Primary school teachers break hunger strike


FE Team | Published: December 25, 2017 16:42:48 | Updated: December 26, 2017 14:32:43


Primary school teachers break hunger strike

Assistant teachers of government primary schools broke their indefinite hunger strike on Monday evening following assurance of government to upgrade their pay-scale.

The teachers ended their strike by drinking water and juice given by Primary and Mass Education Minister Mostafizur Rahman around 5:30 pm at the Central Shaheed Minar.

The Bangladesh Primary Teachers' Grand Alliance organised the strike.

Eight different organisations of assistant primary teachers joined the alliance from Saturday.

Earlier on Monday, a delegation of protesting teachers held a meeting with the minister at his official residence.

During the meeting, he assured of taking steps to reduce salary disparity between the assistant teachers and head teachers of the primary schools.

Mostafizur said the teacher leaders postponed their movement on my assurance.

"I told them I'll talk to the finance minister over their salary scale. I urged them to suspend the movement and continue talks," he said.

Later, the teachers took the decision to end the strike.

According to UNB, over 1,000 assistant teachers of several primary schools across the country thronged at the Shaheed Minar on Saturday morning.

Nearly 47 teachers among some 1,000 ones fell in sick during this three days hunger strike.

Several political party leaders including Krishok Sramik Janata League president Abdul Kader Siddique, Bangladesh Communist Party leader Ruhin Hossain Prince expressed solidarity with the teachers.

The leaders of the alliance called upon the government to upgrade the salary scale of the assistant teachers to 11th grade from the 14th that would see the basic salary enhancement from Tk. 9,500 to Tk 12,500.

The agitated teachers had argued if the headmasters get salary under the 10th grade, the assistant teachers deserve the 11th grade.

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