Several teachers from private primary schools were charged with baton and water cannons by the Bangladeshi police authorities on Wednesday as they protested against the interim government led by Muhammad Yunus for not accepting their demand of nationalisation of primary schools.
At least six people, including two women, were hurt during the protest rally held near the Jatiya Press Club in Dhaka.
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Shahinur Rahman, one of the injured said that they were marching towards Jamuna, the residence of Chief Advisor Muhammad Yunus from the Jatiya Press Club, to press their legitimate demands, but police used water cannon and charged batons on them unjustifiably.
The protest was held under the banner of ‘Bangladesh Non-government Primary Teachers Association’, reported Bangladesh’s Daily Star newspaper.
“Our demand is the nationalisation of private primary schools. We were marching towards Jamuna, but water cannons were used against us. Why such discrimination? If the government had taken proper measures, we would not have had to take to the streets,” another leading daily Dhaka Tribune quoted a teacher named Liakat Ali as saying.
Earlier, the association’s General Secretary, Firoz Uddin said that thousands of private primary schools in the country have not been nationalised due to political vendetta and bureaucratic complications due to which nearly 800,000 students have been deprived of their fundamental rights.
In a separate development on Wednesday, police removed protesting teachers from special schools for disabled students at the Kadam Foara intersection near the National Press Club in Dhaka. The teachers took out a march towards the Chief Advisor’s residence to press for several demands made by the Bangladesh Special Schools Coordination Council.
These include immediate recognition and Monthly Pay Order inclusion of all special autistic and disabled schools; establishment of disabled-friendly infrastructure in all special schools; minimum education allowance for special students; provision of mid-day meals, educational materials, sports equipment, and therapy centres for students; and, the creation of employment opportunities and rehabilitation under a vocational education curriculum, Dhaka Tribune reported.
The several protest movements against the policies of the interim government exposed the current regime’s incompetence in handling several sectors, including education. Last week, several media reports stated that the government has yet again failed to distribute textbooks to millions of students nationwide.
