Police foiled the non-government primary school teachers’ march towards the chief adviser’s official residence Jamuna by firing sound grenades and spraying water on the protesting teachers in the capital Dhaka on Monday.
One of the coordinators of the protest programme told ¶¶Òõ¾«Æ· that six to seven teachers were injured in the incident while at least one of them was admitted to the Dhaka Medical College Hospital.
Several hundred teachers brought out the march from the National Press Club area, demanding the nationalisation of about 5,000 non-government primary schools.
Under the banner of Bangladesh Non-Government Primary Teachers’ Unity Council, teachers from different districts joined the rally held in front of the National Press Club on Monday morning.
At about 4:30pm, they started marching towards Jamuna while police intercepted them with barricades when their march reached near the Kadam Foara crossing.
During their altercation with police at about 4:45pm, police fired sound grenades and sprayed water on the protesting teachers.
Md Khairul Islam, one of the coordinators of the protest platform, told ¶¶Òõ¾«Æ· that six to seven teachers were injured while at least one was admitted to the Dhaka Medical College Hospital.
He also said that some teachers later went near the Jamuna and afterwards left the area.
Dhaka Metropolitan Police Ramna division deputy commissioner Masud Alam told ¶¶Òõ¾«Æ· that they sprayed water and fired sound grenades to disperse the protestors.
He also said that later some teachers went to Kakrail area and blocked a road there for some time.
No one was detained and no one got injured in the incident, he said.
After police dispersed the march, the protesting teachers returned to the Press Club area.
During the programme, vehicular movement in the area came to a halt while stranded passengers suffered immensely.
The protesting teachers said that in 2013, out of over 30,000 non-government primary schools, the government nationalised 26,193 schools having 1.04 lakh teachers.
They alleged that the rest of the schools were not nationalised due to political vengeance and bureaucratic complexities.
The council leaders mentioned that they had held demonstrations in 2015, 2018, 2019, 2024 and early 2025, demanding the nationalisation of the rest of the schools.
As there is still no progress in this connection, they held the rally, they said.
Md Nawshad Ahmed, the council central coordinator, urged the government to nationalise the schools immediately.
The council coordinator, Mahbuba Mala, said that the teachers of the schools were passing days in inhuman condition due to lack of facilities.
