Annual pry school exams to resume Sunday

The annual examinations in government primary schools across Bangladesh are set to resume on Sunday following a temporary disruption caused by ongoing teachers’ protests.

The decision came after Directorate of Primary Education (DPE) issued sudden transfer orders for several teachers, raising concerns about potential disruption to students’ education.

Md. Shamsuddin Masud, co-convener of Primary Teachers’ Demand Implementation Council, confirmed that exams will proceed as scheduled despite the protests.

“We will conduct the exams starting Sunday. These young students are like our own children and we do not want their education to suffer. Although the exams are delayed by two days, it will not seriously affect their academic progress,” Masud said.

He added that while some teachers faced pressure from parents and local communities, the exams’ postponement of a couple of days would not cause major issues.

“Other protest activities will continue, but the examinations themselves are exempt,” he noted.

Another council co-convener, Md. Mahbubur Rahman, emphasized that exams will resume on Sunday and while the strike continues, other protest programs will proceed after the exams.

“Transfers are part of the job. Until assistant teachers’ demands for 10th-grade recognition are met, our movement will continue,” he said.

The ongoing protests involve assistant teachers demanding the implementation of three key demands.

Since November 27, they have been on strike, boycotting the annual exams that began on December 1 and imposing a complete school shutdown from December 2.

Following the protests, DPE issued punitive transfer orders on December 4, relocating 42 protesting teachers; including five key leaders, Khairun Nahar Lipi, Md. Shamsuddin Masud, Md. Abul Kashem, Md. Mahbubur Rahman and Md. Moniruzzaman, to different districts, preventing them from remaining in their home schools.

Despite the disruptions, most schools across the country will now conduct exams, with support from local administration and parents in some areas.

Currently, there are 65,569 government primary schools in Bangladesh employing over 3,84,000 teachers, the majority being assistant teachers.

The protest stems from grievances over pay grades: while head teachers have been upgraded to grade 10, assistant teachers remain in grade 13, prompting long-standing demands for grade revision.