Poor salary of teachers obstacle to quality education
Major General (retd) Subid Ali Bhuiyan speaks at a workshop at the National Press Club in the city yesterday. On his right is Nurul Amin and on his left is Abul Bashar Howlader.Photo: STAR
Although teaching is a noble profession and the education sector always gets the highest allocation in the national budget, the poor salary of teachers is pushing them to the verge of frustration, said the speakers at a workshop yesterday.
They said enhancing professional skills of teachers is not enough, their living standard should also be raised as it is not possible for low-paid and deprived teachers to ensure quality education.
The workshop titled 'Importance of secondary and unitrack education in the context of Bangladesh' was organised by Bangladesh Shikhhak Samity at the National Press Club in the city.
Stressing the role of teachers in secondary education, the speakers laid emphasis on recruiting skilled teachers and motivating them with adequate salaries and facilities.
They said non-government teachers get Tk 100 as house rent and Tk 150 as medical allowance, which are nothing but a mockery considering the present economic conditions.
"Teachers are deprived in terms of both living standards and professional skills. This reality needs to be taken into consideration to improve the quality of teachers to realise the dream of a digital Bangladesh," said Shikhhak Samity General Secretary Abdus Salam Khan.
The discussants also called on the government to introduce unitrack education system up to class ten instead of class eight, saying that it will make the country's standard of education more acceptable at the international level.
"A unitrack education system will help students gain elementary knowledge in different fields," said Shamsul Huq, chairman of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education Board of Dhaka.
Speaking as chief guest Major General (retd) Subid Ali Bhuiyan MP laid emphasis on the role of teachers in ensuring quality education.
“Teachers can play a vital role, especially at the secondary level, in turning our youth into human resources,” he said.
"I am shocked to learn their pitiable living conditions and will request our policymakers to do something for them. But the teachers should not give priority to money over their duty in transforming our youths into national resource," he added.
Prof Momtaz Uddin Patwari of the Open University and Prof Kamaluddin Chowdhury of Chittagong University also spoke at the workshop.
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