Government primary school assistant teachers have once again taken to the streets, demanding assurance of their desired pay grade implementation. Their sit-in protest began at 9 a.m. on Saturday (November 8) at the Central Shaheed Minar in Dhaka. Earlier on Friday, Bangladesh Primary School Assistant Teachers’ Association President Mohammad Shamsuddin Masud announced the program in a statement. In the statement, the teachers outlined three major demands.

Their demands are:
1️⃣ Upgrading assistant teachers’ salaries to the 10th pay grade,
2️⃣ Resolving complications regarding higher-grade benefits after 10 and 16 years of service, and
3️⃣ Ensuring 100% departmental promotion opportunities.

Khayrun Nahar Lipi, General Secretary of the Bangladesh Primary Teachers’ Association (Shahin-Lipi faction), said that around 20,000 teachers gathered at Shaheed Minar on Saturday to press for their demands.
“We will not leave the streets until our demands are met,” she said. “This time, we will return home only after achieving our rightful grade.”

Currently, there are 65,567 government primary schools across the country, employing approximately 384,000 teachers.

It is worth noting that on April 24, the Ministry of Primary and Mass Education issued a circular upgrading the salaries of head teachers from the 11th to the 10th grade, and assistant teachers from the 13th to the 12th grade. However, assistant teachers expressed dissatisfaction with the decision, insisting that their pay should also be upgraded directly to the 10th grade.

Several organizations are participating in the movement, including the Bangladesh Primary Teachers’ Association (Kashem-Shahin faction), Bangladesh Primary School Assistant Teachers’ Association, and the Assistant Teachers’ 10th Grade Implementation Council. In addition, assistant teachers appointed in the third phase under Dhaka and Chattogram divisions have announced their support and participation in the protest.