Teacher shortage bogs down academic activities
Headteacher posts in Brahmanbaria’s 159 government primary schools lied vacant for years, some for as long as four years.
Moreover, more than one-tenth or 589 out of 6,137 assistant teacher posts in the schools have remained unfilled for at least 10 months.
As a result, the teacher shortage is putting an enormous strain on assistant teachers who have been filling in to take additional classes or carrying out the responsibility of the headteachers in the schools.
Many of the headteacher posts fell vacant due to scheduled retirement. But thanks to a complex recruitment procedure, those posts as well as the vacant assistant teacher posts are yet to be filled.
According to Directorate of Primary Education (DPE) in Brahmanbaria, the district has 1,105 government primary schools in its nine upazilas.
Liton Das, assistant primary education officer in the district, said Nabinagar upazila has 38 headteacher posts and 100 assistant teacher posts vacant, Sarail upazila has 24 headteacher and 42 assistant teacher posts vacant, Nasirnagar has 22 headteacher and 97 assistant teacher posts vacant, Bijoynagar has 22 headteacher and 118 assistant teacher posts vacant, Akhaura has 15 headteacher and 20 assistant teacher posts vacant, Banchharampur has 14 headteacher and 122 assistant teacher posts vacant, Kasba has 13 headteacher and 76 assistant teacher posts vacant, Ashuganj has 6 headteacher and 10 assistant teacher posts vacant, and Sadar upazila has 7 headteacher and 10 assistant teacher posts vacant.
During a recent visit to Goalnagar Government Primary School in Nasirnagar upazila, this correspondent found that only three teachers were employed at the school and they were taking extra classes for three other vacant teacher posts in the school.
Every day, the three teachers were taking all six classes -- from pre-primary to fifth grade -- at the school that has 350 students.
Mohammad Moniruzzaman, the school’s acting headteacher, said, “I have to [simultaneously] take more than one class during each period as there’s shortage of teachers and the headmaster post is vacant too.”
The headteacher post at Gonnya Government Primary School, with 365 enrolled students, in the same upazila has remained unfilled for the past four years and Assistant Teacher Abdul Kader has been carrying out additional responsibilities as the acting headteacher of the school.
This school is also running with only three teachers against total six allocated posts of assistant teachers.
Both the acting headteachers said their frequent meetings at education offices in upazila and district headquarters have been affecting their routine academic and administrative activities at their schools.
Contacted, Assistant Primary Education Officer Liton Das said the processes of recruiting new headteachers and promotion of assistant teachers are underway and the posts of assistant teachers will be filled from new recruits who appeared in written tests last month.
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