Secondary Teachers Give Government Two Months to End Higher-Grade Discrimination
Leaders of MPO-listed secondary school assistant teachers have demanded an end to the discrimination they face in receiving higher grades. The demand was raised at a press conference at the National Press Club in the capital at noon on Thursday (22 October), where the government was given a two-month deadline to act.
The press conference was organised by the wing of secondary teachers seeking an end to higher-grade discrimination. Its leaders said they have one central demand: the MPO policy for schools and colleges must be amended and brought into line with the MPO policy for madrasas, so that the same rules apply to comparable teachers.
According to the teacher leaders, secondary schools and madrasas are both part of the same MPO-listed education system. Yet different policies are currently in force for assistant teachers of the two streams when it comes to higher grades. Because of that difference, secondary school teachers say they are being discriminated against.
Speakers at the press conference said a higher grade is directly linked to a teacher's professional advancement and financial security. Within the same system, if some teachers receive a benefit only because of the type of their institution while others do not, it creates long-standing resentment — and that, the leaders said, is why they have taken up this programme.
The teachers made clear that if the government takes no effective step within the two months, they will move to their next programme. As the first step of that programme, they announced a human chain in front of the National Press Club.
They also warned that tougher programmes would follow if the demand is still not met. In other words, the teachers do not intend to leave the matter at a press conference; once the deadline passes, street programmes will be their next course.
Pay, allowances and promotion structures for MPO-listed teachers have long been subjects of debate. Teachers of these government-supported institutions have repeatedly demanded policy revisions. This demand continues that pattern, with the addition this time of a specific deadline and an announced programme.
The teacher leaders stressed that they are not asking for a new benefit; they are asking for an inconsistency between two existing policies to be removed. In their view, aligning the secondary school rules with the opportunity that exists in the madrasa policy would resolve the discrimination question.
From the press conference, the teachers called on the relevant authorities to act quickly. They expressed hope that visible steps on amending the policy would come within the two months, so that they would not have to go into tougher programmes.
What happens next depends on what decision the education administration announces within the set period. A positive decision would clear the path to higher grades for thousands of secondary assistant teachers; if no initiative comes, the teachers themselves have warned that programmes beginning with a human chain in front of the Press Club could widen further.
