The protesting government primary school teachers have agreed to sit for talks with the government on three specific conditions.
They seek unconditional release of five detained teachers, including Md Mahbubur Rahman; proper medical treatment for those injured in the ongoing movement; and assurance that their previous demands will be met.
Md Shamsuddin Masud, one of the top spokespersons of the movement and president of the Bangladesh Primary School Assistant Teachers’ Association, told TIMES of Bangladesh, “We do not want to harm our students’ academic careers.
“But the way we were attacked on Saturday is unacceptable.”
He said one teacher’s legs were broken during the police action, while several others suffered serious injuries and “some have lost vision in their eyes to the severity of the attack.” Over a hundred teachers, he added, “have been left bleeding.”
Masud added that Mahbubur Rahman, one of five conveners of Prathomik Shikkhok Dabi Bastobayon Parishad, is detained at Shahbagh Police Station.
“Police offered to hold talks while keeping him in custody,” he said, “but he rejected the proposal and began a hunger strike with the other four detained teachers. Fellow teachers staged a sit-in at the Central Shaheed Minar, and lit candles at midnight, demanding the five teachers’ immediate release.”
The movement began over three major demands – upgrading assistant teachers to the 10th pay grade, ensuring 100% departmental promotion for head teachers, and confirming higher grades after 10 and 16 years of service.
Four separate teachers’ associations have united under the banner of Prathomik Shikkhok Dabi Bastobayon Parishad to lead the protest.
On Saturday evening, the parishad President Abul Kashem said, “With the consent of all teacher leaders, we have announced a class boycott across all government primary schools. The boycott and sit-in at the Shaheed Minar will continue until our demands are met.”
Teachers had gathered at the Central Shaheed Minar on Friday night and marched to Shahbagh on Saturday afternoon to observe their “Pen Surrender” programme. Police, however, blocked their advance near the National Museum.
When protesters announced plans to march towards the chief adviser’s residence “Jamuna,” clashes erupted. Police fired sound grenades, used water cannons, and charged batons to disperse the teachers.
Teacher leaders claimed that more than 200 educators were injured, many of whom required treatment at Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH). Others received first aid at the Shaheed Minar grounds.
Shahbagh Police Station Officer-in-Charge (OC) Khalid Mansur told TIMES, “Five to six teachers have been kept in custody for questioning.”
DMP Deputy Commissioner (Media and Public Relations) Muhammad Talebur Rahman issued a statement later, saying that around 4pm, a section of protesters tried to break through police barricades and move towards the state guest house “Jamuna.”
“When police intervened, they threw bricks and stones at the officers,” the statement said. “To disperse them, police used sound grenades and water cannons.”
Earlier on Saturday, Primary and Mass Education Adviser Professor Bidhan Ranjan Roy Podder, while speaking at an event in Khulna, urged the teachers to return to classrooms.
He said, “Head teachers have already been upgraded to the 10th grade, and efforts are underway to raise assistant teachers to the 11th. There is no justification for demanding the 10th grade now.”
He added that the demand for 100% promotion to the post of head teacher was not consistent with government policy. “The Public Administration Ministry has decided that 80% of posts will be filled through departmental promotion, and 20% through new recruitment.”
According to the Directorate of Primary Education, the head teachers’ posts were upgraded from grade 11 to grade 10 earlier this year, while recommendations to raise assistant teachers from grade 13 to 11 have been sent to the ministry and are under review by the Pay Commission.
Teachers initially said on Friday that they had launched the protest to press for the immediate gazette notification of the 11th grade, so that they could soon return to class. However, after Saturday’s police crackdown, they toughened their stance.
By midnight, they announced that unless the detained teachers are released, the injured receive proper treatment, and their three-point demand is met, they would not end their sit-in or hunger strike.
