Police swoop on primary school teachers at Shahbagh

Police on Sunday noon used batons, sound grenades and water cannons to thwart a blockade enforced at the Shahbagh intersection by candidates recommended for enlisting as government primary school teachers.

Even after police action, a few hundreds of recommended teachers, both men and women, were still occupying the busy intersection. At 11am, the teachers started a rally in front of the National Museum. Two hours later, they blocked Shahbagh intersection prompting police to take action an hour later.

On 31 October, 6,531 aspirants were recommended for joining as assistant teachers in the schools, but on Thursday the High Court scrapped the joining order, requiring authorities to initiate merit-based a recruitment process.

The court order was issued following a writ petition filed by 31 candidates not included in the 31 October list.

Later, the recommended teachers accused the High Court order as discriminatory. They alleged that the current government itself recommended their recruitment, but is not “backtracking on its commitment.”

The first two phases of the primary school teacher recruitment process has completed smoothly, but the third phase, dedicated for the Dhaka and Chattogram divisions, have become a farce, the protesters alleged.