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Community School Teachers

Poor salary makes future uncertain

Suranjith Deabnath
With a monthly salary of only Tk 1,200, community primary schoolteachers are unable to carry on with their job, leading to gradual closure of the institutions for unprivileged students in remote places.
Community teachers fear the entire community teaching system will collapse soon and over 10 lakh students will be deprived of education if the government does not reconsider the salary structure of about 10,000 teachers.
Community schools in 10 districts have already been unof-
ficially closed as most of the teachers have quit their job fetching Tk 40 a day, less than even the price of 1.5kg rice.
The schools are in Maheshpur and Shailakupa of Jhenidah, Kumarkhali, Khoska and Mirpur of Kushtia, Bhaluka and Phulpur of Mymensingh, Chouddagram, Langalcourt and Burichang of Comilla, Nabinagar of Brahmanbaria, Kawra of Khulna, Tala, Ashashuni and Joypurhat of Satkhira, Do mar of Gaibandha, and Midapukur and Panchbibi of Rangpur.
"How can we impart knowledge
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with only Tk 40 a day whereas minimum Ik 250 is required to hire a labourer for a day7" said Habibul Ahsan Bablu, president of Bangladesh Community Primary Teachers Association.
He said they don't serve less than the teachers of government and non-government primary schools. "Then why should there be discrimination? The government should give us Tk 4,200 per month what a non-government primary schoolteacher gets."
As many as 10,565 teachers employed in 3,778 community schools in remote areas are now living a miserable life . They say they even get salaries irregularly, often once in three months. *
Although education sector always gets the highest allocation in the national budget, community teachers get less than a clerk or the chauffeur of a government officer.
A peon with up to class VIII educational qualification start with Tk 2,400, a lowe division clerk with Tk 2,800 and a chauffeur with Tk 2,850 per month as salary.
The teachers used to get Tk 500 monthly in 1992. In 2005, the government increased their salary to Tk 750 though prices of essentials shot up tenfold since 1992.
Later in 2007 their salary was increased to Tk 1,200 after months of agitation by the teach-jers including hunger strike.
Abu Bakar Siddiqui, director general of compulsory primary and mass education implementation and monitoring unit of Shikkha Bhaban, said he has sent several letters to the primary and mass education ministry proposing an increase in the salary.
"Last May, we sent a recommendation letter proposing Tk 3,000 for trained community
teachers and Tk 2,600 for nontrained teachers," he told The Daily Star.
Primary and mass education ministry sources say the recommendation was forwarded to the finance ministry, which showed little interest about it.
Against this backdrop, the community teachers have issued a deadline to meet their demands by August 2; otherwise they will go on indefinite hunger strike at the Central Shahced Minar from August 3.
Hafizur Rahman, secretary general of Bangladesh Community Primary Teachers Association, said they have long been trying to attract the government's attention to their plight in vain.
"Our salary is so small that it has become an embarrassment when people ask how much we get," he said.
Renowned economist Prof Abul Barakat of Dhaka University said salary of the primary school teachers in rural areas should be increased for the sake of ensuring standard education.
"It is not possible to involve skilled people in primary educa-tion unless the salary is increased. How can we expect quality education when these teachers are paid the lowest and that too is irregular?" he asked.
On the instructions of the primary and mass education ministry, thana-level committees headed by the thana education officers appointed the community teachers between 1992 and 1995 through competitive examinations, both written and viva voce.
Most of the teachers are graduates though the job circular required SSC as minimum qualification for female and HSC for male candidates, leaders of the association claimed.