Six months have passed since the government upgraded the pay scale of primary school headmasters to the 10th grade (gazetted status). However, they have yet to receive salaries and allowances under the revised scale because the pay fixation process has not begun. Meanwhile, a proposal to upgrade assistant teachers from the 13th to the 11th pay grade also remains pending.
Following a court verdict, the Ministry of Primary and Mass Education issued a notification in December last year upgrading headmasters to the 10th grade. Under this scale, the basic salary ranges from Tk 16,000 to Tk 38,640. Previously, headmasters were under the 11th and 12th grades, with basic salaries starting at Tk 12,500 and Tk 11,300, respectively.
Headmasters attributed the delay by the Ministry of Primary and Mass Education, the Directorate of Primary Education (DPE) and the Office of the Chief Accounts and Finance Officer under the Comptroller General of Accounts have stalled the pay fixation process, forcing them to continue drawing salaries under the previous grades.
They warned that if pay fixation does not begin by 16 July, they will stage a sit-in protest at the Directorate of Primary Education and the Office of the Comptroller General of Accounts.
Primary and Mass Education Secretary Md. Sakhawat Hossain told Prothom Alo that the ministry would meet with the Chief Accounts and Finance Officer on Sunday to resolve the matter. He expressed hope that the problem would be settled soon.
'Teachers will face severe pay discrimination'
According to headmasters, they were upgraded from third-class to second-class officer status through a government gazette in 2014. At the time, the 11th grade was set for trained headmasters and the 12th for untrained ones.
However, 45 headmasters filed a writ petition in the High Court demanding 10th-grade pay and gazetted status.
A final verdict was delivered in March 2025. Although the Supreme Court directed the government to grant 10th-grade status, implementation was delayed. Finally, the pay of the 45 petitioners was upgraded in October last year, followed by a nationwide upgrade for all headmasters in December.
Sheikh Mohammad Sayeed Ullah, senior joint general secretary and spokesperson of the Bangladesh Government Primary School Headmasters’ Association, told Prothom Alo that the six-month delay is causing headmasters financial loss and discrimination. He warned that if the 10th-grade pay fixation is not completed before the implementation of the ninth national pay scale from 1 July, headmasters will face severe pay discrimination.
Proposal to upgrade assistant teachers remains stalled
Currently, government primary assistant teachers are in the 13th grade, with a starting basic salary of Tk 11,000. During the previous interim government, the ministry proposed upgrading them to the 11th grade.
Following demands raised during the tenure of the previous interim government, the Ministry of Primary and Mass Education sent a proposal to the National Pay Commission seeking to upgrade assistant teachers to the 11th grade. However, the commission has not made any decision. Officials concerned say such a decision does not fall within the commission's mandate.
The ministry also submitted the proposal to the Cabinet Division and the Finance Division. If approved, upgrading assistant teachers by two grades would cost the government an additional Tk 8.32 billion annually. No progress has yet been made.
Bangladesh currently has 65,569 government primary schools with more than 10 million students and over 375,000 teachers. Of these, more than 369,000 posts are approved for assistant teachers, while more than 350,000 are currently filled. The recruitment process for more than 14,000 additional assistant teachers has already been finalised and they are expected to join soon.
Promotion process begins for 36,235 headmaster posts
Promotion to the post of headmaster had long remained suspended because of legal complications. However, following a High Court ruling on Thursday, the legal barrier has been removed.
The Ministry of Primary and Mass Education has since announced that the promotion process has begun to fill 36,235 vacant headmaster posts with eligible assistant teachers.
