Showing true respect to teachers

The World Teachers' Day is celebrated every year on October 5. On this occasion, students have paid rich tributes to their teachers. Most of them took social media platforms to do that. All of us know that teaching is a respected profession in Bangladesh. Yet ironically, it is also one of the most poorly-paid jobs here. In our country, the working environment in most educational institutions is also poor. Consequently, teachers need to engage in other professional work like private tutoring, coaching, etc. to make ends meet. The budget allocated as salary to teachers shows a poor investment in this sector.

There are more private-sector teachers than in the public sector. Both sectors have their issues. Teachers in the public sector complain of a lack of merit in their promotions, the absence of a clear career path as well as highly poor working condition. In the private sector, most of the teachers have complained that they do not get paid on time, even after working countless hours. Private-sector teachers are deprived of basic facilities and have no incentive to do better. The working conditions in many schools in both the public and private sectors are poor with crumbling infrastructure.

We need to improve the working conditions of teachers drastically. Not only should their salaries be set much higher but there should be standardisation of work pay and allowances for both the private and public sector teachers. One of the biggest challenges for Bangladesh is the lack of good teachers. But we can attract competent people if we pay them well and on time. We need to introduce a system which rewards those who deserve it. It is the need of the hour to work together in this regard and tackle the issue because our future generation depends on this.

Ashikujaman Syed,

Foreign Service Officer,

Anhui Haikang Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd,

Anqing, China,

syedashikujaman@yahoo.com