be established, similar to the Primary Schools Directorate.
