Government primary school assistant teachers will go on a work abstention from Sunday (November 9) following their pre-announced “Pen Surrender” program to press home a three-point demand, including pay in the 10th grade.
Md Shamsuddin Masud, central president of the Bangladesh Primary School Assistant Teachers Association, confirmed the information on Saturday.
He said that in protest against the police attack and to implement their demands, teachers will observe a full-day work abstention in all primary schools across the country from Sunday, along with a sit-in at the Central Shaheed Minar.
Masud said police charged batons and fired tear shells and sound grenades to disperse a gathering of government primary school assistant teachers demonstrating at Shahbagh.
Over a hundred teachers were injured, many of them hit by rubber bullets in their hands, legs, and abdomen.
A rickshaw-puller named Md Al Amin was shot and admitted to Dhaka Medical College Hospital, he added.
Earlier, on Saturday afternoon around 3:30pm, government primary school assistant teachers began a march toward Shahbagh from the Central Shaheed Minar in the capital to press home their three-point demand, including 10th-grade pay.
Teachers from different parts of the country joined the procession, but it was foiled due to police obstruction.
Teachers had been staying at the Central Shaheed Minar since morning, from where they announced the “Pen Surrender” program through the march. They said the movement would continue until their demands were met.
The three-point demand includes providing assistant teachers with 10th-grade pay, resolving issues related to higher grades upon completion of 10 and 16 years of service, and ensuring 100% departmental promotion.
