Community pry teachers demand pay hike before Eid

Bangladesh Community Primary Teachers' Association yesterday urged the chief adviser to take necessary measures to increase the salary of the teachers in consultation with them before Eid-ul-Fitr.
About 10,000 community primary teachers have long been demanding payments as per the national pay scale. To realise their demand, the teachers have been delivering teaching for only two hours instead of eight hours a day since August 26.
In a statement, Association Secretary General Hafizur Rahman called on the chief adviser to settle the issue immediately, saying that if the teachers continue their programme for long, it would seriously affect around eight lakh students of 3778 community schools across the country.
They might drop out before completing their primary education, he said.
At the same time, the community primary teachers, who receive only a remuneration of Tk 1200 a month, are also suffering from severe economic hardship during this month of Ramadan, he added.
Hafizur Rahman also said the government can increase the salary of the teachers by allocating an additional amount of Tk 22 crore, thereby ensuring the primary education of eight lakh students.
He also threatened to launch a tough programme if the demand goes unheeded.