Primary Exams: Teachers withdraw boycott programme
Teachers of government primary schools yesterday withdrew their programme to boycott Primary Education Completion Examination (PECE) and equivalent exams.
Confusion regarding holding of PECE and Ebtedayee exams surfaced as teachers declared they would boycott those.
An association of primary school teachers on October 23 announced that they would boycott the PECE and its madrasa equivalent, Ebtedayee exams, if their demand for better pay is not met by November 13.
The PECE and Ebtedayee exams are scheduled to begin on November 17. Almost 30 lakh students have registered for the exams.
Leaders of Bangladesh Prathomik Shikkhak Oikya Parishad -- a coalition of 14 primary teachers’ bodies -- after a general meeting yesterday said they are suspending their boycott programme till December 17.
“We will announce a tougher programme if we are not allowed to meet Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and tell her what our demands are within December 17,” Parishad’s member secretary Samsuddin Masud told The Daily Star.
Government primary school teachers have been protesting for several years for 10th grade salary for headteachers and 11th grade for assistant teachers.
Currently, trained and untrained headteachers get 11th and 12th grade salaries while assistant teachers get 14th and 15th grade salaries.
There are 3,49,217 teachers in 65,593 government primary schools.
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