A teacher shortage has grown acute in the district’s government primary schools. Across Jashore’s eight upazilas, a total of 1,306 head-teacher and assistant-teacher posts are vacant — 691 head-teacher posts and 615 assistant-teacher posts. With most schools lacking a head teacher, administration is being run by acting or in-charge head teachers, disrupting classroom teaching and hurting the overall learning environment.
According to the district primary education office’s latest upazila-wise figures, Jashore has 1,289 government primary schools. Although rules require 80 percent of head-teacher posts to be filled by promotion and 20 percent by direct recruitment, the crisis is deepening because promotions and recruitment have long been stalled.
By upazila, the most head-teacher vacancies are in Manirampur, where 168 of 267 schools have no head teacher. Jashore Sadar has 126 of 250, Sharsha 82 of 125, Chougachha 76 of 139, Jhikargachha 72 of 131, Abhaynagar 70 of 117, Bagharpara 61 of 102 and Keshabpur 36 of 138 head-teacher posts vacant.
The assistant-teacher shortage is also worrying. Of 7,911 sanctioned assistant-teacher posts (including pre-primary), 615 are now vacant — 154 in Manirampur, 107 in Jashore Sadar, 74 in Keshabpur, 72 in Sharsha, 56 in Abhaynagar, 55 in Bagharpara, 54 in Chougachha and 43 in Jhikargachha.
Field teachers say senior assistant teachers are being given acting charge to run schools, leaving them under extra pressure as they handle administrative duties alongside teaching, which disrupts regular lessons. An assistant teacher in Manirampur, who did not wish to be named, said: “With no head teacher, we have to handle all the office’s administrative duties while also teaching in the classroom. Carrying this for so long is very hard. Unless permanent head teachers are appointed or promoted quickly, maintaining education quality will not be possible.”
Anisur Rahman, a member of the Sadar upazila education committee, said only 114 of Jashore Sadar’s 250 government primary schools had regular head teachers; the other 136 had no permanent head teacher, with about 85 run entirely by in-charge head teachers and about 50 by promoted teachers on acting charge. A school’s head teacher is its guardian, he said, and long spells without one naturally harm administration, the learning environment and education quality.
Noted educationist Dr Mahbubur Rahman said a school’s head teacher is the main driving force of both teaching and administration, and that the lack of head teachers in so many schools, along with the assistant-teacher shortfall, was hurting pupils’ lessons and overall school management. Teachers on acting charge stay busy with office work and cannot give enough time to the classroom, he said, warning that unless the vacancies are filled quickly, the district’s primary-education foundation will grow weaker.
The acting district primary education officer said the vacancies had arisen from long-running litigation and a lack of regular promotions, but that efforts were under way to keep schools running administratively through acting charges, expressing hope the posts could be filled quickly once the necessary administrative process was complete.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report