Compulsory primary education faces setback in Mymensingh

Compulsory primary education is being hampered in frontier Dhubaur upazila due to shortage of teachers and lack of infrastructure facilities.

There is no primary school in 37 of the 183 villages. At many schools, students sit on floors due to lack of tables and benches, officials at the upazila education office said.

The number of students has increased but no new primary school was setup in the last five years, they claimed. At government primary schools, posts of 10 teachers are vacant.

Only two assistant thana education officers (ATEOs) have to monitor academic activities at 146 schools in the thana, which is nearly impossible, they said. It is a mandatory for the ATEO's to visit at least 10 schools a month, they can not maintain the schedule.

Despite all these problems, 17 students got scholarship in the thana in 1999-2002 academic years, Thana Education Officer Md Abdur Rahim said.