7 pry school teachers in Lakshmipur issued show-cause notices

Seven assistant teachers from two government primary schools at Ramganj upazila in Lakhsmipur have been served show-cause notices for participating in the nationwide agitation of primary assistant teachers and for alleged violations of government service rules.

The notices were issued on Thursday morning through separate letters signed by Acting Upazila Primary Education Officer Fatema Ferdousi. The teachers have been asked to submit written explanations within three working days, failing which departmental action may be recommended.

Assistant teachers Abul Bashar, Priyanka Rani Bhoumik, and Ferdousi Begum of Nagmud Bazar Government Primary School, along with acting head teacher Mukbul Hossain, and assistant teachers Nurun Nahar, Mehedi Hasan Farid, and Marjina Akhter of Jaipura SRMS Government Primary School faced the notices.

According to the Primary Education Office, the teachers are accused of being absent during surprise inspections on December 3, boycotting the third-term summative exams from December 2, and, in Abul Bashar’s case, also announcing the boycott on Facebook and holding an unauthorized press briefing in violation of the Government Servants (Conduct) Rules, 1979, and the 2011 social-media guidelines.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, two of the affected teachers said they will submit their replies after formally receiving the notices.

Acting Upazila Primary Education Officer Fatema Ferdousi said that the teachers showed “extreme negligence” in performing their duties and disobeyed government orders.

The action comes against the backdrop of a countrywide movement by nearly 350,000 government primary school assistant teachers who have been on work abstention since November 27 to press their three-point demands, including upgradation to the 11th-grade pay scale. The agitators stepped up their protest with a “complete shutdown” from December 3, refusing to attend schools or perform exam-related duties.

The Lakshmipur incident marks one of the first cases where individual teachers have faced formal disciplinary action during the current phase of the agitation.

Kajal Kayes/MHK