Primary teacher candidates leave Shahbagh after nine-hour sit-in, vow to return tomorrow

Recommended candidates for government primary school assistant teacher posts left Dhaka's Shahbagh around 8pm today (27 September) after staging a nearly nine-hour sit-in demanding appointment letters.

The protesters said they would resume the programme at 10am tomorrow (28 September) if their demands are not met.

They said they will gather at Dhaka University Central Library at 9am before marching to Shahbagh and resuming the sit-in at 10am. If their appointments are confirmed by then, they will hold a press conference and end the programme, they said.

The candidates began gathering in front of the Dhaka University Central Library around 10am and marched to the National Museum area in Shahbagh around 11am, where they took up positions on the road.

During the protest, a seven-member delegation went to the Secretariat around 1:30pm to seek a resolution from officials of the Ministry of Primary and Mass Education.

The delegation returned to Shahbagh around 4pm.

Armanul Rahman, a member of the delegation, said an additional deputy commissioner had asked them to send representatives to the Secretariat.

"Accordingly, we went to the Secretariat, but there was no response. We were also treated dismissively," he alleged.

SM Khokon, a protester from Bhola, told The Business Standard that the seven-member delegation went to the Secretariat after senior administration officials reached out to discuss the issue.

He said the protesters would continue their movement until the appointment issue was resolved.

The protesters are campaigning under the banner of "Teachers Across Bangladesh Denied Appointment Letters".

They claim that at least 2,000 candidates did not receive appointment letters during the verification process, despite 14,384 candidates being recommended for appointment as assistant teachers in government primary schools.

Rubel Pradhan, a recommended candidate from Matlab South upazila in Chandpur, told TBS that he was recommended for appointment as an assistant teacher on 8 February.

"Later, despite having viva examinations for two Grade-15 government jobs in March and April, I did not participate, assuming I would join as an assistant teacher," he said.

"I did not even join a job with the Bangladesh Post Office because I had a special passion for this teaching profession, which I pursued alongside tutoring," he added.

Rubel said his appointment letter was not issued on 24 September, despite waiting for around eight months.

He added that four out of five recommended candidates from his union did not receive their appointment letters.

In a press release issued on Friday (25 September), the candidates outlined five demands, including re-verification of candidates dropped during the verification process through a neutral and transparent process, an opportunity for them to defend themselves, an administrative appeal mechanism and correction of administrative errors, according to Prothom Alo.

They also demanded that the authorities issue the pending appointment letters by 28 September and publicly explain why so many recommended candidates were dropped during the recruitment process.