Headmasters upgraded

The government has upgraded the post of public primary schools' headmasters to second class from third class. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina made the announcement at the inauguration of the National Primary Education Week in Dhaka city on Sunday. There are nearly 60,000 primary school headmasters in Bangladesh. Basic pay of trained teachers will stand at Tk 6,400 – an increase of Tk 900 – while those not trained will get a basic salary of Tk 5,900 instead of previous Tk 5,200. "I know about the problems teachers face. We have taken some initiatives to solve them," the prime minister said in her speech. "We have upgraded the post of public school headmaster from third to second class." Ministry officials said that the move to upgrade pay for assistant teachers was in its final stage but the prime minister did not mention it during her speech on Sunday. "This is the step we are taking for now. I want to do more. For that, we need a stronger economy," the Preme Minister said. The upgrade is also meant to attract educated men and women to teaching, she added. Trained assistant teachers, who now get Tk 4,900, will receive Tk 5,200 (grade-14) once their pay is upgraded and untrained assistant teachers will receive Tk 4,900 (grade-15) against their present pay of Tk 4,700. There are more than 350,000 assistant teachers in primary schools across Bangladesh, according to bdnews24.com.