'Steps taken to up teachers' status'

12 April 2010, 18:00 PM

Staff Correspondent

Education Minister Nurul Islam Nahid yesterday said the government has taken initiatives to improve the financial and social status of teachers. "We want the teachers would get the highest salaries and honour, and we are committed to increase all sorts of facilities for them," he told a representatives' conference of the divisional teachers and employees of National Front of Teachers and Employees (NFTE). Representatives of teachers and employees of seven divisions attended the conference at Moni Singh-Farhad Memorial Trust in the city. The minister said, "It's a matter of regret that we could not give the teachers due financial benefits because of financial limitations." "We want to build such generation with modern education and state-of-the-art technology so that they can give a developed nation free from poverty and corruption," he said. "And the teachers are the main ingredient to build such generation." He also said the recent rise in the salaries of the teachers is the reflection of the government's commitment for the teachers. "We won't spare anybody who humiliate teachers. We would stand beside the teachers with our all efforts in this regard," he said. Nahid said the allocation, which has been given in the budget, is inadequate and a major portion of the money goes to the salaries and other benefits of the teachers and employees. "Despite many limitations, we are working to increase the facilities of the teachers," he said adding they are working to form a separate pay commission for the teachers. But, he said, the teachers will also have to carry on their noble duties with devotion to build the nation. The minister also talked about the government's initiatives including education policy, MPO (monthly payment order) policy and free textbook distribution. Principal Quazi Farruque Ahmed, chief coordinator of the NFTE, said the present government took many steps for education and teachers in its 15 months. He urged the minister to reinstate the teachers who were removed during the tenure of BNP-Jamaat alliance government and keep the prices of the expenses of the educational apparatus within the reach of the middle class families.