THERE is a saying that teachers are the future of nation. Primary school teachers play an important role in raising future citizens. In Bangladesh, however, the role of school teachers is not valued. Teachers of government-recognised educational institutions but not enlisted for the monthly payment scheme have intermittently taken to the streets for proper pay since 2013. Among the aggrieved teachers, as New Age on reported Tuesday, there are ones teaching students without any pay for even 20 years. In December 2017, several hundred teachers began a sit-in in Dhaka and went on hunger strike which drew national attention and many lent voice to their cause, criticised the government for not attending to their demand in time. Amid widespread criticism, the prime minister on January 5 assured them of their inclusion into the system.
Sadly, the assurance did not translate into action as the proposed national budget did not allocate additional budget for enlisting new schools for the monthly payment scheme. It is in this context the teachers concerned under the banner of Non-MPO Educational Institution Teachers and Employees’ Federation started fast-unto-death on Monday. Instead of immediately approaching the peaceful protesters for dialogues, the government shockingly ordered police to harass and attack them, even detain federation organisers.
The monthly payment system for recognised non-government educational institution was introduced in 1981, under which the government has been contributing full basic pay to teachers since 2006. The last inclusion of 1,645 institutions into the scheme took place in 2010. About 75,000 to 80,000 teachers are now employed in the government-recognised 5,242 schools all over Bangladesh who are not under the scheme. The situation reveals absolute apathy of all the authorities concerned.
Not only has the government avoided heeding the teachers’ cause, it has used brute police force to tackle peaceful protesters on the streets. In mid-June when teachers gathered in front of the National Press Club, the police charged at them with truncheons and injured many teachers. Since then, at least 40 aggrieved teachers have fallen ill spending their day and night under the open sky. It is time that the government initiated a commission to review the performance of the schools in question and work out a mechanism to ensure the payment of teachers for the services they have already provided. False promises from the state managers will only keep the problem alive.
The government must know that it cannot declare itself a middle-income country leaving school teachers from rural areas starved. The incumbents must immediately take steps to arrange an MPO enlistment drive and review school’s eligibility for financial assistance. While it is important to urgently attend to the demand of the teachers, it must also develop a mechanism through which schools will be evaluated regularly for fresh enlistment.
- Courtesy: New Age/ Editorial /June 27, 2018
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