Primary teachers announce work stoppage

Government primary school teachers will go on a work abstention from today to press home their three-point demand, including pay in the 10th grade.

The announcement came on Friday evening from the Primary Teachers' Demand Implementation Council, a coalition of four teachers' organisations.
Calling on all primary school teachers nationwide to 'express solidarity', Mohammad Abul Kashem, president of the Bangladesh Primary Teachers' Association (Kashem-Shahin), said the demonstrations will continue until their demands are met and those who have been arrested are released.

A sit-in programme at the Central Shaheed Minar will also continue alongside the strike, he added.

Earlier in the day, police baton-charged and fired sound grenades to disperse the protesting primary school teachers at Dhaka's Shahbagh intersection.

The assistant teachers of government primary schools staged a sit-in at the Central Shaheed Minar, demanding implementation of the 10th-grade pay scale and other key benefits.

As the teachers marched toward Shahbagh to observe a 'pen throw' programme, police blocked their advance and used batons and sound grenades to disperse them.

Several protesters and policemen were reportedly injured in the incident.

In a statement, the DMP said all kinds of meetings, rallies, and gatherings have been banned in and around the residence of the chief adviser at Jamuna and nearby areas. Despite the ban, the protesters ignored the restrictions and tried to move forward. To maintain order and protect key state installations, police stepped in to disperse the protest.