Case filed against Joypurhat teacher for demanding primary education advisor's resignation

A departmental case has been filed against a teacher for criticising the remarks made by Bidhan Ranjan Roy Poddar, the advisor to the Ministry of Primary and Mass Education, and demanding his resignation.

The teacher, Mahbubur Rahman, is an assistant teacher at Hinda Government Primary School in Khetlal Upazila of Joypurhat. He also serves as the coordinator of the “Primary Assistant Teachers 10th Grade Implementation Coordination Council,” a platform advocating assistant teachers to be placed in the 10th grade of the payscale.

The case was filed by the Joypurhat District Primary Education Office, confirmed acting District Primary Education Officer Mominul Islam. However, the officer did not disclose exactly what the teacher had said, which prompted him to file a case.

The case was filed on Apr 8, under the Government Servants (Discipline and Appeal) Rules. A show cause notice was also issued on the same day, asking why he should not be suspended or punished under the rules.

Mahbubur was given 10 working days to respond and asked to mention if he wishes to have a personal hearing.

According to the complaint, Mahbubur Rahman made malicious comments about the advisor during a Facebook Live session. His post drew similar reactions from teachers and other individuals, which allegedly violated the social media usage guidelines for government employees and the discipline rules for government servants.

Speaking to bdnews24.com, Mahbubur said: “After the interim government took office, a committee was formed to reform primary and non-formal education. The committee was working in response to the long-standing demand to upgrade the pay grade of assistant teachers from 13th to 10th.”

“The committee’s term was until Jan 31. On Jan 26, I saw several news reports titled ‘If the salary isn’t sufficient, choose another profession: primary advisor to teachers’ and ‘At this moment, the demand for the 10th grade for assistant teachers is not realistic’,” he added.

Mahbubur continued, “Later, during a Facebook Live with other teachers, I said that since the committee was working on the pay grade issue, such comments from the advisor could influence the process. I said he had lost the moral right to hold his post and should resign.”

He also mentioned that on Sept 22, after the advisor took office, he himself had submitted a proposal highlighting the reasons for setting assistant teachers’ salaries at the 10th grade.

On Feb 10, the reform committee submitted its report, recommending that the assistant teacher position be abolished and replaced by an entry-level teacher post with a 12th-grade salary, while head teachers should be paid under the 10th grade.

Primary school teachers have long been demanding higher pay. Currently, assistant teachers are paid under the 13th grade and head teachers under the 11th.

Before 2020, trained assistant teachers were in the 14th grade, and untrained teachers in the 15th.

In Feb 2020, in response to demands for assistant teachers to be placed in the 11th grade and head teachers in the 10th, the government moved them up to the 13th and 11th grades, respectively.

Since then, assistant teachers have continued to push for the 10th grade.