Respect for teachers

Students and others have recently paid rich tributes and expressed their admiration and appreciation for all their teachers, marking the World Teachers' Day on October 5. 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.
In China, an experienced teacher is given the same status as a teacher with a doctorate degree. In South Korea, Taiwan or Malaysia, the social status of teachers is very high. Teachers are given ministerial status in Sri Lanka. In India, teachers are given higher individual pay scale. But in Bangladesh, we see our teachers struggling every month to get their due pay. In this reality, we are celebrating the World Teachers' Day today. On this day, we should recall our teachers' role in our life and speak up for their due rights.
We need to improve the working conditions of teachers. Not only should their salaries be set much higher but there should be standardisation of work pay and allowances for both private and public sector teachers. One of the biggest challenges for Bangladesh is the lack of good teachers. It is because of the poor pay package. But we can attract competent people to this profession if we pay them well. We need to introduce a performance benefit system which rewards those who deserve it.

Ashikujaman Syed,
Foreign Service Officer,
Anhui Haikang Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd,
Anqing, China,
syedashikujaman@yahoo.com