Sylhet govt primary schools face teacher crisis

Academic activities in almost all government primary schools in Sylhet are being severely hampered due to an acute crisis of teachers.

While the situation has persisted for a long period, it worsened during the Covid-19 pandemic as teacher recruitment was paused for almost two years.

Moreover, the situation continues to prevail due to various other reasons including change of profession and people moving abroad. The situation is gradually getting dire.

Meanwhile, due to the crisis, teachers have to fulfil additional responsibilities in their institutions. Taking extra classes, exams, and marking papers of other courses and grades in addition to their own.

As a result, the education system is being disrupted and the guardians are losing confidence in the current education system of government primary schools.

Along with the shortage of teachers, the number of primary school dropouts is also increasing. Many schools in the area have less than 50 students.

According to upazila education office, the number of dropouts in Beanibazar upazila was 2.3 per cent in 2021 and it stood at 2.65 per cent in 2022.

In 2018-2019, the then Beanibazar Upazila Nirbahi Officer Kazi Arifur Rahman used to go door to door and hold meetings with parents on the importance of educating their children. The number of dropouts is increasing as it is not being done anymore.

According to the Directorate of Primary Education (DPE) Beanibazar upazila office, the number of students in three schools of Kurarbazar union and two schools of Charkhai union of the upazila is very low.

Among them, the total number of students in Ghagurghat Government Primary School of Kurarbazar is about 40, about 50 in Farirbazar Government Primary School and about 43 in Shahjalal Government Primary School.

Moreover, there are about 45 students in Abdul Khaliq Government Primary School of Charkhai Union and about 40 students in Safa Government Primary School.

Besides, the upazila has two government primary schools up to class VIII, and these have a large number of students. The schools are Gararband Government Primary School with about 600 students and Ramdha Government Primary School with about 520 students.

Meanwhile, it is known that the number of government primary schools in Beanibazar upazila is 150. Only 77 of the schools have head teachers and the rest operate without head teachers.

Other than that there are 965 posts of assistant teachers and there is a shortage of 50 teachers.

Moreover, guardians allege that many primary school teachers enrol their children in private kindergartens instead of government primary schools. Due to this, parents are losing confidence in government primary schools and also opting for private kindergartens.

A parent named Lamia Begum of Golapganj upazila said she admitted her son to a private kindergarten even though there was a government primary school closer to their house.

“The quality of education in private kindergartens is better than government primary schools. Those who can afford it, opt for private schools as a better option for their children,” she said.

Another parent named Md Tauhidur Rahman of Akakhajna village of Beanibazar upazila said he opted for a local private daycare kindergarten for his second grader in the hope of getting him a modern standard education.

Azimul Islam, a teacher at Lauzhari Government Primary School said he changed his profession and became a teacher to honour his father who was also a government primary school teacher.

“However, there are some 70 students currently admitted at this school. The number of dropouts is concerning,” he said.

Beanibazar Upazila Assistant Education Officer Ashraful Alam Johnny said that the teacher crisis has been ongoing for a while now.

“Even though teachers are regularly appointed to prevent the crisis, many people in the area move abroad after joining their posts. Recently a newly appointed teacher did this. This is common in the district,” he said.

Dr Zahir Setu a professor of Bangla Department at Shahjalal University of Science and Technology, said the parents admit their children to private institutions for a better quality of modern education system.

“People’s quality of life is changing so they are adapting for adamantly better things for their children,” he added.