The post of headteacher has been vacant for a long time at 36 government primary schools in Haripur upazila, Thakurgaon. Ninety-seven assistant teacher posts are also empty. Administrative work at the schools is being disrupted as a result, while the teacher shortage is disrupting ordinary teaching for young pupils. Guardians and others in the community are concerned about the quality of primary education.
According to the upazila primary education office, there are 110 government primary schools across the six unions of Haripur upazila. The headteacher’s post is vacant at 36 of them. Senior assistant teachers have been given charge as acting headteachers to keep those schools running. They are having to cope with extra pressure, taking regular classes alongside their administrative duties.
Several assistant teachers, speaking on condition of anonymity, said administrative discipline was being disrupted at many schools in the absence of a headteacher. Many people show reluctance to follow instructions from assistant teachers serving as acting heads. Teachers therefore work as they see fit, and the effect is felt in classroom teaching.
According to the upazila primary education office, the 110 government primary schools in Haripur have 687 approved teaching posts, of which 19 are reserved posts. There are 525 teachers currently in post. In all, 181 posts are vacant across headteacher, assistant teacher and reserved positions.
The upazila primary education officer, Md Sajjadur Rahman Sajjad, confirmed the figures.
The headteacher’s post has been vacant for six months at Tantihat government primary school in Bakua union. The school’s acting headteacher said he was struggling to manage administrative work and teaching at the same time.
“I have to handle both sides alone,” he said. “When you do one, it is not possible to do the other properly.”
The headteacher’s post is vacant at Gopalpur government primary school-2 and Bhutdangi government primary school in Bhaturia union. Sixteen assistant teacher posts are also empty in that union. In this union of 18 schools, only one teacher is on the waiting list.
These posts have been vacant since the headteachers retired. Senior assistant teachers have been given charge as acting headteachers to keep the schools running.
The headteacher of the government primary school next to Haripur Girls’ High School died in 2025. The post has been vacant since then. The assistant teacher Anwar Hossain is currently serving as acting headteacher.
He said the school has 104 pupils and teaching runs in two shifts. But in the absence of a headteacher, the school’s administrative and official work is being disrupted.
Murad Bakhsh Sarkar, an assistant teacher at Shitalpur-2 government primary school in Dangipara union, has been serving as acting headteacher for the past three months.
“Doing the administrative work creates problems for taking classes,” he said. “It is difficult to manage both sides properly at once.”
Guardians have also expressed anger about the shortage of headteachers and assistant teachers.
Mohsim, a guardian from Bujruk village, said: “There is no improvement in the children’s studies as it is. On top of that, we hear that classes sometimes do not take place because of the teacher shortage. The teaching does not happen properly with the shortage. So I have enrolled my children in a kindergarten.”
Guardians complain that although the teacher shortage in government primary schools is long-standing, no lasting solution is being found. The continuity of teaching for pupils is being damaged, and some guardians are being forced to send their children to private institutions.
Haripur upazila primary education officer Md Sajjadur Rahman Sajjad said: “The recruitment process for the vacant posts is under way. A notice for direct recruitment has already been published. Once that process is complete, the vacant headteacher posts will be filled before long.”
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report