Primary teachers call off hunger strike following Minister’s assurance

Assistant Teachers of primary schools have called off their hunger strike and postponed the agitation movement on the third day following assurance of Primary and Mass Education Minister Mostafizur Rahman.

The Minister went to the Shaheed Minar on Monday evening and offered water and juice to the teachers for calling off the hunger strike . He assured them to solve the problem on discussion table.

After calling of the strike the Minister left the place. Later police members were seen announcing to the teachers to leave the place.

Earlier, a 12-member representative team of the teachers went to the Mintu road house of the Minister at around 3:20 pm. There a meeting was held with Primary and Mass Education Minister Mostafizur Rahman.

After holding the meeting member of teachers’ representative team Tapan Kumar Mandal said to Rtv online, the Minister said he will consider about our demands. He said demands could not be attained by starving. Discussions need to fulfill the demands. Demands always achieved through discussions.

The program of hunger strike began at 10 am on December 23 under the banner of Bangladesh Primary Assistant Teachers Grand Alliance. Under the alliance several thousand assistant teachers of their 10 organizations joined the program from different corners of the country.

According to the teachers, earlier the trained Assistant Teachers were given salaries in the one stage lower scale than the trained Headmasters in the government primary schools. But the difference went to three stages according to the salary frame work of 2015. At present the trained Assistant Teachers are getting salary in the 14^th grade (basic salary 10 thousand 200 taka) and the Headmasters are getting in the 10^th grade (basic salary 16 thousand taka). To avert this discrimination Assistant Teachers want salary one step below to the Headmasters at 11^th grade (basic 12 thousand 500).

AH