508 Jessore govt pry schools run without headmaster

BENAPOLE, May 3 (UNB): A total of 508 government primary schools in Jessore district are running without any headmaster. Besides, a total of 693 posts of assistant teacher are lying vacant in the district's government primary schools for long.
Consequently, academic activities in these institutions are being seriously hampered as recruitment to these vacant posts has remained stalled for different complications. District Primary Education Office sources said the eight upazilas of the district have a total of 1,274 government primary schools, including the 600 which have recently been nationalised.
There is a sanctioned post of headmaster in each of the schools but only 766 of them have appointed headmasters. In Manirampur upazila, there are 262 primary schools and 65 of them are running with headmasters while there is no headmaster in 41 schools in Keshabpur upazila, 22 schools in Sadar upazila, 27 in Bagharpara upazila, 25 in Chougaccha upazila, 23 in Jhikorgachha upazila, 22 in Abhaynagar upazila and seven in Sharsha upazila.
Apart from this, a total of 693 posts of assistant teacher are lying vacant in the government primary schools of the district, of which 155 are in Sadar upazila, 55 in Manirampur upazila, 127 in Keshabpur upaizla, 86 in Chougachha upazila, 78 in Sharsha upazila, 65 in Abhaynagar upazila, 58 in Jhikargachha upazila and 38 in Bagharpara upazila.
Subrata Kumar Banik, an official of the district primary education office, said 65 percent posts of the government primary schools are filled up through promotion while the rest 35 percent through recruitment. He linked such a large number of posts of headmaster lying vacant for long to the stoppage of the assistant teachers' promotion to the post of headmaster because of a case filed by the teachers appointed under a project. Besides, the government has created five posts instead of four in the recently nationalised primary schools.