Bangladesh Assistant Upazila Education Officers鈥� Association on Saturday urged the government to upgrade the post of Upazila/Thana assistant primary education officer from the 10th to the 9th grade.
They came up with the demands through a press conference at Dhaka Reporters Unity in the capital under the banner of Bangladesh Assistant Upazila Education Officers鈥� Association.
The association鈥檚 convener Muhammad Milon Mia and its member secretary Al Amin Hawlader read out the written statement at the press conference.
They said that the posts of AUEOs and ATEOs under the Directorate of Primary Education have remained at the 10th grade for 31 years, despite similar positions in other departments being upgraded.
The association leaders argued that AUEOs and ATEOs play a vital role in ensuring quality primary education and each officer supervising around 30 schools, nearly 30 headteachers (10th grade), and up to 200 assistant teachers (13th grade).
They said that it was 鈥榓dministratively inappropriate鈥� for AUEOs to remain in the same grade as headteachers of schools who was now under the 10th grade.
The leaders said that while district-level education officers and PTI instructors have been promoted to higher grades, AUEO or ATEOs continue to face stagnation, with many spending 25鈥�30 years in the same post without promotion.
They also stressed that the financial implication of the upgrade would be minimal, as most officers are already drawing higher pay under time-scale or selection-grade benefits.
The association urged the chief adviser, relevant ministries, and the DPE to take immediate steps to implement the upgrade, calling it a matter of ending 鈥榣ongstanding discrimination鈥�.