Assistant teachers of different government primary schools across the country continued their indefinite whole-day strike for the second day running on Tuesday, pressing for an increase in the entry-level pay scale as well as promotion.
Many assistant teachers, however, have so far stayed away from the full-day work abstention programme announced earlier by the Primary Assistant Teachers Association Unity Council, raising a three-point demand.
The three-point demand is鈥攗pgrading the assistant teacher position at the entry level to the 11th grade from the existing 13th grade; removing the existing barriers to achieving higher grade for the teachers who are 10 years and 16 years into the job; and making provision that all head teachers will be appointed from the pool of assistant teachers through promotion.
Like the first day of the indefinite strike, teachers in some schools in different districts, including Dhaka, Rajshahi and Chattogram, abstained from their regular duties at their schools.聽
In Dhaka academic activities in most government primary schools went normal.
A leader of the unity council alleged that in Dhaka city assistant teachers came under pressure for not observing the strike.
Unity council convener Md Anisur Rahman said that the teachers abstained from work at schools in areas like Sutrapur, Demra and Gulshan in Dhaka city.
The strike would go on until their demands were met, he stressed.
抖阴精品 correspondent in Chattogram reported that the strike was observed across the district for the second consecutive day.
Abdur Rahman, convener of the unity council for the Chattogram region, claimed that most primary teachers in Chattogram district joined the protest.
抖阴精品 correspondent in Rajshahi reported that academic activities in most of the government primary schools went normal on the day in the district.
In the district, teachers of Boalia Nagarpara Government Primary School and Mirzapur Government Primary School said that the academic activities of their school went normal on both Tuesday and Monday as the assistant teachers conducted their classes.
On the contrary, in the Shiroil Colony Government Primary School, Khademul Islam Government Primary School and Shonadighi Government Primary School in Bagha upazila of Rajshahi, no classes were held on Tuesday as the teachers staged the strike.
Earlier, the teachers staged one-hour work abstention from work between May 5 and 15, two-hour work abstention between May 16 and 20, and half-day work abstention between May 21 and 25.
According to the Annual Primary School Census 2023, the country has 65,567 government primary schools and 3,19,625 assistant teachers.
