The assistant teachers of government primary schools called off their hunger strike this evening following assurance of the primary and mass education minister.

Several thousand teachers under the banner of “Bangladesh Primary Assistant Teachers' Grand Alliance” began the strike at the Central Shaheed Minar on Saturday with a one-point demand -- fixing the trained assistant teachers' grade next to the trained head teachers' grade.

The agitating teachers took the decision of calling off the strike after a meeting with Primary and Mass Education Minister Mostafizur Rahman at his Mintoo Road residence this afternoon.

Later, the agitating teachers broke their fast by taking juice offered by the minister at Central Shaheed Minar around 5:45pm, Shahinur Al-Amin, a leader of the alliance, told The Daily Star.

He also said that they will go for fresh agitation if their demand is not met by the next month.

Meanwhile, at least 40 assistant primary teachers fell sick during the strike till today.

Some of them were admitted to Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH) while the rest took treatment from different private hospitals, said Mohammad Samsuddin, a leader of the alliance.

Some 27 teachers fell ill till yesterday and were admitted to the DMCH.

There is a three-tier gap between the wage grades of assistant teachers and head teachers although both play almost an equal role in educating children, Shahinur Al-Amin, one of the alliance leaders, told The Daily Star yesterday.

The trained assistant teachers get salary under 14th grade of the wage board and the non-trained under 15th grade whereas the trained headmasters get salary under the 11th grade.