Assistant teachers of government primary schools have issued a fresh warning of a strike starting 30 November unless the government issues a notification by 29 November to implement the 10th-grade pay scale, 100 per cent departmental promotion and higher-grade benefits after 10 and 16 years of service.
The announcement was made during a press conference held on Friday at the National Press Club in Dhaka by leaders of the teachers’ movement.
The Primary Teachers’ Demand Implementation Council, which organised the briefing, also called for full pension and compensation for the family of Fatema Akter, an assistant teacher who died during the earlier protests.
Council convener Abul Kashem, leaders Md Shamsuddin Masud, Kamrunnahar Lipi, and Fatema Akter’s husband DM Solaiman were among those present at the press conference.
The movement began on 7 November with a sit-in at Central Shaheed Minar in Dhaka, demanding the three key reforms.
On 8 November, teachers staged a symbolic ‘Pen down’ protest at Shahbagh, which was dispersed by police using baton charges, sound grenades, and water cannons, resulting in the arrest of five teachers.
Following the arrests, teacher representatives met with the secretary of the Ministry of Primary and Mass Education on 9 November, and with the finance secretary on 10 November.
The government then promised to upgrade teachers’ posts to the 11th grade from the 13th grade, leading the teachers to suspend their protests from 11 November.
Fatema Akter, an assistant teacher at Jhinaia Government Primary School in North Motlab, Chandpur, fell seriously ill after being frightened by the sound grenades on 8 November, and died on 16 November at a private hospital in Dhaka.
